Tag: posture

Pilates helps Back Pain

Priya TewLeave a Comment on Pilates helps Back Pain

As my Pilates classes have grown and my networking has increases I’ve had more and more people being referred by Chiropractors or Physio’s. A lot of these people are coming because of back pain. What’s so exciting is to then hear and see the improvements in people after just a few sessions.  So what is it about Pilates that works so well for back pain relief?

Pilates addresses the underlying structural imbalances in the body that lead to back pain. Issues like lack of core support, pelvic instability, muscular imbalances, poor posture, and lack of body awareness all affect back health.

Pilates Helps Correct Posture

In Pilates, we pay a lot of attention to how our body parts are lined up in relation to each other, which is our alignment.  When alignment is off, uneven stresses on the skeleton, especially the spine, are the result. Pilates exercises, done with attention to alignment, allow movement to flow through the body in a natural way.

For example, one of the most common postural imbalances that people have is the tendency to either tuck or tilt the pelvis. Both positions create weaknesses on one side of the body and overly tight areas on the other. The spine can’t form its natural curve and you get aches and pains all up the spine and neck.  Doing Pilates helps you focus on holding a “neutral spine” which means the proper placement of the spine and pelvis. Strengthening your core creates the inner strength to support the natural curves of the spine.

Pilates Develops Core Strength

Having core strength means that all of the muscles of the trunk of your body are strong, flexible, and working together to support and stabilize the spine. This goes deeper than the big surface muscles, it’s not about building  “6 pack” I’m afraid! The core muscles include the muscles that are below the surface musculature.  Some of these less obvious but very important core muscles are the muscles of the pelvic floor;  and the psoas, which play a huge role in keeping us upright and in hip bending; which are small muscles that weave along the spine; and the transverse and oblique abdominal muscles.  All of these muscles play crucial roles in the support and stability of the spine.

Pilates Promotes Flexibility

A healthy spine can curve forward and backward, twist, and move side to side, and do so in a way that reveals all the subtle articulations that our many vertebrae allow us to have. Pilates exercises are easy to modify so that we can develop spinal flexibility at our own pace. This is one of the things about Pilates that makes it easy for people with back pain to work with. In my classes there are different options for exercises so you work at your level.
Pilates Increases Body Awareness
Back pain is a messenger letting us know that we have to pay more attention to our bodies. The Pilates method is full attention exercise. You can’t do Pilates without becoming extremely aware of your alignment and how your body works. This is extremely important for people with back pain because Pilates not only improve physical functioning, but makes you more aware of what you are doing in day to day life. So as you are walking, bending and sitting you start to think about your alignment and core.
Do you have back pain? Try out Pilates! It really does work.

Pilates recommended by Osteoporosis experts.

Priya TewLeave a Comment on Pilates recommended by Osteoporosis experts.

Osteoporosis International Journal has written a guide for health professional working in rehabilitation for patients with Osteoporosis. The techniques described are basically Pilates showing how spot on the Pilates technique really is.

There’s a summary of the journal advice here…http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/health/28backsb.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper

It talks about avoiding stomach crunches/sit ups done in the way typically seen in gyms and other fitness classes, lots of repetitions, done at full speed where the back is jerked up off the floor putting pressure on the lower spine. The internal organs are pushed aside and the stomach compacted. Doing lots of repetitions means good technique is lost and the head is often pulled up by the arms. It is of course possible to do a good sit up but its not often seen in a gym/large class environment, in fact as an ex gym-bunny myself I can truly say I used to do sit ups all wrong! In Pilates a curl up would be done in a much slower, controlled way, lengthening the spine, peeling up off the mat bone by bone and replacing the same way. Only a few reps would be done as we look for quality and not quantity.

Other tips talk about maintaining good core strength when picking up objects and moving the body and maintaining a good posture. Again Pilates will help with this. I know that I am now so aware of my posture and the way I move that I tend to auto correct myself at points in the day. So if I bend to pick up the baby moving from my waist I tell myself off and practise doing it moving from the hips instead. Over time it becomes a habit. My shoulders used to be hunched up by my ears and after a while of working on that I now keep them pulled down properly (most of the time!).

So…not only is Pilates good for toning and building that all important core strength but the Pilates lifestyle is recommended for bone health. Fab news.