A work in progress

Many moons ago, as a young woman who was starting to take part in martial arts competitions, I took a fancy to the notion that I should probably “do Pilates or Yoga or something.” 

So it was that I went along to the village hall to take part in my first Pilates class. I was the youngest by a good three decades. Full of the arrogance of youth I was expecting to be some kind of gift to Pilates. Easy. But there I was, supposedly in peak condition, stuck doing exercises that I felt were doing nothing for me, while the harder exercises - which the older participants accomplished with ease - were completely inaccessible to me. There seemed to be nothing in between. I went to Yoga instead - in a more humble frame of mind - and didn’t return to Pilates for another seven years.

This yogi didn't just wake up one morning and find he could do this. I hope. Image licensed CC-BY-SA-4.0

Today, I would like to discuss how we can use progressions to form a bridge between the basic and the more advanced versions of any exercise. If we are to progress and improve our movement, we need to find our personal sweet spot for every exercise - where we are challenged, but can perform the exercise with good technique. We don't just have levels 1, 2 and 3, but instead a countless range of possibilities are open to us. These principles can be applied to any form of exercise.

To vary the intensity of an exercise we can adjust:

• Number of repetitions. More is harder. But when many repetitions of your current level is getting easy, just doing one repetition of the more advanced exercise is a good way to introduce the next level.
• Speed of movement. Usually faster is harder, but for exercises where a little momentum helps, or where the extreme range of movement requires more effort, slower can be harder. Varying speed provides more benefits than always moving at the same speed.
• Lever length. Straight limbs extended away from the body require more effort than folded limbs.
• Base of support. The more of the body we have in contact with the ground, the easier an exercise is. Conversely, removing contact with the floor, or adding an unstable base such as a soft ball, will make an exercise more challenging.
• Resistance. Exercises can be made more challenging by adding additional resistance - usually bands or weights. Extending the limbs also increases the body’s own resistance, or you can mentally resist by moving as if you were carrying a heavy weight.
• Angle of gravity. Working against gravity is harder than working with gravity - for example, push ups against a wall are easier than push ups on the floor.
• Range of movement. Increasing the size of the movement will make it harder. Holding a start position can be a way to build up to the next level - the plank, for example, is often performed as an exercise in its own right, but you might also think of it as a press-up where the range of movement has been reduced infinitely.
• Rest. Resting between each repetition - even for the duration of a single inhalation, is easier than continuous movement.
• Visual input. Closing your eyes will make any exercise involving balance harder (please don’t try this in aerobics!).
• Impact. Leaving the floor entirely means that the body has to absorb the impact of landing. Adding some recoil to this, as in plyometric exercises, such as a jumping squat, makes the exercise far more challenging than a static squat.

Because we have so many tools in our exercise kit, it should be possible to find a version of each exercise that will challenge you and which you can perform safely. In the video below I demonstrate how just using two of these principles - lever length and base of support - can progress a simple exercise into a more advanced one through a series of small steps. You would typically progress through these stages over the course of a few weeks or months. It may be that, due to injuries or your body composition, for example, that some versions of a particular exercise will always be unsuitable for you; however, there is always something we can do to make an exercise effective and challenging. Finally, don't be shy to tell your instructor if an exercise isn't working for you - their job is to tailor exercises for you and ensure that you can execute them safely and effectively.