Find Your Two Way Stretch in Pilates

Have you ever heard of the two-way stretch in Pilates? Maybe yes, maybe no. It will depend on how experienced and knowledgeable your teacher is. (Or if they think you are ready to find it!) When I first began teaching Pilates, I’d had very little training and didn’t have any concept of it. Even when I started to hear of it, I didn’t fully understand what it is or how to find it in my body. When you do figure out what it is, all the exercises will feel better in your body and be much more difficult to execute. 

In Pilates, you can very much just go through the motions. You can do Pilates choreography and not feel much from it. But with a well-trained teacher who has an eye for what you personally need for your body and can give you good cues, the same exercises become completely different. The two way stretch is a big part of what makes all the difference. 

What Is The Two Way Stretch? 

Let’s start with the core, which Joseph Pilates called “the powerhouse”. It includes the muscles of the torso – the abdominals, pelvic floor, glutes, and back. He knew that having a strong powerhouse would support the spine and improve posture. Something Joseph never did was ask his clients to engage, clench, squeeze or grip any one group of muscles. It would happen organically if the client found the two way stretch of the powerhouse. When you find it, the muscles turn on naturally and just enough. I have a Goldilocks rule when I teach Pilates;, you are looking to avoid “too much” or “too little” and find “just right”.

Here are two ways to envision and find your two way stretch: 

1. Think of a bamboo finger trap. I remember getting these in goodie bags as a child and getting bored of them very quickly, but they are a great visual tool to teach the two-way stretch. If you’ve never seen one, they are a tube of thin, woven bamboo (or plastic these days). It’s just wide enough to stick your finger in and is about 12 cm long. When you put your fingers inside the tube, one in each end, and then pull your fingers away from one another (in two ways), the tube stretches, tension is created, and you can’t get your fingers out. The harder you pull the more tension and more rigid the finger trap becomes. It becomes stronger, just like your core when you find your two-way stretch in Pilates. 

2. Try slouching. Another way I teach this is by having the client slouch a bit. Then, I have them stand or sit up taller while thinking of creating length up through the crown of their head and down through their tailbone. I have them take note of what they feel in their core muscles before and after. There will be some automatic engagement of the muscles. 

Some people are more aware of the change that occurs and that is okay. Pilates is like that.  Some people are super aware of these feelings straight off the hop, while it takes others much longer to feel the natural engagement of their muscles. It’s common for people to think they should feel a lot, like if you are flexing your biceps really hard. Rather, you’re looking for a small, natural engagement by finding length.  

Find More Stretch and Length

The two way stretch in Pilates starts in your powerhouse, but it’s not the only way to find it. It stretches down past the pelvic floor and up past the shoulders. Imagine (or try) to find length from the base of your shoulder blades down your back line all the way to the feet. Then think of lengthening the front line of your torso, from the pelvic floor all the way up to the crown of your head. All of those muscles turn on automatically just by lengthening.

We use what we call the “Pilates stance” in many of the exercises. This is where your heels are together and  your toes slightly apart. To find this position, you externally rotate from the hips to draw the heels together. This connection turns on your glutes, inner thighs, hamstrings, and by reaching up through the crown of your head, it helps to keep your spine long for the start of many of the exercises. 

Finally, there is also the lengthening of the limbs. This applies when standing, laying down, and sitting. Reach those legs long! You also want to reach your arms. Depending on the exercise, you’ll be reaching forward, upward, down by your sides, or wide to either side of the room. You are trying to find length and reach. At the same time, your arms are connected to your back and your legs into your hip joint.  So the limbs are in fact reaching into the joint as well as away from the joint. You have a two way stretch head to heels, or finger tip to finger tip, but also end to end of each limb. It’s a lot to think about but it all comes with time and practice. 

Get More With the Two Way Stretch

You can see how a bit of focus and intention to how your body is stretching and lengthening changes the exercises. It’s also how Pilates keeps getting harder! As you reach and find the two way stretch in your torso, you’ll get so much more out of fewer reps.  When you find the two way stretch you are going to have a tough time doing ten or fifteen reps of something; three or five will likely be enough. This is exactly what Joseph Pilates prescribed.  Less done well versus lots done haphazardly. And the more you do it the more you get from it.

There is Always Room for Improvement

The two way stretch can always be practiced and improved upon. Even now, there are times that I miss a little bit of that two way stretch in some exercises and as soon as I correct it, the exercise feels so much better. I move with more ease, it feels better in my body, and wow- is it ever more challenging.