Freedom Of Movement

Since Independence Day is tomorrow, it seems an appropriate time to consider the topic of freedom in movement.  What does freedom of movement mean?  Well, it can actually have different definitions and layers depending on perspective.

To begin, let’s go deep to the level of the joint, where two bones connect together.  If the muscles around the joint aren’t being used evenly, this will create an imbalance in muscular development at that joint.  This happens with repetitive and postural patterns.  If there is an imbalance, this is going to ultimately cause some loss in ability to move freely or optimally at the joint as one side will be overworking and the other side underworking.  

This is one of the powerful principles of Pilates as it helps to balance muscular development. The overworked area begins to stretch and let go while the underutilized region starts to strengthen.  The Pilates principle of balanced muscular development was address in this earlier newsletter.  

One of the other key Pilates principles is Control.  In fact, Joseph Pilates called his method “Contrology”.  It’s interesting to note that while Pilates helps students gain freedom of movement as they balance their muscular development, it is done with control.  During a Pilates class, performing the exercises may not seem like freedom of movement such as in a freestyle or improv dance class where movement is creative and abandoned, but ironically it is the control (moving slowly, training in new patterns) that is ultimately going liberate students from already ingrained patterns.  Thus empowering students to continue to move optimally for years to come.  

On a broader level, freedom of movement relates to quality of life.  Whether being able to get up and down from a chair or the floor or expanding your spinal mechanics to improve your golf game, maintaining as much freedom of movement as possible is an important goal.  As the country celebrates it’s freedom, may you too continue to enjoy freedom of movement of all your joints and quality of life for years to come.