Mat Pilates Training Effects on Active Turnout and the Kinetic Chain: A Case Study
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Date
2023-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Mat Pilates has been cited as a physical training tool for improving dance aesthetics. It has the potential to be used effectively to improve dancer turnout, or external rotation of the legs. Turnout is significant not only because it helps dancers create visuals but also because it affects the kinetic chain, which resonates from the feet out through the top of the spine and connects directly to pelvic stability. This project implemented a nine-week mat Pilates training program on university dance minors to quantify changes in active turnout and to analyze changes in pelvic stability. Six female participants were measured weekly for their total active turnout using Functional Footprints. They also completed motion capture sessions before and after the training period where they performed several dance sequences. Spine and waist markers were analyzed specifically to observe change in standard deviations between pre-training dance and walking sequences versus post-training dance and walking sequences. It was revealed that all participants increased their total active turnout, and improvements ranged from 5-22 degrees. It was also discovered that five of six participants showed smaller standard deviation differences in dance sequences when compared to walking sequences in the post-training motion capture sessions. This means that dancers' hip movements varied less from their typical moving posture when completing post-training dance sequences than in pre-training. As seen by improvements in pelvic stability, it can also be inferred that the kinetic chain benefits from mat Pilates training. Overall, research findings indicate that mat Pilates is an effective tool for target-training turnout in dancers and for improving pelvic stability.
Description
Second Place in The Human Experience at Denman Forum
Keywords
Pilates, Turnout, Kinetic Chain, Dance Science