Back pain | Pilates with Priya

Stretch, Release and Strengthen.

29 June, 2014 Priya Tew

Often when people come to Pilates they just want to work their core, which I completely get. Coming to Pilates from a fitness instructor background I also had that mentality of wanting to work hard, wanting to feel it working and wanting to feel the aches afterwards. I’ve had to relearn things and now Pilates has changed the way I do other forms of exercise too. I hear some of our clients saying the same thing. It ruins you, this Pilates thing 😉

You definitely should feel your abdominals working in Pilates and you may well feel the aftereffects the next day. But just focusing on working the core isn’t enough. You need a whole body approach and body awareness. Knowing which parts of your body need strengthening, which parts are tights and need stretching and which parts are overworking and need releasing is so key. For example having weak gluteals can affect your posture and your back. Being tight in one hip can lead to your compensating and working harder on one side than the other. Tight hamstrings are something I often see and this can cause back issues and restrict movement as well as affect posture.

So make sure you are not just working your core. Also think about finding exercises that strengthen other areas such as your gluteals, shoulders and upper back. Take time to think about where in the body your are tight, where your movement feels restricted and then work on releasing. A foam roller or a spiky ball is your friend here. Always take time to stretch and try not to rush this, using a band can help you increase stretches and develop them further. Ask your instructor for some good exercises to help you, or book a one to one session for a posture assessment and individual advice. It will really make a difference.

We can order you rollers, balls and bands for collection from the studio.

To book a one to one session with Priya please get in touch,

Top Tips on doing Pilates at Home.

30 July, 2025 Priya Tew

Obviously I’m a huge fan of Pilates, because of my job I end up doing Pilates 5 days a week and I have to say if I don’t do enough Pilates I soon notice the difference. Similarly if I do too much I also notice it! The trick is to find the right balance.

One of the questions we get asked is if 1 Pilates class a week is enough. In all honesty I would have to say probably not. However that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to quickly try and find a second class to attend. Once you know the basics of Pilates I would recommend you find the exercises that help your body and practise these at home. For example if you have sciatica a few shoulder bridges, CAT’s and a glut massage may help release and relieve pain. If you have recently had a baby then practising some pelvic tilts, hamstring stretches and chest openers will strengthen your pelvic floor, help with abdominal muscle strengthening and release those tight muscles.

Top Tips on doing Pilates at Home:

1. Choose exercises that you are confident at doing and you know you can do correctly. Good technique is important in Pilates, so ask your instructor to check the exercises you plan to try.

2. Aim to do a couple of short sessions a week at home. Try not to fall into the trap of overdoing it or you could end up with tight muscles in places you don’t want them tight.

3. Try not to just choose the exercises that you like, these will probably be the ones you are good at and don’t really need to practise! For example I’m not a fan of the Saw, but I need to do it!

4. Look into buying a good DVD that will talk you through the exercises and give you a range of moves you can pick and choose from or an all over body workout. Try my DVD for example.

So I can’t touch my toes.

15 December, 2013 Priya Tew

One of my recent posts looked at hamstrings, how they may become tight, how to test and how to stretch them back out. Keeping on that theme lets think about where else you may have tight, short muscles that could affect your posture and body functioning.

Here is today’s test… can you touch your toes? Many people I teach can’t touch their when they start in Pilates…. now instantly you may think this is due to tight hamstrings but it’s not always the case. There can be quite a few structures in your “posterior chain” that are limiting your movement. This is especially true if you have a job that requires you to sit down or drive for long periods of time.

Lets break it down…

Your calves (gastrocnemius muscles) cross the knee joint, so tightness there can make keeping your knees straight harder than it should be.

The connections from your hip/bum muscles (glutes, piriformis) can affect the ease in which your pelvis tilts, so affecting how you bend forward at the hip.

Tightness or restrictions in your lower back and pelvis. These can cause increased tension throughout your hips and legs. Often warming up the spine there can lead to more movement and flexibility. It can be interesting to compare your movement before and after a class, often without any stretching you will be able to go further in the movment of touching your toes.

Finally it may also be due to tight hamstrings, learn how to stretch them here.

So if you can’t touch your toes there are many reasons why this may be, the main thing to do is to stretch regularly and use Pilates exercises to help with posture, strength and alignment.

Stretch those Hamstrings to help your back.

18 November, 2013 Priya Tew

Looking around classes there are a fair few people who look like they have tight hamstrings so here are some tips on how to improve your flexibility in that area. Why? Because tight hamstrings can lead to lower back pain! So get stretching if this applies to you.

How to test if your hamstrings are tight:

This can be done by lying on your back with one leg outstretched along the floor and and lifting the other leg, foot towards the ceiling. As soon as the pelvis starts to tilt backwards and the back flattens to the floor stop. The leg should go to about 80 degrees. If it is less than this then the hamstrings are tight and short.

Whats the problem with having short hamstrings?

As well as being vital in sports such as football and running, it can become a major contributor in maintaining or causing back pain. Some kinds of back problems are not resolved until the hamstrings are got back to adequate length. It is also worth noting that hamstrings can get shorter as a consequence of back problems as well, thus producing a viscous cycle.

Causes of actual short hamstrings

Long hours sitting / driving.

Tension. People often hold their legs tensely, normally unconsciously. Signs of this are habitually putting feet back under chair when sitting, or holding knees tightly together.

Back problems. This is because the hamstrings are trying to stabilize the back.

Lack of core strength where the hamstrings take on the role of attempting to stabilize the trunk.

Poor coordination and habitual movement patterns. Using the hamstrings in hip extension (leg moving backwards) rather than your gluteal (bum) muscles.

3 Stretches to do:

With band- lie on the floor in neutral. Slide 1 leg away along the floor, then put the band around your other foot and lift that leg into the air, foot to the ceiling. Use the band to get a food stretch down the back of the thigh. Push against the band for 15 seconds and then let the leg come slightly closer towards you to increase the stretch.
Stand with your foot on the back of a chair, on a windowsill or on a Worktop, find the right height surface to get that stretch.
Lie on the floor with one foot against a door frame, knee bent. Now press your heel into the door frame for 3 breaths and then slide your leg up door frame to get the stretch. Shuffle nearer the door frame to get a better stretch.

Perfect your Posture

12 October, 2013 Priya Tew

Think about it, however often in your day do you pay attention to your posture? If you don’t do Pilates then I am guessing the answer is not often if at all. Yet our posture plays a large role in how we look, walk, sit and feel on a day to day basis. Bad posture can result in back, neck and shoulder pain along with too tight muscles in some areas and overstretched, weakened muscles elsewhere. Over time poor posture can result in disc issues and degneration of joints.

So in the next few posts I am going to talk through different types of posture, hopefully this will help you identify your own postural imbalances, make you more aware, so that you can focus on correcting the problems.

In this post we are going to recap on Neutral Spine in a lying position.

Neutral spine is the natural position of the spine when all 3 curves of the spine — cervical (neck), thoracic (middle) and lumbar (lower) — are present and in good alignment. This is the strongest position for the spine when we are standing or sitting, and the one that we are made to move from. Knowing how to find the neutral spine position is crucial for doing many Pilates exercises correctly.

Neutral spine lying down:

1. Feet hip socket distance apart, flat on the floor, straight and facing forward.

2. Knees bent, a small gap between them.

3. Pelvis rocked into neutral so it is neither tilted up (lower back pressed into the floor) or tilted under (large curve through the lower back). The hip bones should be lined up and you should feel you are flat from hip bone to hip bone and through to the pubic bone.

4. Slight natural curve through the lower back, think about being able to pass an envelope underneath.

5. Shoulder blades slid down in the back.

6. Neck long with the chin slightly tilted towards the chest as if you were clasping an orange between your chin and your chest.

Just lying in this neutral position can help with back ache, try lying there for 5 minutes, release the tension in your neck and shoulder, drawing your core and relax yout bum, thighs and feet. Take a few deep breaths. Feels good doesn’t it!

Stabilise those Shoulders

8 September, 2013 Priya Tew

Often in classes I come across people with tight shoulders, shoulder pain or can just see shoulders rising up towards people’s ears. It’s amazing how easy it is to start tensing in the shoulder region, I should know as I do it myself if I am not conscious enough. So I am often heard saying phrases like “Relax your shoulder” or “Draw those shoulder blades down in your back”. In actual fact the correct terminology is to “stabilise your scapulae”. Your Scapulae are the wing-like bones on your upper back, commonly called your shoulder blades. Stabilizing your scapulae is as important as contracting your abs during every exercise. This will help you avoid strain through your neck and upper shoulders.

When our scapula ride up or wing out to the sides, the shoulder area is less stable. Similarly, if you draw/squeeze the scapula together on the back this too is a less stable position than when the scapula are flat on the back with the shoulders drawn down in our favoured neutral position.

To find this shoulder position think about dropping the shoulders away from the ears and allowing the shoulder blades to slide down in your back. I like to think about them being down down towards the back pockets of your jeans. In fact this analogy has really help one of my ladies who suffered very badly from hunched shoulders, so hunches that she used to walk looking down at the floor. After learning where her scapulae should be her whole posture has changed! Amazing.

It can be easy to start with the shoulder in this stable position but harder to keep them there when doing mat based Pilates. If you know you have a tendency to lose this position and tense up, then keep bringing your attention back to your shoulders. Have you tensed up? Think about not doing the move with your shoulders and neck but switching on your core more. It may also be that you need to decrease your range of motion in order to get the correct technique established first.

Why Men need Pilates.

24 August, 2013 Priya Tew

Pilates was developed by a man, for men. Joseph Pilates, a beer drinking,cigar smoking boxing man, devised it and used it to help soldiers rehabilitate after injuries. He even turned hospital beds into Pilates aids. Now all these years later somehow Pilates has fallen out of favour with men.

We have a steadily growing group of men coming to our classes and I can definitely say that those who commit to it really see the benefits. A few of the ladies who come are gradually persuading their husbands to come along for a trial class and it’s always great to show them that it’s not all about leotards, ballet moves and breathing.

Slowly Pilates is having a come-back with men, the All-Blacks, several football teams and tennis players like Andy Murray have been shown doing Pilates exercises. Personally I think it’s essential.

Why Do Men Need Pilates?

Pilates is great at strengthening muscles that you wouldn’t otherwise work on. There are big muscles that we use in day to day life that can take become overly strong and tight leaving other muscles weak and lengthened. For example you may have tight hamstrings (back of the thigh) but weak gluts (in the bum). Balancing out these muscles will lead to less aches, pains and a better functioning body.

Improving flexibility may not be the top of most men’s list but if you are more flexible then you will move better and be less prone to pulling muscles and injuries.

Everyone needs core strength. It’s not all about amazing abdominals and a six-pack, although you can definitely get those from Pilates. Think more about how a stronger core leads to less back pain, more strength and movement in your limbs. It can also lead to you lifting heavier weights and help prevent injuries.

When done properly Pilates is flipping hard work! I’ve worked with a few men who have almost been in tears during a workout. It can really push you to your limits but also relax you too.

If you haven’t tried it, you really need to.

I’d love your feedback if you are man who does Pilates – how do you find it?

Turn off those Hip Flexors

11 July, 2013 Priya Tew

Over the past few weeks you may have heard me talk about not using your hip flexors, switching off your thighs and hips or releasing tension through the hips…. why? It’s all about using the core more and the hip flexors less.

The hip flexors are a group of muscles that bring the thigh and trunk of the body closer together. You use your hip flexors in many daily activities like walking, stepping up, and bending over. Technical bit here: the hip flexors are the illiacus, psoas major, pectineus, rectus femoris, and sartorius muscles.

Now these are a very important group of muscles but they can tend to take over when we do core work. In some exercises duch as curl ips, roll ups and leg lifts the hip flexors can want to do the work, which means the abdominal muscles do less! Hence some people can do sit ups all day – it doesn’t mean their core is strong 😉

So how do I stop using my hip flexors?

A lot of us have to work on the hip flexor habit constantly and to be honest you can’t leave the hip flexors entirely out of most abdominal exercises. The idea is to get the core involved as much as you can and to keep the hip flexors from taking over too much. Think core more, hip flexors less.

Body awareness is the key here, think about what muscles you can feel active/tight when doing exercises. Try to switch off the hip flexors, relax through the bum, thighs and legs. It may mean taking an exercise down a level in order to perfect your technique. Try not to grip through the floor and draw the core in a little more. Soreness in the groin area (especially after classes) can be a sign that you are weak in the abs and over-using your hip flexors. Another clue is not being able to keep your feet and legs down when you do a sit up or roll up.

These Pilates exercises can help increase awareness and set the foundation for the balance between the core and hip flexor use:

In knee folds, using the core muscles to stabilize the pelvis and lifting from your centre not your hips, also. In knee folds try to keep your big muscles, like the quadriceps of the thigh, out of the exercise as much as possible. Keep space in the hip area.

Half Roll Back: As you begin to roll back, You might sense a point where the hip flexors want to take over. You can feel that at crease of your thigh. As you roll down, the hip flexors will have to do some stabilizing, but try to maintain a focus on rolling down and controlling with the core. Again keep that space in the hip area, think length.

The full hundred calls for the legs to be extended. The hip flexors often see that as a call to over-work, so try taking it down a level and keep the legs bent with a focus on just using the core.

Pilates and Diabetes.

1 July, 2013 Priya Tew

Recently we spent the day at the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation’s Wellness Day in Southampton, where we basically hung out and chatted about Pilates 🙂

The team that run these days are a joy to work with, they are always laid back but well run affairs, the delegates are particularly well looked after and the educational session run are filled with great speakers and information. So we were delighted and honoured to be asked to be there. I was there to give a talk, demonstration and we had a table with a selection of our DVD’s and Pilates info.

Pilates in my mind is suitable for almost all population groups as it is such an adaptable form of exercise, you can tailor the exercises. Diabetes can be a debilitating and difficult to manage condition unless you have the right support. Diet and exercise really are key to good management. Here is a summary of my top 5 reasons Pilates can help in Diabetes:

1. Pilates provides a gentle yet effective way to exercise, it’s great if you are concerned about exercising but know you need to start .

2. Some exercises can help stimulate the nerves in the feet, for example spiky ball under the feet, this could help with neuropathy prevention.

3. Exercises can be performed seated rather than lying down, no equipment or gym membership is needed.

4. Pilates improves mobility, flexibility and muscular strength.

5. Combining Pilates with a healthy diet and some walking will help with weight loss.

I spoke to about 100 people, had them all on their feet mobilising and finding their core! We had some fantastic feedback and lots of questions.

My Antenatal Pilates DVD went down very well as it is based on seated, stood and side lying exercises, so although I’ve marketed this as great for use in pregnancy it is also fabulous for older populations and those who want to do Pilates but don’t want to lie flat on their backs or tummies.

From Bump to Birth, It’s a Wrap. Antenatal DVD.

23 April, 2013 Priya Tew

Wow what a day. I’ve been filming the new Pilates with Priya DVD, as I’m currently pregnant it made sense to make an antenatal DVD. Personally I found Pilates kept me well in pregnancy. I have a tendency to suffer from lower back pain when pregnant and Pilates is such a help for that. I was only teaching 1 class a week during my last pregnancy so was doing my own pregnancy pilates each night.

We now have 3 Antenatal classes running a week and it’s a joy to see so many pregnant ladies stay fit and strong throughout their journey. I’m currently 18 weeks pregnant with number 2 and am teaching 11 Pilates classes a week at present, it’s certainly keeping me toned and those aches and pains are staying away.

So as so many in my classes have said how helping Antenatal Pilates has been to them….. we took the hint and the new DVD will be coming out soon! Today we had 3 cameras, 2 sets of lights, 2 camera men and me, all in my little studio. It seemed to go well, but I haven’t seen any of it yet – looking forward to that bit 😉 The DVD includes a standing warm-up, some exercises seated either on gym ball or a chair, exercises in hands and knees and lying on the side. It’s designed to strengthen the core and the pelvis, support the lower back and help prepare ladies for labour whilst keeping them well in pregnancy.

So if you are pregnant or know any one who is – then watch out for our DVD, coming very soon.

Category: Back pain