Excuse Me, My Leg Has a Question

The Day My Leg Started Shaking

You know that moment in Pilates when you're doing an exercise and suddenly one leg starts shaking?

Not a tiny little tremble either. I mean properly shaking.

Sometimes it’s shaking so much it looks like a child at the back of the classroom desperately waving their hand in the air, trying to get the teacher’s attention. Pick me! Pick me! Or perhaps your leg is simply very enthusiastically trying to say hello.

Meanwhile, you're trying to ignore it and carry on as though everything is completely under control. You start wondering whether anyone else has noticed. You look at the person next to you and, annoyingly, their leg appears perfectly still.

So naturally, you think, What is wrong with me?

I see this all the time in the studio, and one of the most common things clients ask me is, "Why am I shaking?"

Usually, they're worried that it means they're weak.

It doesn't.

In fact, one of the things I love about Pilates is that it has an incredible ability to find the muscles that have been quietly getting away with doing very little for years.

You can be fit. You can run, cycle, lift weights or walk every day and still find yourself shaking on the Reformer. That's because Pilates isn't only asking how strong you are. It's asking how well your muscles work together.

And that's a very different question.

Your Body Is Figuring It Out

Every movement you make requires a conversation between your brain and your muscles. Your brain has to work out which muscles need to switch on, how much effort they need to produce and how they need to coordinate with everything else that's happening.

When you're learning something new, that conversation can be a little messy.

Think about learning to ride a bike. At first, you're wobbling all over the place because your body is making constant little corrections. Eventually, you don't even think about it.

Pilates is similar.

When we challenge the body with a new movement, particularly one requiring balance, stability or control, the nervous system is constantly making tiny adjustments.

Sometimes we can see those adjustments.

That's the shake.

Pilates Finds the Muscles You've Been Ignoring

Then we have our stabilising muscles.

These are the quieter muscles that help support our joints, spine and pelvis. They don't tend to get the glory that the glutes, quadriceps and abdominals get, but they're incredibly important.

And Pilates loves them.

Put someone into a bridge, plank or single-leg exercise on a moving Reformer carriage and suddenly those stabilisers have a job to do.

If they haven't been doing much lately, they get tired.

Quickly.

That's often when the shaking begins.

Even Strong People Shake

This is the part I really want people to understand.

Shaking doesn't automatically mean you're weak.

I've seen very strong people shake in Pilates. Sometimes they shake even more because we're asking their bodies to work in a way they're simply not used to.

Strength is one thing. Coordination is another.

You can have incredibly strong muscles, but if they haven't learned how to work together efficiently, the nervous system has to figure it out.

That's one of the things we're training in Pilates.

We're not just making muscles stronger. We're teaching the body how to use that strength.

When Is Shaking Too Much?

There is, of course, a point where I want you to listen to your body.

If you're shaking but you're still breathing, maintaining your alignment and moving with control, you're usually fine to continue.

If the shaking becomes so strong that you lose your form or can't control the movement, it's time for a rest or a modification. And if you experience pain, dizziness, numbness or anything that feels genuinely wrong, stop.

Pilates isn't about seeing how much discomfort you can tolerate.

It's about learning to move well.

So the next time you're on the Reformer and one of your legs starts waving around like an overenthusiastic child who knows the answer, don't immediately assume you're weak.

Your muscles may be tired. Your stabilisers may finally be joining the party. Your nervous system may be learning a new movement.

Your body might simply be figuring things out.

And sometimes, figuring things out is a little shaky.

See you in the studio,

Courtney