Back pain | Pilates with Priya

Help! My back hurts

20 February, 2015 Priya Tew

Lower back pain is one of the top reasons people come to us. It is such a common complaint that I almost expect people to mention it and tend to ask if it is not mentioned on our induction form.

The top 3 reasons I see lower back pain:

1. Being too sedentary and sitting down too long each day.

2. Carrying small children and incorrect lifting techniques.

4. An injury or fall.

We therefore often get messages from people saying their back is playing up, they feel like they have overused it or it is aching – so they will give Pilates a miss. Which almost makes sense. Almost.

Here are my thoughts on what to do if your back is aching. Think through what you have been doing and see if you can find the cause of the pain. Have you been sitting for longer than usual, for example on a long car journey? Have you been decorating, gardening or lifting heavy objects? Have you been doing a different form of activity? Did you sleep on a different bed or in an unusual position? If the answer is yes then the pain is likely to be muscular and Pilates can actually help. Strengthening your core will help prevent further damage to your back plus mobilising the spine can help stretch it out and release tight muscles.

To help muscular back aches:

1. Keep mobilising and moving it. Sitting or lying still for too long will cause it to stiffen up.

2. Take some painkillers.

3. Come to Pilates but work at a lower level and one that does not cause you pain, make sure you tell your instructor wat has happened.

4. Soak in a hot bath.

5. See your GP/Physio if it gets worse.

Sitting is shaving years off you.

31 January, 2015 Priya Tew

How long do you sit for on an average day? Think it through to include driving, eating, work, relaxing…. I bet it is longer than you would expect. Most people don’t realise how long they sit. We’ve turned into a society that wants to sit rather than stand. Standing is seen as harder work, however sitting is actually causing your body a lot of problems.

Britain has been found to be one of the most sedentary countries in the world. We spend an average of 8.9 hrs a day sitting. That’s over a third of our day sitting .

The Issues:

Sitting for 8-10 hrs leads to a 90% gtr risk of Diabetes and 18% greater chance dying from heart disease and certain cancers. Now those are huge statistics. No wonder diabetes is on the increase.

Sitting for 60 mins or more impairs the blood flow through the arteries. When the blood doesn’t flow as easily you are at higher risk of a stroke and heart disease. A simple 5 minute walk every hour can help negate this.

Sitting leads to a tight, less mobile back, lower back pain, tight gluteal muscles, short and tight hamstrings. This can all lead to back and shoulder pain.

Remedies:

Stand up every 30 mins and have a walk around.

Find more ways to stand up as you do things – e.g. take phone calls on your feet, walk instead of driving, stand up on the train.

Build in regular walks to your day – park your car further away so you walk further, have a lunchtime walk, get a dog!

Borrow small, active children that need exercising and chasing 😉 (mine are available on loan).

Look at getting a standing work station.

Use some simple leg and back stretches and mobility exercises daily.

Build Pilates in more than once a week – find the right exercises for your body and do them daily.

It’s not all about strength. Tightness can be a Weakness.

25 January, 2015 Priya Tew

Pilates for me is constantly a challenge. I teach it, but I am also still learning it and I think I always will be. That is one of the reasons I love it so much. If something is too easy, it loses it appeal to me. I’m certainly not uber flexible, ultra strong or a Pilates Pro. I am however consistent, always looking to learn, able to listen more and more to my body and Pilates is an exercise I enjoy. Finding exercise you enjoy is always important, if you don’t like it you will not stick to it.

One thing highlighted to me this week is how Pilates is not all about how strong you are. Yes you need core strength to do a teaser and upper body strength to complete a good front leg pull back… but you also need hamstrings that are released so you can straighten your legs for a teaser and if your pecs are tight you will struggle to get the full range for the front leg pull back. So I’m introducing new release stretches into our classes. A tight muscle can be a weakness.

Think about it, what is different those weeks when you suddenly cannot do certain exercises. The roll up is one of those that often gets affected. Tiredness, tight muscles, overworked muscles, the breathing and lack of concentration all play a role – not just core strength.

So this week when going around your daily activities work out where you feel restricted movement, what areas feel tight. If you sit alot at work this may be your hamstrings, if you are on the floor playing with small children it may be tight pectorals from having a rounded upper body posture. Lifting, leaning, driving, looking at a screen, wearing shoes – unless we do these everyday activities with proper alignment we will get tight muscles somewhere.

My challenge to you – go and release them. Find a roller, a spiky ball, a tennis ball and get into those tight places. Stretch out with a band, a rolled towel or just on the floor. Think about what you are feeling and then see if you notice the difference. If you can, release some of these areas before your Pilates class. Then see what happens.

Top 3 exercises for preparing for labour/birth

15 December, 2014 Priya Tew

Giving birth is amazing, scary, hard work, unpredictable, a miracle and beautiful. I’ve only been through it twice and both times it has been a different, but unbelievable experience. I’m completely in awe of how the female body nurtures the baby and then goes through the birthing process. I learnt so much from giving birth the first time that it has shaped the way I teach my classes, with a focus on remembering to practice breathing, relaxing the pelvic floor and releasing tight muscles groups.

So here are my top 3 exercises to help you prepare for labour.

I used hip circles throughout my second labour as I found I naturally wanted to do this movement and it helped me work through my contractions.

The “drop the baby” exercise is the one I so needed to know before baby 1 as I was rubbish at relaxing my core! There are disadvantages to having a strong core 😉

CAT is one of the favourite exercises in my pregnancy classes. It is great for helping release and mobilise tight lower backs and just feels so good when you are pregnancy.

Go practise ladies!

If you want more exercises to help you through prepare for labour, help you through pregnancy and also postnatally then please check out my DVD’s.

Squats – I’m a fan. How to perfect your technique.

30 November, 2014 Priya Tew

Squats are back people and they rock. I’ve always been a fan of the squat, now that I’ve learnt even more about the body I’m an even bigger fan…. and it’s not just me, squats are everywhere I look. Why?

1. They work your pelvic floor without you having to think about switching it on… this happens when you push up to standing from your squat.

2. They’re simple and safe to perform throughout pregnancy, post-natally and beyond.

3. They work your thighs and glutes, perfect for toning those areas and for helping with weak gluts which is a frequent issues I see in people.

4. They are functional, so they train you for everyday activities. I squat when picking things up, and putting the washing in the machine for example.

Pilates with Priya: how to perfect your squat — Priya squats whilst pregnant.

Start in neutral with your feet hip distance apart, in parallel. Check your pelvis is in neutral, your shoulders blades are down in your back and your core is engaged.

Now sink your weight back, letting your hips go back and feeling the weight go right into your heels so your gluts engage. You may feel you are about to topple over so try it out near a chair or windowsill to start with, preferably with a mirror nearby.

Now in that squatting position check in a mirror that:

your back is not arched
you are not leaning too far forward through your upper body
your knees should not be further forward than your toes, if you can keep them over your ankles
your heels are down
you have bent from your hips and not your back
your core is still engaged

If you are pregnant the added bonus is… They prepare your body for labour (particularly useful if you’re wanting an active birth where you’re encouraged to stay active and move around during labour).

Now get squatting!

My back hurts…. what shall I do?

16 November, 2014 Priya Tew

Many people come to us for help with their back pains and find that Pilates really helps. The act of strengthening their core, working on their posture, learning about neutral pelvis and stretching does wonders.

So here is the question. “My back hurts should I come to class this week?”

It’s a tough one. Sometimes the answer will be to rest it, sometime you will be better mobilising it in a safe environment. Here are my thoughts:

Why does it hurt? What led to it hurting in the first place? Knowing that can be very helpful to firstly preventing it happening again, helping us work out how to help you strengthen it and it will give us an idea what has happened. If you were bending down to pick up something and it twinged, then we need to work on your technique of picking things up, include some squats and core work in your repertoire.

Is this a new issue or a recurrent one. Your previous history is a great indicator of whether you should rest or keep mobile. For example if you have had disc issues in the past and the pain feels similar then you don’t want to be coming to class.

How much does it hurt? If it is a more of a dull back ache then you should probably come and let the teacher know so they can give you exercises to help. If it is a throbbing pain that you are needing painkillers for then you should be going to the GP and resting.

When you are in a class our advice is always – If it hurts then tell the teacher and stop. Pilates should not cause proper, full on pain. Yes your core will ache, your back may feel stretched, your shoulder blades may pinch…. but it is not a “No pain, no gain” type of exercise.

We are always here to give extra tips or to chat through things. For more specific exercises you can use at home remember you can always use our DVD or book a one to one.

Align your weaknesses for better posture.

19 October, 2014 Priya Tew

Ever noticed what happens to your posture when you are tired? I definitely slump through my thoracic spine (upper back) and have tendency to round my shoulders. I have a large mirror on the wall in my room and sometimes at night I will catch a glimpse of my posture. If I’m tired out it’s not a pretty sight. Knowing what your bad habits are is key to improving your overall alignment. Bad posture will lead to pain, tightness and weakness. That niggling back pain, shoulder tension and neck ache…could well be due to your posture.

A couple of definitions:

Posture: the way in which your body is positioned when you are sitting or standing. Good posture require the least amount of muscle activity to keep an upright position.

Good Posture reduces stress and fatigue on the body so helps it work more effectively.

Alignment: the proper positioning or state of adjustment of parts (as of a mechanical or electronic device) in relation to each other i.e. the body constantly works to try and maintain neutral.

Alignment takes into account the forces on the body and looks at how the body should be.

I know from my bad habits that I need to remind myself throughout the day and when I am doing Pilates to check my shoulder alignment and pull up through my thoracic spine.

Top Tip: Work out your weaknesses so you can become stronger. Give yourself time to stretch and iron out thoses niggles. 2 examples that I often see:

1. Rounded shoulders: Work on lifting through the ribcage (but not sticking it out too far) and sliding the shoulder blades down in your spine. Use exercises like chicken wings and try lying on a roller to release.

2. Slumped and rounded lower back? Think about coming into neutral pelvis at certain points throughout the day. Try some pelvic tilts to find neutral and to strengthen the core.

Strengthen your gluts (bum toners)

12 October, 2014 Priya Tew

The gluts have become something of a hobby horse of mine lately. Why? Because I’ve noticed so many of my clients need to strengthen them, or cannot work them in certain exercises.

The gluteals are made up of 3 parts: gluteus maximus, minimus and medius. In general terms these are the bum muscles 😉 Weak gluts can lead to lower back pain, poor posture and a saggy bum!

Gluteus maximus is the heaviest muscle in the body and makes up the bulk of the bottom. It attaches in the hip, goes round to the sacrum and coccyx, then inserts into the femur and IT band. A big muscle. It is used in movements that extend the hip such as getting up from sitting and running, walking up stairs and jumping. I certainly notice these muscles are weak in a lot of my postnatal clients, usually as a result of poor posture in pregnancy and post-birth but also as a result of SPD/pelvic girdle pain.

Gluteus medius and minimus are a deeper muscles that helps support the pelvis. They are used for movements that require moving the hip to the side, such as a side step. A tight muscle can lead to lower back, hip and knee pain.

Glut strengtheners:

Shoulder bridge.

One of my fav exercises. However you really need to make sure you are squeezing and using your bum muscles when doing this so you don’t compensate and use the lower back muscles.

Glut Extension prone.

Try lying on your tummy and lifting one leg by squeezing in the bum. Again not using the lower back but use the glut to do the work here. If it isn’t working, try turning you heels in and your toes out (think ballet first position).

Oyster or clam.

More for gluteus medius and minimus. Make sure you don’t roll back through the hips as you do this one.

Side lying leg lift.

Another for the glut medius and minimus. Focus on leg length and staying stretched out thought the waist (no squidging!). You should find you are not able to life the leg too high if you are stretched out.

Other good exercises include squats, plies and walking up hills or stairs squeezing your bum. My postnatal DVD “Beyond your Bump” has some good glut exercises on it that are suitable for all types of people, not just post-birth.

Watch out for glut stretches on a blog post very soon.

Take a look at your feet.

23 September, 2014 Priya Tew

Your feet are complex things. There are 26 bones, 20 muscles and 33 joints in each foot. Yet we often neglect them and I’m not talking about painting your nails 😉 Our weight is carried through our feet, so really we need to turn our thinking upside down and put out feet first. For optimal all over body health our feet need to be loved and looked after. You guessed it, the walk you walk and stand can be connected to your back, so that back pain could be due to your feet.

Ideally our feet are designed to move like our hands and fingers. They are capable of similar movements. However from a young age we put our feet in socks and then in shoes. Imagine putting your hands in mittens all day, over time your body would adapt. Your fingers would not be exercised and would lose their dexterity, your forearms would adapt and compensate. The same happens to our feet, muscles in the feet become weak and underdeveloped, muscles such as the calf compensate and are overworked.

Stand up barefoot and take a look at your feet… aren’t they beautiful 😉

1. Do your feet match? We do lots of things that are one sided – car driving for example and this can lead to the muscles developing differently on one side.

2. Toes – are they scrunched up, pulled to one side or do you have bunions? All signs you need to correct the way you stand and walk.

2. Where do you feet point? Turned in, turned out or straight? One may be facing a different way to another. You want them to be facing forward, to move you forward with the leg muscles working in the correct manner. Walking from heel to toe is only possible to do correctly if your feet face forward.

3. Toes and Foot Alignment. Stand up with your foot against a straight edge such as a pilates mat. See whether is is sits flush with the edge, if it doesn’t move it until it does. That is how is should be!

Simple Exercises:

Start walking barefoot where possible – this means no shoes OR socks. This will allow your toes to spread and your feet to feel the floor.

Shake hands with your feet. To encourage your toes to stretch out and “breathe” slide your fingers between your toes. Gradually you can work your fingers further down. I know, I NEED a pedicure.

Use a tennis ball or spikey ball and roll it under your feet to massage them and stimulate them.

Try out toe socks… I’m loving these beauties for my Pilates right now:

More exercises and top tips coming up in the next blog post, a little foot series is on it’s way. So get bare footing!!

Lift without lower back pain

20 August, 2014 Priya Tew

Lower back pain, it’s the most common issue I see on our Pilates medical forms. Heavy lifting without engaging your core is often a cause of it. It’s common sense that if you lift badly or lift too heavy a weight it will hurt your back… but it is all too easy to do, especially when it is a child! For more on lifting babies see my video.

Think of the core as being the central point from which the power comes from or like a fulcrum that you pivot from. Every seen someone lift something far too heavy? You can see the force going into their back, not a good thing as it can damage the discs in the back. When I was pregnant and post birth I could instantly feel the effects when lifting my toddler, my core was far weaker and I couldn’t support my lower back.

Lifting safely involves engaging the core, bending the knees and thinking about your alignment. Here are my top tips:

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Keep the load close to your waist – easy to do when it’s cuddling a child, less so if it is a tantruming one 😉
Get a good grip.
Engage your core.
Maintain a stable base with your feet hip width apart.
Bend the knees and hips NOT the back. Keep a neutral spine.
Know your lifting limits, we aren’t all training for Ironman.
Think about using your legs rather than your back to lift.
Lower down safely, bending your knees.

Category: Back pain