What’s in a Name? Funny Pilates Terms Explained

As far as fitness systems go, Pilates is in a league all its own. So it seems fitting that Pilates comes with a unique encyclopedia of terms for its highly specialized equipment and the 500+ movements that make up the classical Pilates method. Some of these terms are real head-scratchers — some make us laugh every time! Here we demystify a few choice items from the Pilates lexicon.

Cadillac – When you walk into a Pilates studio, the first thing you’re likely to notice is the Cadillac. The Cadillac can dominate a studio space, resembling the frame of a very tall four-poster canopy bed, decked out with long springs, fuzzy slings, push-through bars, and even a trapeze! Pilates may have dubbed it the “Cadillac” to invite associations of luxury and comfort, since it can appear downright medieval to new trainees. In the Cadillac we can clearly recognize where Pilates initially developed his revolutionary fitness method: in the British internment camps of WWI, where he rigged his fellow German nationals’ hospital beds with springs, so even the most sickly and injured could exercise and regain their health.

Reformer – The centerpiece of a classical Pilates studio, the Reformer was also developed and designed by Joseph Pilates. Many reformer exercises are performed lying on the back, which eases any strain on the joints and allows students to practice aligning the body, free from the influence of gravity. Joe originally called it the “Universal Reformer” for its purpose of “universally reforming” the physique. Think about that for a second: Joe built this long, low couch, with its sliding carriage, adjustable bar, and 100+ moves, to give you an entirely new-and-improved body. No wonder it’s so popular!

Electric Chair – Like the Cadillac, the Electric Chair can look intimidating. It has a high back, a pair of shoulder-height handles, and a moveable foot bar outfitted with heavy springs. It’s not supposed to make you feel like you’re going to meet your maker; in fact, its purpose is quite therapeutic. The high back supports the spine during seated exercises, and you become the source of “electricity” as you focus energy in your powerhouse and shoot it out through your legs.

Teaser – Once you execute your first teaser, you fully understand how this move got its odd name. Your upper and lower halves resist their full weight as you lever your body into a “V,” balancing on your sit-bones, your powerhouse firing to the max. It happens fast, but internally it feels like you might not make it. You hit a breakthrough moment where the brain insists, “There’s no way!” — and suddenly, you’re there. We have a class tradition of breaking into applause when a student executes his or her first teaser. Believe us, it’s wholly deserved!

Stomach Massage – A series performed while seated on the reformer, the Stomach Massage series isn’t so much about massaging the belly. If only, right? It’s actually named for the massage that the abdominal core and pelvic floor muscles perform on your internal organs. While the active motion is in the legs as they press against the foot bar, we coach students to feel energy originating and radiating from the core, causing the legs to flex and bend, resisting against the springs of the reformer at all times.

The Pilates menagerie – Sometimes the Pilates studio becomes a real zoo! There’s the Elephant, its heels pressing into the reformer so hard the toes lift off the pad, head hanging heavy like a trunk. There’s the Monkey dangling off the bar. There’s the Snake and its strong, supple, twisting spine. There’s the ever-amusing Seal with clapping feet! We have a lot of fun with these critters at Dynamic Fitness.

What are some of your favorite Pilates words? Ever wonder how your favorite exercise got its name? Message us or find us on Facebook with your comments and questions!

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The Body Talks Back: Sara M.'s Dynamic Fitness Story My first-ever Pilates experience was sometime in the summer of last year. I'm a member of the tech team who handles all things Internet for the Dynamic Fitness studio, and had recently been asked to keep the Dynamic Fitness blog updated. Apparently it's kind of tricky to write fun, informative blogs about the Pilates fitness system if you've never done a lick of Pilates in your life. Go figure! Now, if you're a Dynamic Fitness client, you know Kathy. You know how incredibly kind and encouraging she is. After my first few articles (a generous term) were submitted (and edited, and re-edited), Kathy came to me with a proposal: How about I actually try a few Pilates sessions? Did I think that might benefit my writing on the subject?Bless that woman.On my first day of Pilates, I was a reasonably fit twenty-something, equipped with a twenty-something's metabolism, but a self-described laptop jockey nevertheless. I didn't play sports. Joggers and the morning yoga set baffled me. I play violin in a folk band, so the concept of "mind-body integration" was not wholly foreign; I grasped how the application of concentration and mental focus to a physical exercise could render some pretty complex feats. But on that first day, I had no concept of the dialogue that mind-body connection could become.I stretched out on the reformer for the first time, I'll admit, a little fearful -- my mind's go-to response when it's not sure what the ol' body is about to do, exactly. As Kathy cued me through a beginner's routine, my nerves relaxed, thanks to her coaching, but everything still felt very -- weird. It's a common first-timer feeling, I know now. More than a year later I realize my general bemusement was a symptom of my body and mind failing to fully connect. And somewhere around the Tree, things got even weirder. My body started talking to me. Excuse me, um, Mind? it said. Never, not in all twenty-something of our years together, have you ever asked me to do anything like this before. What's going on up there? Mind: Hush, Body, I'm trying to remember to keep you breathing, here. Keep scooping those abs! In and up! Articulate each vertebra! Are you doing it? I think I feel that ... are y--Body: Look, Mind, you don't need to boss me so much. You just listen to Kathy, and let me do some of the talking.Believe you me, the next day my body was talking up a storm. Sore? I was sore in muscles I didn't even know existed -- my ribcage, my armpits, the hollows of my shoulder blades. I'd reach for my cell phone or climb out of my car and I'd hear my body say, Well, heeee-llo there! But it was a good, almost delicious kind of sore, one that subtly altered my entire carriage. I instantly felt taller, stronger, more graceful, simply because I was paying extra attention to internal feedback.Now I look forward to that feeling after every session with Kathy and Heather. After a year of training I don't often get sore anymore, but my body talks to me all the time -- when I'm playing fiddle, when I haul groceries into the kitchen, even just walking downtown on my lunch break -- and I truly love the conversation we're having. As the Dynamic Fitness blogger, Sara wants to share more Pilates stories -- especially yours. Click the link below to message her and contribute your Pilates experiences to the blog. Let's hear it for Pilates!  https://www.pilates-sarasota.com/contactWho Is the Modern Pilates Student? The fitness system originally known as "contrology" was introduced to the world in 1945, when founder Joseph Pilates published Return to Life through Contrology, a complete guide to the exercise method that now bears his name. However, Joe was describing contrology over a decade before the manual came out. Published in 1934, Your Health: A Corrective System of Exercising That Revolutionizes the Entire Field of Physical Education was Pilates' first treatise on integrated health and wellness through a balanced body and mind. And the evidence is strong that the Pilates fitness system was coming to life right at the turn of the 20th century, as its founder studied and practiced a multitude of fitness techniques to improve his own ill health. Pilates is getting old -- but only in years! We find that the people who study and train in the Pilates method keep the practice relevant and just as impactful as when people were learning how to "teaser up" under the watchful eye of Joe Pilates himself.Here's something you might not know: The very first students of Pilates were prisoners. The very first teacher was one, too! When World War I gripped the globe, British authorities confined German citizens residing in England to internment camps. It was during his internment, with few resources and poor living conditions, that Pilates refined his fitness system and rigorously trained his fellow inmates.Pilates brought his method to the United States in 1925. The New York City studio that he opened with his wife, Clara, became hugely popular among the city's top professional dancers, gymnasts, and performing artists. Pilates' student roster included names such as George Balanchine and Martha Graham, and these stars would send their own students to train with Joe and Clara to grow stronger and more flexible in their art. A number of these early students dedicated their careers to preserving the Pilates legacy, using their tutelage under Joseph Pilates to train new generations of Pilates instructors -- take, for instance, Romana Kryzanowska, under whom our own Dynamic Fitness instructor Kathy trained and received her certifications. (Kathy shares memories of Romana in this tribute article: https://www.pilates-sarasota.com/blog/remembering-Romana-Kryzanowska/)The  Dynamic Fitness studio has coached its fair share of pro athletes and performers in Pilates, but what's truly exciting is how Pilates has taken root in the community at large. Joe Pilates gained great renown for helping dancers and gymnasts rehabilitate injuries; these days people who aren't athletes come to our studio to heal their bodies, too. We've helped ease a lot of chronic back pain, and have enabled people to still get a good workout after sustaining injuries (in many cases, from oversized or under-supervised exercises classes). The Pilates student we see today wants to be a better overall "life athlete." We're seeing more and more people who are getting serious about fitness, and want to have an exercise discipline they can safely perform for years to come. The modern Pilates student trains with us with the goal of living better in their bodies, so they're better able to enjoy daily life to its fullest. Pilates has stayed true to Joe's original principles, and we're very excited to share it with the new face of the movement as it continues to grow.