[movement] courtesy of r/pilates

[kaberett]

... I have today been introduced to the concept of The Lagree Method, Which Is Not Pilates.

Things This Website Says:

Circuit training is a large part of what makes The Lagree Method critically different than Pilates. Lagree Fitness participants are required to move from one movement to the next with minimal rest time between. This keeps the participant's heart rate up and demands cardiovascular growth--which, of course, results in more calories burned.

Pilates is not meant to be a cardio workout, so typically a participant's heartrate will remain under 90 BPM. On the other hand, The Lagree Method ensures users will hit the anaerobic threshold and a heart rate over 145/150 BPM when performed correctly.

Counterexample: today I spent 40 minutes doing Pilates, approximately 10 minutes of which were warm-up. Once I'd done that, I spent the majority of the remainder with my heartrate above ~117 bpm (which my Fitness Wearable currently considers my "moderate activity" zone), with occasional blips up into my "vigorous activity" zone plus sustained "vigorous activity" in the last five minutes (during which my heart rate got up to ~155 bpm). I had two minutes of heartrate between 100 bpm and 117 bpm (Single Leg Circles and Rolling Like A Ball), and another 3 minutes when I was (try to look shocked) in Rest Position. I had a grand total of 2 minutes with my heartrate below 90 bpm, during the warm-up.

It's nice of the guy to give specific ranges! It helps explain why the NHS is quite so "Pilates isn't cardio, it's strength-building" if this is what they're reckoning! But also: what.

So then I peevishly searched for "pilates" and "cardio" and landed up at Heartbeat Magazine (BHF):

As Pilates becomes more advanced and you are able to flow more quickly through the exercises, it is possible to introduce a cardiovascular element.

Back to that first quotation -- "Lagree Fitness participants are required to move from one movement to the next with minimal rest time between." One! of the Pilates principles! is "flow"!!! i.e. exactly this.

I did also wind up poking around classical vs contemporary Pilates more. What I'm doing is firmly in the "classical" camp (as interpreted by Lynne Robinson et al. of Body Control Pilates, with modifications for accessibility); I am beginning to get my head around the part where the vast majority of Pilates classes are going to be contemporary. I increasingly get the impression that classes do have much more built-in rest time between exercises than I am currently taking (presumably at least in part while the teacher talks through the motion), in addition to focussing on Even More Accessible Modifications, so possibly I am starting to understand more of where the NHS is coming from?

... but I am also -- and this is the bit where I am laughing at myself -- having an entire indignant autism about Words Mean Things!!! and the NHS should specify if they mean contemporary--!!!

On the upside, having actually articulated the disconnect means I might be able to communicate about and across it more usefully next time I am called upon to Detail My Exercise Regime.

Comments

[kaberett]

I seriously could write an entire Indignant Essay on how much of Lagree's "This!!! Is!!! Not!!! Pilates!!! look at my PRINCIPLES--" is in fact exactly and precisely in keeping with the classical Pilates principles, just slightly rephrased, but (i) it is bedtime, (ii) I do not think anybody much particularly cares, and (iii) given that the compulsion to indulge this particular autism is squashable, I'm going to go ahead and do that.

[kaberett]

Oh right yeah and for calibration I am doing the Body Control Pilates classical Beginners sequence (many exercises at Intermediate level, two at modified-to-be-easier-because-lol-no), i.e. my default framing is to describe myself as a beginner and that is. I am increasingly certain. not compatible with contemporary Pilates difficulty gradings.

[kaberett]

ALSO ALSO I want books on studio/machine work of equivalent standard to the manual I'm using for matwork and as far as I can tell they... don't exist. The closest I'll be able to get is by signing up to learn how to teach it, I think??? pilatesology does provide an outline but it's via a PDF full of links to individual videos which is frankly Miserable.

[silveradept]

This certainly seems like a thing where someone has tried to distinguish themselves as Not Like That by doing Exactly That.

[cesy]

Yeah, our beginner classes generally have plenty of rest, the intermediate ones vary and the advanced ones are a cardio workout. And from what we've discussed you'd easily cope with our intermediate classes. I think the classical gradings may be skewed to movement professionals rather than general population, and most contemporary classes grade for general population?

[horselizard]

useful learnings! especially the part where you squash that particular compulsion ;)

^ "gradings for movement professionals" huh... that sure would make a difference. you're a beginner movement professional? :D

[davidgillon]

The Lagree Method, Which Is Not Pilates.

It's possibly completely unfair, but this sounded to me like someone mansplaining how they made Pilates harder, because hard is good.

[kaberett]

To be marginally fair to him he does also do a lot of emphasising that Pilates is also great, just different! And I'm willing to accept that his patented (...) method is better for at least some purposes...