I got a frustrated letter from a reader last week. Her issue is one that I think a lot of beginners run into in Pilates and fitness classes in general, so I decided to share it here. Lisa wrote to me saying that she started doing Pilates but her belly was getting bigger, not smaller. Not only that, but when she stops working out her belly shrinks and when she works out regularly it gets big again.
That is just plain aggravating and not at all in line with Pilates reputation for helping people get nice flat abs! So what's going on?
Of course any number of factors could be contributing to a thickening waistline, however when the picture looks like the one described above, the culprit is usually faulty technique and it can be fixed fairly easily.
When you do Pilates ab flexion (forward bending) exercises, you want the deep abdominal muscles to pull in and up, sinking toward the spine creating a long, deep curve of the belly. You have to get that action going before you move. Then, as you come up in forward flexion, you keep that deep curve and sense of lift as you work to lengthen your spine. Coordinating your move with a long exhale can be very helpful as well.
Otherwise, if you just crunch the abs, the deeper abs like the transversus abdominis and the obliques, muscles that are supposed to help with compression, don't do much and the rectus abdominis, the most surface ab muscle, shortens and poofs out creating a short, bulky muscle -- exactly the opposite effect than the one you want. Not only does this not look good, it doesn't train the abdominal muscles to work as a group in an efficient, spine supportive way (which is more the point of Pilates than flat abs, but we'll take 'em).
Now, the next thing is that as you come out of whatever kind of ab flexion you are in, you have to keep your belly lift and l-e-n-g-t-h-e-n as you unfurl sequentially, and use control. Resist as you release. Don't just lay-out or flop down. That way you get an eccentric contraction working for you.
Think of tips like these next time you do a roll up, teaser, roll over (same principles apply right side up or upside down) or any of those ab challenge exercises - mat or equipment. It does not take care of all flat belly issues, but I bet is accounts for Lisa's complaint and if you can get your head around it, will help you with your belly action. Here are more resources for getting those abs working the way you want them to:
Sample Pilates Ab Focus Exercises
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