Flexion, Flexion Everywhere

Help Me Sister!

Concerned in Virginia writes:

"Why is Pilates so strongly biased toward spinal flexion and shouldn't we include more extension exercises in every session to even it out?"

Why, indeed!

Beyond this question, have you heard the criticism that there is too much flexion in Pilates? Some of it comes from neutral spine proponents and some from folks who think too much of anything is not good. In fact and of course, extension work is part of a proper full-body workout Pilates session but it’s especially critical for clients with bone mineral density concerns.

But before we talk about safe extension options, let’s first understand why Pilates is extremely biased toward flexion.

It’s true that in the repertoire there are way more spinal and hip flexion exercises than extension, side bending or rotation, inward or outward rotation. By “way more,” I mean a ton more, tens of percentage points more, or, put another way (and to properly use a double negative) almost none are not flexion based.

Here’s the deal with why Pilates is so flexion biased.