Understanding 2-Way Stretch and Why It Changes Everything

Jay Grimes, my beloved teacher and friend, used the phrase ‘2-way stretch’ to capture the experience of the Pilates exercises in his body.

He considered the Mat exercise Double Leg Pull (also known as Double Leg Stretch) to be a shining example of 2-way stretch: a reach in two directions from a strong center, with a deep, full breath.

If you’ve only got time for one exercise, the Double Leg Pull has it all.

Put simply, 2-way stretch is what makes Pilates Pilates:

• It demands full participation of the body and mind
• It illuminates the Pilates Method as a cohesive system and holistic discipline.

Joe Pilates says it all: “Contrology (Pilates) is complete coordination of body, mind and spirit.” 2-way stretch makes it all possible.

We Only Have One Exercise

Joe Pilates’ system of body conditioning gives us over 500 exercises.

Or perhaps he’s given us one exercise with over 500 variations.

Pilates training programs often teach a unique purpose behind each exercise: to open the chest, to engage the center, to strengthen the hips, etc…

Let’s consider these goals to be inherent in the given movements of the exercises.

2-way stretch is what you’ll practice on the inside, promoting a singular focus for the mind.

You’ll move with control and efficiency - with the entire body working in concert - to minimize tension and correct imbalances.

“Make every exercise feel like the Double Leg Pull.” -Jay Grimes

Finding Your 2-Way Stretch

Let’s define our oppositional forces in broad strokes:

Imagine the body standing upright with feet planted in the earth.

The press of gravity allows the musculature at top of the body, i.e. the top line of the shoulders and back, to travel down the back, down the back of the legs to the feet.

This is the force that maintains upright posture.

In opposition, your work continues: pulling up from the earth through the arches of the feet, the inner legs, into the center of the guts and trunk and all the way up the front of the body - the ‘in and up’ of Pilates - continuing upward into the throat and head.

Let’s call this the lifting force.

What travels down the back must continue into your lift up the front, optimally working together to create equal length on the front and back of the body.

Sounds great, right?

Pilates Is Experiential

I bet you’ve already had a taste of 2-way stretch in your own Pilates practice.

Why not bust out your best Double Leg Pull to see how you do?

Could you reach your lower body out into space as though you’re standing in the air?

When you reach your arms in opposition can it create a lift up through your entire body?

How could 2-way stretch enhance your best exercise? Or better yet, your worst one?

More Reasons To Love 2-way Stretch:

• Declutter your Pilates brain: 2-way stretch allows for a singular focus in every Pilates exercise.
• 2-way stretch contracts your muscles eccentrically, building greater, more flexible strength.
• Balanced musculature minimizes strain on the joints by keeping them in good alignment.

Don’t settle for one-way stretch. You deserve two.