Ivanhoe Pilates and Health Management

19/02/2026

01/02/2026

Essential……

Understanding Biomechanics Through the Hip-Hinge Lever Model

This image beautifully illustrates the human body acting as a lever system during forward bending and lifting tasks such as deadlifts, good mornings, and picking objects from the floor. In biomechanics, the spine and pelvis function together as a rigid segment rotating around the hip joint, which serves as the primary fulcrum. The way the trunk inclines forward directly alters the moment arms acting on both the hip extensors and the spinal structures.

When the torso leans forward, the horizontal distance between the load and the hip joint increases, creating a longer external moment arm. A longer moment arm dramatically increases the torque demand at the hip and lumbar spine, even if the actual weight being lifted does not change. This is why small postural changes can create large differences in mechanical stress.

The image contrasts two key lever concepts. On the side with the shorter moment arm, the movement requires greater muscular force to overcome the load, but the displacement is smaller. This is mechanically advantageous for producing strength, which is why proper hip hinge mechanics emphasize keeping the load close to the body. When the bar or weight stays near the hips, the torque on the lumbar spine is minimized, and the gluteus maximus and hamstrings can efficiently generate extension force.

On the opposite side, the longer moment arm allows for greater movement distance and speed, but at the cost of increased spinal loading. As the trunk bends further forward, the erector spinae must generate significantly higher force to counteract flexion torque. This increased demand explains why excessive trunk flexion during lifting is strongly associated with lumbar fatigue, shear forces, and injury risk.

From a spinal biomechanics perspective, the lumbar spine is not designed to be the primary mover during lifting. Its role is to act as a force transmitter, maintaining stiffness while the hips generate motion. When hip mobility or strength is insufficient, the body compensates by increasing spinal flexion, effectively lengthening the spinal moment arm and shifting load away from the hips. Over time, this compensation increases compressive and shear stress on the intervertebral discs.

The diagram also highlights why coaching cues such as “push the hips back,” “keep the chest proud,” and “maintain a neutral spine” are biomechanically sound. These cues reduce the external moment arm acting on the spine while maximizing the hip extensor moment arm, improving force efficiency and reducing injury risk. Proper hip hinge mechanics transform lifting into a hip-dominant task rather than a spine-dominant one.

In real-world movement, this lever relationship applies far beyond the gym. Daily activities like lifting groceries, tying shoes, or working in a bent posture all follow the same mechanical rules. Understanding how moment arms influence force helps clinicians, trainers, and athletes appreciate why posture matters more than load alone when it comes to spinal health.

In short, the image captures a core principle of biomechanics:
Longer moment arm equals higher torque and stress.
Shorter moment arm equals better force efficiency and safety.

Master the hip hinge, and you master load management across the entire kinetic chain.

01/02/2026

Earlier this month at the Pilates Journal Expo in California, I announced out loud something that many of us have been feeling for a while.
Pilates studio owners are the gatekeepers of this profession.
Not in a controlling way, but because studios are where the standard of education either holds or gets diluted.
Right now, there are more reformer studios than ever offering fitness on Pilates equipment and calling it Pilates. That’s not innovation. That’s mislabeling.
And it’s creating real consequences.
When everything is called Pilates, the work loses definition. Clients get confused. Teachers get undercut. Studios that actually invest in comprehensive education are forced to compete with a version of Pilates that was never meant to carry the name.
Joe Pilates didn’t design a single apparatus for trends or fast formats. He designed a system. A method. A body of work that requires depth, progression, and real training.
This isn’t about being anti growth.
It’s about being pro standard.
As the industry expands, it’s not becoming less selective. It’s becoming more refined. Studios that are lasting aren’t chasing volume. They’re anchored in comprehensive education and teachers who can teach the system as a whole.
Comprehensive teachers aren’t the liability.
They’re the differentiator.
So I created a video outlining the non negotiable standards studio owners must uphold if they want to call what they offer Pilates and still sleep at night.
This isn’t a call out.
It’s a mirror.
Comment WATCH and I’ll send you the link. 💫

01/12/2025

To all my students, Donna from WPS, reminds you all about why I make individualised program choices for you all!

A Pilates Perspective-

26/11/2025

An important understanding of physiology research. Why we use the Joseph Pilates principles of, Breathing, Control, Flow, Precision, Concentration and Centering!
Jo observed a thing or two!!

21/11/2025

At Ivanhoe Pilates we are registered Members of PAA. Teaching Pilates with a fully equipped rehab Studio. All Pilates equipment used.

11/11/2025

One of the key functions of muscle tissue is to modulate the tension within fascial structures such as ligaments, tendons, and the fascial membranes that surround and pe*****te our muscles.

This modulation allows us to absorb force and move efficiently.

The level of tension flowing through our connective tissues needs to match the alignments, postures, and movements we’re performing at any given moment.

In other words, our muscle tone must remain dynamic. Muscles need to be able to increase or decrease their stiffness to support movement appropriately.

This is why the common practice of always “engaging” or “pre-activating” muscles before movement can actually interfere with efficient motion.

The role of muscle tissue isn’t only to initiate movement, but also to respond and adapt to it.

If we’re constantly pre-engaging our muscles (always bracing the core or squeezing the glutes) we’re reducing this adaptability, making movement less efficient and often more effortful.

So, if you’re interested in fascia or in teaching efficient, fluid movement, it’s important not to cue your clients into perpetual engagement.

Instead, focus on cultivating adaptive muscle-fascial tone, a system that’s responsive, intelligent, and tuned to the demands of the moment.

Movement is medicine

Tom

09/10/2025

So true, thanks Narelle and Catherine. Us 30 year teachers are still learning the true benefits of the complete Pilates Method System (all equipment)! Thanks Joseph for continuing to challenge our knowledge with your incredible observations of this system of movement…….. I’m now 73 and know it works!

What is pilates today, in my mind, its pretty clear, but for the general public, I am not so sure…

Joe Pilates signed his clients up for 3 sessions a week for their first month, he wasn’t into “jumping on the popular bandwagon, and making money out of what people wanted, or giving them what was popular”, no, he passionately believed in his system, yes system of exercises that if people committed themselves to his methodology that they would feel the change in their bodies.

Those of us who have spent years training and learning about the “how” and “why” his system works, and are still learning from experienced professionals in the industry with more experience than our own, and passing on the benefits to our clients.

And believe me, no one knows anything after 5 days of training in “pilates” no matter how glossy the cover looks.

So use the pilates name and make your money, whilst the rest of us continue his legacy of pilates, which is not instagram exercises to be interesting, nor just exercises on one piece of his equipment.

I am so tired of my industry of nearly 30 years being downgraded to just fitness on pilates equipment. This is not “pilates” and people should seek out the difference.

19/09/2025

Thanks Joanne for reminding us that movement and exercise are not the same thing! Please read!

ARE EXERCISES NOT MAKING THE DIFFERENCE?I see so many people who have trained and practiced exercises incredibly diligently, only to find that very little ch...

02/09/2025

A good approach for Pilates programming too!

28/08/2025

To all of you who hear me remind you about fascial support and its differences………..