Long Stretch
We all know that Pilates exercises need to be practiced if we want to get better at them.
But if you don’t understand what your objective is, it’s easy to keep repeating the same mistake.
In this video, I break Long Stretch down into a few simple steps so you can understand the main idea first.
Because once that is clear, everything else, like your form and source of effort will start to make more sense.
You don’t need to figure everything out at once.
Just take it step by step.
When you know where you are going, you’ll find the way to get there.
Correct movement is a complicated activity.
A Pilates teacher’s job is to make it attainable for the person in front of them.😊
This step-by-step tutorial is meant to help people perform Long Stretch more effectively, while also teaching safety on the Reformer.
Safety is a direct outcome of controlling the equipment.
You learn how to control the equipment when you understand how to practice centering, one of the six principles of Pilates.
Of course with the numerous new versions of Reformers and some clients being taller, keeping the carriage closed when getting on it may not be possible. In that case, keeping it at least stable while getting on it, is the next best solution.
I often say, “Use your Pilates magic.”
What I mean is this: when you learn how to stabilize your shoulders, align your spine, and feel your abdominals activate, you begin to understand where your power is actually coming from.
Shoulder stability is one of the fundamental movement skills I teach in my signature course,
What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills.
You Know You Are Not Supposed to Push Off With Your Arms in Long Stretch, but What Should You Use Instead?
One of the hardest aspects of learning Pilates is realizing that an exercise does not have to feel exactly the way it looks.
In Long Stretch, if all you feel is your arms, it is often because you are being too literal with the movement and missing the nuance of organizing the rest of your body.
The nuances matter in Pilates.
The challenge is learning to change the way you think about movement and accepting that the arms are not meant to carry this exercise alone.
I find that the most challenging thing is not how to teach the movement, but how to change people's assumptions about it.
Keeping the heels connected to the headrest turns on the lower abdominals nicely.
Since I had to get new Reformers a few years ago, I noticed that it is nearly impossible to connect to the headrest without adding pillows.
Either the Reformers are different proportions or our calves got tighter. 😅
Regardless though, we use the pillows and pads and get the job done, because standing on your tippy toes is not the way to execute this exercise.
No one at the studio minds that they have to take a moment to add the pillows.
They appreciate the feeling of being connected to the equipment. 😊
Long Stretch doesn’t start when the carriage moves—it starts while you are getting onto the Reformer.
If you step on without the springs remaining in a closed position, or with the carriage stationary and without positioning your shoulders over the hands, the arms end up doing most of the work.
But when the carriage remains closed while you are placing your hands on the footbar...
Stacking the shoulders over them while integrating them into the sockets, reaching your crown of the head and heels away from each other while aligning your spine...
the exercise feels completely different.
The setup is the exercise.
Once that’s in place, the movement finally makes sense.
What part of Long Stretch feels the hardest for you—the setup or the movement?
I mentioned that before, but this is another example of:
“You start well, you finish well”
Your hands are on the footbar.
Your body weight is over your arms.
But the movement requires more than the action of your arms.
Stabilize your shoulders.
Organize your ribcage over your pelvis to align your spine.
Feel your abdominals supporting that organization.
Then move the carriage.
That is what I jokingly call your “Pilates magic.” But there is really no magic to it. These are physical skills you can learn and practice - and they are a part of my course, What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills.