The Six Pilates Principles: What They Mean on the Mat

My approach is built around the six Pilates principles. They’re about how you do an exercise, whichever one it is.

What are the six principles of Pilates?

A 2012 systematic review of the Pilates research defined them like this.

1. Centring. You work from the muscular centre of your body, often called the powerhouse, which sits between the pelvic floor and the ribcage.
2. Concentration. This is the attention you give to each movement.
3. Control. You manage your posture and movement the whole way through, without letting momentum take over.
4. Precision. This means accurate technique, knowing where each part of your body is and where it’s going.
5. Flow. Your transitions within and between exercises are smooth.
6. Breathing. You move air in and out in time with the movement.

You’ll also see it spelled “centering”, which means the same thing.

Where do the Pilates principles come from?

Joseph Pilates developed his method in the 1920s and called it Contrology. Teachers have passed the six principles down as the traditional summary of his approach.

They were never written into the method as a fixed rule, so the lists vary. Some schools teach seven, eight or nine principles, adding ideas like alignment, relaxation, coordination or stamina. The six above are the version you’ll meet most often, and they’re the ones the research uses.

What does each principle feel like in a session?

Centring

Before you move an arm or a leg, you find your centre. That means a gentle, steady engagement through your deep abdominals and pelvic floor, so your arms and legs have something stable to move from. It should feel light and supportive, so ease off if you find yourself bracing hard.

Concentration

Pilates asks for your full attention. You notice where your spine is and what your shoulders are doing, and you check that both sides of your body are working evenly.

Control

You choose every movement, and you should be able to stop at any point. If you’re swinging a leg or using a bounce to finish an exercise, you’ve lost control. I’d rather see fewer repetitions done with control than lots of loose ones.

Precision

Precision is about placement, such as exactly where your pelvis sits and whether your knee tracks over your foot. Small details like these change which muscles do the work. Most of what an instructor cues is about precision.

Flow

Once the other principles are in place, your movement starts to connect, and one exercise leads into the next without you collapsing in between. Flow usually comes last, after the rest feel familiar.

Breathing

Your breath gives each exercise its rhythm. A common cue is to breathe in to prepare and out on the effort, though different schools time the breath differently. Whichever pattern you follow, keep breathing steadily and fully, and don’t hold your breath when an exercise gets hard.

Which principle matters most?

They work as a set, so I find them hard to rank. If you’re new, start with breathing. It’s the easiest one to notice, and concentration and control tend to follow once you’re paying attention to it.

Breathing stands out in the research too. The 2012 review I mentioned looked at 119 papers on Pilates and found the traditional principles came up in about 23% of them on average. In the papers on people with low back pain, breathing was the only principle mentioned at all.

Do the principles apply to the Reformer and other equipment?

They describe how you move, whatever you’re moving on. I’m certified in Mat, Reformer, Cadillac, Chair and Barrel, and the same six ideas run through all of them. On equipment, the springs can support you or add resistance. Centring yourself and controlling each movement is still your job, and so is placing it with care. If you’re trying to decide between the two, I compare them in mat vs Reformer Pilates.

How can you practise the principles at home?

Try picking one principle per session. Do the routine you already know, with only that principle in mind.

• Breathing day. Match every movement to a full breath in or out, and slow down to make it fit.
• Control day. Move at half your usual speed and pause briefly at the end of each movement.
• Precision day. Before each exercise, check the position of your head, ribs, pelvis and feet.
• Flow day. Link the exercises so there’s no flop or reset between them.

How do the principles carry into daily life?

The control and precision you practise on the mat carry into how you sit and stand, and how you move through the rest of your day. Breathing is the easiest place to notice it. Once you’ve practised breathing out on the effort, you may find yourself doing it when you lift a heavy bag or get up from a low chair.

Sources

• Wells C, Kolt GS, Bialocerkowski A. Defining Pilates exercise: a systematic review. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2012. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22579438/