01/03/2025
Example: Thereās a modification in the Pilates world - Iād say itās even become a āpositionā thatās become an identifier of Pilates in the Pilates world - called āTable Topā. Itās a 90 degree leg position you get put in when lying on your back to modify lots of lying on your back Pilates exercises like the 100, Single Leg Stretch etcā¦ I originally practiced and trained in a different āstyleā of Pilates and this Table Top thing was a rule to live by!
Let me tell youā¦ Since I retrained in Classical Pilates I have NEVER found the need, EVER, to put people in this static position. Iāve not found a good enough result from it to tell me itās getting anyone closer to the goal of the exercises itās being used in and I am not seeing it sufficiently prepare the muscles needed to progress these exercises to eventually move beyond that position š¤·āāļø Pilates is DYNAMIC so I donāt make ANY āstatic positionsā the rule for any MOVEMENT! Table Top gave me no why once I learned to teach BODIES and HOW THEY MOVE and not āexercises and positionsā.
So yes, in Classical Pilates the only place āTable Topā doesnāt existā¦. NOT because we donāt modify (thatās a mythā¦) but because thereās SO MANY BETTER OPTIONS available to me and to the progress of my clients than that static position.
Where might I sometimes teach something that might look like a Table Top? Thereās some fab Eve Gentry āpre-pilatesā exercises in this EXACT position BUT thereās resistance created with the hands to get people to that goal of connecting to their deepest core muscles. Then the sensations it awakes I CUE in the following movements while they MOVE! Who wants a video?!
If you teach or do Table Top and you have a WHY for why youāre doing it, what itās helping, what itās prepping forā¦ teach it! do it! Iām just finding more and more teachers DONāT know why, they were just told to, and I think clients deserve something better than that.
Side note - thereās a movement called āTable Topā on the Wunda Chair - itās amazing š Itās nothing related to the 90degree leg thingā¦
