What is Pilates?

The founder of Pilates, Joseph Pilates, believed that injuries occur due to imbalances and abnormalities found in the body, learned from incorrect habitual movement patterns which we all slip into throughout our lives. These incorrect movements and postures create weaknesses in certain areas of the body, causing the body to overdevelop and overcompensate in other areas, leading to pain and injury.

Joseph believed that the body needs to be re-educated to correct these misaligned postures and muscle imbalances in order to prevent injury and chronic pain.   

Why choose clinical or modified Pilates?

Physiotherapists include Pilates as one of their tools of rehabilitation.  All the exercises performed in Modified Pilates have been taken from the traditional Pilates and have been adapted by physiotherapists using scientific research and clinical reasoning.  This has led to the creation of exercise programmes tailored to training core stability as well as increasing flexibility, endurance and strength and promoting postural and body awareness. Clinical Pilates has been proven to help alleviate chronic back and neck pain and is also a good stress reliever.

Each of the non-contraindicative traditional Pilates exercises have been broken down into levels to allow a steady and gradual progression towards correct movement patterns and encourage carry over into the normal activities of daily living.

Clinical Rehabilitation Pilates has a large number of exercises and modifications which lends itself to a wide variety of goals, including:

ü  Reducing Neck and Back Pain

ü  Muscular Imbalance Correction

ü  Injury Recovery & Prevention

ü  Increased Tone and Flexibility

ü  Improved Posture and Confidence

ü  Pre & Post-natal strengthening

ü  Improved Balance and Coordination

ü  Stress Release and Relaxation

ü  Osteoporosis Prevention

In each session the instructor ensures that you understand the importance of the Transversus Abdominis muscle as the key worker in stabilising the spine. You are taught how to engage this muscle fully without overcompensation from the other abdominal muscles, thereby retraining core stability and correcting muscle imbalances. Correct posture is emphasised throughout all the exercises to ensure misalignment is diminished. A proper breathing technique is taught, allowing for adequate oxygen supply to, and waste removal from, the working muscles, preventing the pain and stiffness that so regularly accompanies exercise. 

Each session is tailored to fit your specific needs and help you work towards your goals.