Get A Grip! Is Pilates enough?

Seriously, get a Grip would you?

No, I mean literally - get a grip!

Let me explain why it sounds like I'm berating you…

You know I love Pilates, right?

I think Every Body can do Pilates (but don’t think Everybody should do Pilates because remember, you have to do what floats your boat).

Do I think that Pilates is the be all and the end all?

Well, mostly yes, but for suresies it’s a very good method of movement based exercise that:

• emphasises skeletal alignment
• does not let you rely on your strengths
• offers you the ability to heighten your interoception, and
• according to creator Joseph Pilates, allows you to move with “spontaneous zest and pleasure”. But…

What it is not so good at is helping you with your grip strength.

Hang on here, now I'm going to contradict myself.

Actually Pilates can help you with your grip strength but it's not emphasised enough! And if you're only doing Mat exercises you don't have many, if any, opportunities to work on it. 

Let's backtrack a bit...

Why exactly is Grip Strength so dang important?

Good question!

Yes, I enthusiastically share my love of the Pilates Method but I’m also all about healthful ageing (see name of blog).

So guess what?

Turns out grip strength is a pretty good indicator of how healthfully we are going to move into our 'golden years'

hmmm, I wonder where that phrase came from? let me just check... evidently is came from developer Del Webb, who coined the phrase for a 1959 advertising campaign to help sell his retirement community "Sun City" located in the Arizona desert. 

Here are 9 things that grip strength (or lack thereof) has been shown to be connected to:

1. your overall strength
2. upper limb (aka your arm & shoulder) strength
3. falls
4. fractures
5. bone mineral density

those are some physical things but grip strength also has a correlation to:

6. depression

7. cognitive function

8. sleep problems

9. diabetes

That's pretty crazy right and this is not even a comprehensive list! This is why working on our grip strength is so very important.

It's apparent grip strength has wide ranging connections to our future quality of life, and medical Drs. actually use it to assess older adult's physical and mental health. But, as I said the Pilates Method doesn’t have a lot of instances where we’re really focusing on strengthening our grip to strengthen our grip. 

When I was trained only a loose grip was explained.

One reason was practical; there are certain exercises where your hand has to slide around the bar or pole you're holding - think of the Push Through on the Cadillac or Tower.

I might be mis-remembering here, but I also recall being told that we didn't wan't to build up too much tension in our hands.

Now though, I realise that in my teaching I've been missing using the hands and the grip in a more robust  and mindful way, i.e. strengthening the grip to strengthen the grip! 

Look at all these exercises where a strong grip would be super important.

These will not include Matwork exercises because there are no traditional exercises where your hands are in fists, but your Matwork would definitely benefit from the connection of grip strength to upper limb strength, right?

Some of the following exercises do not use a fully closed grip meaning hand, arm, and shoulder strength and connection, would then be even more important!

• Any exercise on the Reformer where your hands are on the foot bar and are supporting some of your weight. Think of the Long Stretch Series.
• Still on the Reformer: Pull and T Straps, Snake & Twist, Short Box Flat Back, Splits, Front & Russian, Chest Expansion, Control Arabesque - you get the idea - there are a fair few.
• Cadi/Tower exercises: Colitis - don't you love that name? (when I first learned it I misheard and assumed it was short for kaleidoscope🤣). Also Leg and Arm Springs, Hanging Up & Down, Pull Ups, Swedish Bars, Squirrel, Tower...
• Low Chair? Like the Reformer, all the exercises where you're supporting your body weight with your arms.
• Ladder Barrel? Some of the Advanced work: the Grasshopper, and Jumping On The Stomach both need an extremely strong grip on to the ladder so that you can loft the body.

Do you have some Pilates equipment at your disposal? 

If you do equipment based classes, have a Reformer at home or, if you're an instructor with equipment access, then I invite you to specifically pay attention to your grip strength, and build it up so that you feel confident moving into the above listed exercises as well as serving older Future You.

Attention!!!

It would be remiss of me not to tell you about the piece of Pilates equipment called the Bean Bag.

The Bean Bag desires only to strengthen your grip and bring some serious pain to your forearms!

Imagine a small dowel about 12"/30cm long with a cord connected through the centre. The 48"/120cm long cord is attached to a weighted bag at the bottom. The bag is filled, generally with sand, (not beans!) and weighs approximately 3lbs/1.5kg.

Aha you think that's not a lot of weight! Phhtt!

But, when you stand up and hold your arms straight in front of you, shoulder height, and slowly roll the bag up and down all the while exaggerating the articulation of your fingers, hands, and wrists, trust me your forearms will soon be on F.I.R.E.

This little beastie is a wonderful way to get some finger, hand, wrist, forearm, shoulder, and trunk strength all in one little package.

I don't own one of these babies but I def need one and rather than spend $60-$100USD (which if I convert to Aussie dollars will make me cry) I'm giving a shoutout to Infinity Pilates Studio in Victoria. They've got a great D.I.Y. post about how to make your own Bean Bag.

But what do you do dear Reader, if you're not fortunate to have Pilates equipment close at hand? (or you haven't constructed your Bean Bag just yet?)

If your Pilates practice consists solely of the Mat exercises how can you work on your grip strength so that you too can gain the benefits and feel more powerful in your arms, shoulders, and torso?

Here are three ways: 

1. HANG

Hanging has been shown to help with shoulder health and function and guess what, it's also a really easy way to increase your grip strength. I like this clear and comprehensive article by physio Todd Hargrove: https://www.physio-network.com/blog/hanging-for-shoulder-health-and-function/ 

Here is how I hang at home👇

First up, in the Dragonfly Pilates & Movement Schtudio I hang off the top of the Springboard gripping with my fingertips

 If I'm outside I hang off my Hills Hoist🧺 (check out my view!)

2. FINGERTIP GRIP

Over time your goal would be to increase the duration and/or the weight.

You can do this easily with hand weights

Or use jars of food. These pickles (not mine, am not a fan, they're the hubby's) weigh 1.36kg which is about 3lbs (actually 2.998287)yes that's my cat Tish in the background😻

nice wrinkled knees but in my defence I'd been wearing those tights for close to close to ten hours when I snapped that photo📸

3. WRIST ROTATIONS

Hold a hand weight, bend your elbow to 90 degrees and glue it to your side. Start with your palm facing up and then slowly rotate your hand until your palm faces down without letting your upper arm move. Repeat nine more times and then switch sides. 

Pretend these four photos are in a flip book🙏 

I don't know about you but I'm heading off to the hardware store to buy my Bean Bag supplies.

Be well as you age gracefully! Thanks for reading, 

xBec

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this blog post. Professional advice should be obtained before taking any action as a result of the contents of this blog. Rebecca Forde disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from ay reliance placed on any of the contents of this blog.

photos by moi' except cover & social photo is by Kelly Sikkema