Getting Off the Plateau: Tips for Growth and Progress When Your Pilates Practice Has Stalled
Any new activity begins with a period of significant and rapid growth. At first, when you are learning something new, each skill that you acquire moves you significantly away from the state of original ignorance. Think about learning a new language—it’s easy and efficient to acquire new vocabulary, and every new word allows you to build simple phrases and sentences, so it feels as if you’re making rapid, savant-like progress. But at some point, further gains require more sophisticated strategies and/or more specific feedback. You reach a point where your understanding stabilizes. This is known as the Performance Plateau, and to overcome it requires reframing your approach, conquering mental barriers, drilling down into particular skills and working to consciously refine your techniques. If you feel like you’ve plateaued in your Pilates practice, here are some strategies to overcome the stasis and deepen your practice.
Focus on Your Breath
Everyone knows that breath is integral to Pilates. It may even be something your instructor cues with each motion. But when you’re focusing deeply on your movements and how you feel in your body during a Pilates session, it’s easy to let breath become mechanical rather than intentional. And it’s not just that it’s important to keep breathing during your session, it’s about coordinating your breath with your movements to maximize control and effectiveness.
To deepen your practice and focus on your breath:
Pay close attention to your breath throughout your workout—allow your breath to accommodate your movements, rather than being ancillary.
Try to synchronize your inhale and exhale with each physical change—inhale to prepare and lengthen, exhale to engage the core and move deeper into a stretch or muscle contraction.
Focus on breath outside of your regular Pilates session. Being aware of your breathing in your daily routine can help to improve your attention to breath and your lung capacity. (As a side benefit: it can help you relax when life becomes overwhelming!)
Master the Basics
Every so often, even if you’re an advanced Pilates practitioner, it’s helpful to return to thinking about the basic principles of Pilates and how you incorporate them into your workouts. Taking the time to consider alignment, core engagement, and control with each movement can help you push past the dreaded plateau and may give you a new approach to movements that you’ve been doing for years.
Alignment: Pay attention to your spine, pelvis, and shoulders. Whether you’re on the mat or using equipment like the reformer, alignment should always be a priority. Ask your instructor to correct your alignment or check-in with your movements in the mirror to confirm that you’re prioritizing alignment.
Core Engagement: Make a point with each movement to focus on activating your abdominal muscles (think navel to spine!) without holding your breath. Paying deep attention to your core engagement will help support your movements and push past your previous limitations.
Control: It may be tempting to rush through your movements—sometimes speed is improperly correlated with proficiency. Pilates is all about controlled, deliberate movements. Before each series, think about moving with intention. Focus on fewer repetitions, but with impeccable form, rather than rushing through multiple sets.
Challenge Your Core!
Remember that your core is not just your blazing six-pack; it includes the muscles of your back, pelvic floor, and diaphragm. As you deepen your Pilates practice, it’s good to continually challenge your core strength. This will help you to support more complex movements and level up your practice.
Increase the Duration: Instead of doing more repetitions, practice holding positions for longer periods. This builds endurance in the core.
Engage the Entire Core: In addition to focusing on the front abdominals, think about engaging your deep core muscles like your pelvic floor and lower back. When you focus on using specific muscles to help you complete an exercise, you are able to more efficiently recruit them into service.
Use Equipment: Reformer, Cadillac, and chair exercises allow you to deepen your core engagement through resistance. If you’re feeling stuck in your mat practice, consider incorporating equipment into your practice to target the deeper layers of core musculature.
Don’t Neglect Flexibility and Mobility
A deeper practice requires a balance between strength and flexibility, and this balance can be developed through consistent stretching and mobility exercises.
Dynamic Stretching: Incorporate movements that gently lengthen muscles and increase range of motion. The Pilates reformer and mat work offer many exercises that stretch the hip flexors, hamstrings, and spine.
Foam Rolling: Techniques like foam rolling can help release tightness and improve flexibility, which can deepen your range of motion during Pilates exercises.
Work on Joint Mobility: Focus on exercises that enhance mobility in your shoulders, hips, and ankles, as these areas are crucial for many Pilates movements.
Work with a Teacher or Take Advanced Classes
If you’ve been practicing Pilates for a while and feel ready to take things to the next level, consider working with an instructor who can offer personalized feedback and more advanced variations of exercises. A teacher can offer corrections, ensure you’re performing movements safely and challenge you in new ways
If you prefer group classes, try working out with a more advanced group. Even though this can be daunting, working with more advanced practitioners exposes you to new techniques, exercises and equipment.
Set Intentional Goals
Whether you’re taking a Pilates class or working with an instructor, setting specific goals— and being vocal about your goals with your classmates or instructor—will help you stay motivated and work with intention. Whether you’re working to master a specific exercise, increasing your core strength, or improving your flexibility, having clear intentions will guide your practice and help you measure progress.
Don’t forget to be realistic with your goals: set achievable short-term goals while also thinking about long-term growth. Keep a journal or take photos of your practice to notice how you’re evolving over time. It’s incredibly satisfying to see progress—it helps you stay motivated and gets you off the plateau.
Deepening your Pilates practice is an ongoing journey that involves cultivating awareness, refining your technique, and challenging yourself both mentally and physically. Remember, Pilates is not just about performing a specific set of exercises—it's about understanding and listening to your body. Recognizing that plateaus are a normal part of skill acquisition can help maintain motivation and set you on the road to improvement.