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Pilates for Youth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!Amy Lewandowski Ridgeway!
CTTC 2014!Whitefish, MT!
September 17, 2015!!!!!
! While the topic of children’s health is hardly new, the concerns for the health of
today’s youth and our upcoming generations have certainly heightened in the recent
years. Childhood obesity is at an all time high in the United States and throughout the
world. We've also seen an increase in sports related injuries starting at a young age. In
order to counter these, and many other escalating health problems in children, we not
only must pinpoint the causes behind them, but also pursue relevant and attainable
solutions. !
! Contributing factors of poor health in adolescents include lack of nutrition as well
as varying life styles. On one hand, some children are growing up in a stagnant gaming
world. Technology is taking place of outdoor play and activities for many children.
Working at computers, gaming, spending time hunched over smart phones and devices
can limit physical activity and also have a negative impact on posture and spinal
alignment which, in turn, will likely create a whole new gamut of problems. The opposite
extreme of this lifestyle is active children heavily involved in sports. Kids are starting to
choose and specialize in one sport at a very early age sometimes missing the
opportunity for well rounded strength. !
! With the increase of childhood obesity, stagnant lifestyles, as well athletic
specialization in youth, it seems education for proper posture, spinal health and
muscular balance should be a priority. Education in nutrition is, of course, crucial and
should never take a back seat to any exercise program. In regard to physical fitness,
however, I believe Pilates for youth would be a great fit for a health enhancement
program in our education system. The practice of Pilates is not only used as an
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important type of strength training in adults, it is also a successful form of physical
therapy used to correct muscle imbalance as well as healing an injury. I chose to
research the proper way to introduce Pilates at an early age so we can train children to
practice correct alignment in their everyday movements. Doing so would
promote lifelong health, body awareness and balance of muscle groups for healthy
spinal alignment decreasing the need for correction later in life.!
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Table of Contents
THE ANATOMY OF A CHILD ................................................................ 6
CASE STUDY ……………………………………………………………7
PILATES PROGRAM FOR CASE STUDY .............................................. 8
GENERAL STUDY…………………………………………………………10
PILATES PROGRAM FOR GENERAL STUDY.................................... 11
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 13
Bibliography ................................................................................................ 14
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Pilates for children promotes lifelong health, body awareness and balance of muscle groups for healthy spinal alignment eliminating the need for correction later in life. Why not start our youth on the right track?
There are many factors to consider when addressing the decline of health in today’s youth. Lifestyle changes are one of them. Technology is taking place of outdoor play and activities for many children. Working at computers, playing video games, spending time hunched over smart phones and devices can limit activity but also have a negative impact on posture and spinal alignment which, in turn, will likely create a whole new round of problems.
Anatomy of a child: !
In general, a child’s body is similar anatomically to that of an adult. However, what is
more notable when considering the posture, alignment, and skeletal/muscular health of
an adolescent is that children are resilient and have an amazing ability to absorb
information and to train their bodies. The sooner you can help a child create healthy
habits, the better his chances are of sustaining them for life. If we can bring a foundation
of body balance into our youth, we greatly reduce chances of injury during the many
years of youth athletics as well as set them up for a lifetime of healthy and active
lifestyles.
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! I believe in the general rule that an individual’s passions carry into every part of
her life as well as the lives of all her surrounding loved ones. We tend to want to share
what we love with those we love. While I’ve enjoyed Pilates for many years, it is only in
the last two years that I have become completely immersed and passionate about
practicing, teaching, and sharing it with others. As a mother of three with a background
in education, it was only natural to start working with my own children and research how
I may help other kids as well. While a portion of my paper will be focused on my 13 year
old daughter, Luci, I will also outline the programming I used for other children with
whom I’ve worked in the past 12 months. !
! As Luci entered into her preteen years, she struggled a little bit with her body
image and confidence. She also had some knee pain during and after strenuous activity
due to mild lateral deviation of the distal tibia. Her posture suffered. We started
practicing Pilates at home beginning with learning the 10 principals as well as the basics
of spinal alignment so her form would be correct from the start. We worked on
fundamental mat exercises each night repeating and applying the principals within the
block system. We then started to give a little extra attention to strengthening her outer
thighs and hip abductors to help the alignment in her legs and knees. When I felt she
was ready, we moved into the equipment room at the studio. !
! One year later, Luci has transformed into a confident 13 year old, standing tall
and proud. She carries her Pilates practices with her throughout her day. She is a
confident equestrian, a leader on her volleyball and basketball team, and is excited to
join track for the first time this next year. She will be the first to tell you that Pilates has
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dramatically helped her build strength, confidence, and create balance in her muscular
structure. !
A typical equipment program for Luci:!
**SAFETY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR ESPECIALLY WHEN WORKING
WITH CHILDREN. ALWAYS START OUT USING THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF
RESISTANCE**!
Start with standing roll down x3 !
Warm up on Reformer: all springs attached and client in supine on carriage!
- Pelvic curl, Spine Twist supine, Chest lift, Chest lift with rotation!
Foot work on Reformer: 2 1/2 springs as a beginner (emphasis on keeping knees
aligned with toes, may use ball between knees to assist)!
- Parallel heels, Parallel toes, Open V heels, Open V toes, Calf Raises, Prances,
Prehensile, Single leg heels, Single leg toes!
Ab Work on Reformer: !
- Hundred Prep, Hundred, Reverse Knee Stretch (full body integration)!
Hip Work on Avalon:!
- Frog, Circles down/up, Openings!
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Spinal Articulation on Avalon Chair:!
- Pelvic Curl (added shoulder bridge prep and later shoulder bridge to further strengthen
hip extensors) !
Stretches on Ladder Barrel of the Avalon Chair: !
- Adductors, Hip flexors!
Arm Work on Wunda Chair:!
- Shrugs, Tricep press sit, Side kneeling arm!
Leg Work on Wunda Chair:!
- Leg press standing, Backward step down (using handles for balance and support on
medium springs), Hamstring curl!
Lateral Flexion Rotation: !
- Side kneeling stretch!
Back Extension!
- Basic swan!
Finish program with Standing Roll Down x3!
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In addition to working with individual children like Luci,
I was asked to bring a mat class series into a local
high school health enhancement program. I also had
the pleasure of teaching a series of week long
summer camps for younger children. We offered a
Pilates mat class camp for children ages 8-12 and a
Pilates group reformer camp for children ages 13-16.
The owner and director of our studio wrote the
guidelines for the camps. Her vision included keeping
the program fun and positive as well as catering to the level of fitness and ability of each
child. We agreed to keep the groups small so we could give individual attention to form
for safety. We created teamwork activities often using fun props and always
incorporating the block system. We played games that coincided with the specific
principles we discussed that day. Each camp was five days long so we were able to
introduce two of the ten principles each day and then review all that we had learned at
the beginning of each class. We had open
discussion on general health as well as
individual goals. The boys and girls in
these camps were all very motivated to
use Pilates as a strengthening tool for their
activities such as baseball, hockey,
gymnastics, dance, and soccer. They used
what they had learned to apply the principles to their daily lives in order to reach their !!�10
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goals. One ten year old boy asked me what exercises he could add to his program to
become a stronger pitcher on his baseball team. We added extra abdominal work and
back extensions for core strength, shoulder strength and mobilization, as well as hip
extensor/flexor focus. !
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An example of day one of a five day mat class camp program for ages 8-12:!
Principles to introduce: Awareness and Balance !
Props: Blindfolds, BOSU balls, playground balls, little plastic bugs, and a wooden segmented toy snake !
Begin by discussing the history of Pilates and giving short background on Joseph Pilates. Explain the fact that they will learn 10 principles and introduce the first two (2 per day) and the importance of and meaning behind them. Next, play a game where we stand on the BOSU, touch a finger to various parts of our bodies: head, shoulders, knees and toes. Then do the same blindfolded while discussing body awareness which will also take us right into balance. We partner up and, standing on the BOSU, toss the playground ball back and forth between partners trying not to fall off. Challenge each other by throwing a little high, low, or to the side. We also discussed another meaning of balance regarding balancing each of our muscle groups and how that applies to spinal health and alignment. !
!Foundation: (After starting with three standing roll downs) !
- Pelvic curl prep (introduce neutral spine, using the small plastic bug under lower back
and tilt from neutral to imprint spine, squishing the bug), Chest lift, Chest lift with
rotation.! !!�11
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Ab Work: !
- Hundred Prep, Double Leg Stretch, Roll up!
Spinal Articulation: (demonstrate first using the
segmented wooden toy snake) !
- Pelvic curl, Spine stretch!
Bridging: (with hips on BOSU ball and shoulders
on mat) !
- Scissors, Bicycle !
Lateral Flexion/Rotation: (with side on
BOSU ball and hand behind head) !
- Side kick kneeling!
Back Extension: (on BOSU) !
- Swimming !
Push back into resting position, breathe here for a moment, then tuck toes under and straighten legs, pushing into mat with hands and slowly roll up to standing, one vertebrae at a time, reminding them of the segmented wooden toy snake. End with three roll downs. !
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! By the end of each week long camp with these groups of children, they were able
to fully understand the principles of Pilates and apply them to each exercise when
asked. Whether I’m working with one child individually, teaching a group of 25 high
school students, or creating a program for youth camps, my conclusion is always the
same. The practice of Pilates for people of all ages is extremely beneficial for mind,
body, and soul. Starting at a young age with any health regimen is only going to create
and encourage healthy habits. One of the most beautiful pieces to this practice is that
these children are not only learning how to use Pilates principles to take care of their
bodies, they are learning how to apply them to living life. It is important in society to be
aware of ourselves, of others, and of our surroundings. We also must find balance
between the many things pulling us in all directions. It is important to learn to breathe
through all the ups and downs we experience. We teach the children to concentrate on
things that matter, learn to control not only our bodies, but also our emotions, actions,
and reactions. They learn to find their physical center, as well as prioritize the figurative
centers of their worlds. Our activities teaching efficiency and precision show them how
to manage their time and go through life with intent. In class, we imagined ourselves as
individual particles of water who still must learn to go with the flow of the river. All of this
together creates a beautiful harmony that will surely benefit each child as he or she
grows into a well balanced and healthy adult.!
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Bibliography: !
!http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3005642/!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2953286/ !
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658407/!
http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/nov09/clinical8.asp!
!Isacowitz, R. (2000-2012). BASI Mat Movement Analysis Workbook. Body!
Arts & Sciences International.!
!Isacowitz, R. (2000-2012). BASI Reformer Movement Analysis Workbook.!
Body Arts & Sciences International.!
!Isacowitz, R. (2000-2012). BASI Study Guide. Body Arts & Sciences International.!
!Buckmaster, Delia. (2015) Mission for Pilates for Children - Camp Series. !
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