3 reasons physios love Pilates
Have you noticed there are a lot of physio clinics who also offer Pilates (us included)? 🙋🏻♂️
I’ve been asked many times why this is, so here you go 💁🏻♂️
Pilates movements are great rehab exercises
Change of environment is helpful in chronic pain
It’s a smooth progression back to normal activity and maintenance
Great rehab exercises you say?
Pilates focuses on moving your whole body with control and in a variety of ways. In any Pilates session you should move your whole spine, your arms and legs; you should bend forwards, backwards, sidewards, and twist; you should lay on your front, side, and back, as well as stand and sit. This ensures that you have complete control over your body in all scenarios. What better way to recover any part of your body, from whatever injury, for whatever you need!
Another way to think about this is that Pilates is about moving for the purpose of moving well. When you have pain your movement is altered and part of the recovery is to restore your normal movement options; so Pilates is a fantastic way to restore your movement options.
Why does a change of environment matter in chronic pain?
Pain is protective, as is the altered movement that comes with pain. They are both intended to protect you from a dangerous situation. In some situations, more than others, the physical environment and context holds a lot of significance. If multiple back injuries have occurred with bending down, it will likely become a painful movement, your body’s way of protecting you from what it perceives to be a vulnerable position. A Pilates studio is a completely different environment, and a bending exercise doesn’t hold the same risk in this context, which can reduce the pain experienced.
My Pilates isn’t smooth! 😵
Pain can be a great motivator to do your rehab. Often once your pain starts to lessen, your exercise drops off too, only for the pain to return. If your early rehab was basic Pilates exercise, it’s an easy progression into a Pilates class to increase your strength and maintain your improvements. It’s an important rehab step to move from exercise that is “rehab” to unrestricted activities, which is incredibly simple if you’re just progressing from clinical Pilates to a regular Pilates class.
If you’re interested in trying one of our clinical Pilates classes, check them out here, or book in for an assessment today. 🙂