Should I do Pilates if I've got...
I've had a lot of conversations recently with people asking me if they can/ should do Pilates. Today, I'm bringing you the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Spoiler alert - Pilates is great for pretty much any condition / rehab situation. But I do have a few caveats for you.
While Pilates is great for any condition, not all movements are great for every condition.?Please speak to your teacher and disclose any issues before you start working together so you can squeeze the most benefit from your class.
Always make sure that your instructor is qualified and insured to work with you. Pilates teachers have a higher level of anatomy and physiology education than general fitness instructors. And there's a lot of additional education that many Pilates teachers do to help you with rehab, injury or areas that aren't working as well as they might.
Your Pilates teacher is not qualified to diagnose injuries/ conditions. Although they might be able to give you some ideas for questions to ask your doctor or other specialist in the search for diagnosis.
?If you are in the acute phase of an injury or issue, or a joint is inflamed (swollen, red, warm to the touch), working out might not be best for you right now. If you're under treatment from another specialist, e.g. doctor, physio or similar, please ask them when you're OK to start moving again.
If you're still not quite sure if it will help you, some of the benefits that you can expect from Pilates, whatever your situation are:
So, with all that well out of the way, let's get down to specifics. I'll write here about Pilates and hyper-mobility; and?general lower back pain.?If there are other topics that you'd like to learn more about, please?message me!
Should I do Pilates if I have hyper-mobility?
Hyper-mobility is a condition that you might have heard described as being "double jointed". It means that some or all of your joints are unusually flexible. For example, you might have found yourself in a yoga class, being able to get into positions that others can't.
While this might seem like it's a good thing, it's actually a connective tissue disorder and many people with hyper-mobility experience pain in the joints; muscle/ ligament/ tendon injuries; and sometimes even dislocations.
There's a spectrum to hyper-mobility and being more flexible, doesn't necessarily mean you're hyper-mobile. The Beighton Test checks degrees of movement across nine different joints.?
It's often hereditary and can be caused by an underlying connective tissue condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
While I would never normally say that Pilates is better than yoga (they're not competing), in the case of hyper-mobility, Pilates might actually be the more suitable exercise practice of the two.
This is because in Pilates we work to re-train and strengthen muscles around the hyper-mobile joints, which in turn helps to stabilise those joints.
领英推荐
For example:
Hyper-mobile knees?- you'll work the area around your hips, your quads (big muscles at front of leg) and your hamstrings.
Hyper-mobile elbows?- your focus will be biceps, triceps, your rotator cuff muscles and general shoulder stability.
Hyper-mobile shoulders?- say hello to strengthening your rotator cuff, the muscles round your shouler blades, and your latissimus dorsi (your big back muscles).
In all cases, you'll also learn to feel where your limbs are in space are more effectively. This is called "proprioception" and ensures that just because you can move a joint through a big range, you can feel when to stop before injury occurs.
Should I do Pilates if I have lower back pain?
Back pain is an interesting one. It's notoriously difficult to diagnose what exactly is causing the pain; and the pain may be caused by a multiple structures - intervertebral discs; fascia; sacro-iliac joint; ligaments; muscles or nerves.
If you have a diagnosed back issue (e.g. slipped or bulging disc; facet joint irritation/ spondylosis; or osteoporosis/osteopenia), please let your teacher know so that they can ensure you have a safe and effective class! There are specific movements that you'll want to avoid.
If you're suffering from general back pain, brought on, for example, by too much sitting - something we've all been struggling with over the last couple of years - you'll want to work on:
If you're in pain,?modern science?suggests that gentle movement is much better than no movement in helping to relieve it. And in a?study?published in October, Pilates came out as being one of the most effective ways to manage lower back pain. Yay us.
Are there any conditions where I really shouldn't do Pilates?
No, but you should always let your teacher know about any conditions/ injuries etc.
Some teachers specialise in particular types of clients and your teacher might recommend that you'd would be better served working with someone else. Please don't be offended if this is the case - we always want to make sure that you get the most benefit from your Pilates class!
For example, I always recommend that pre-natal clients from T2 through to post-natal attend a specialist class, not because I'm not qualified to teach you (I am), but because I feel you'll have a much better experience in a specialist class.
I'd love to welcome you to mailing list. You'll get bi-weekly emails which are reasonably amusing and generally informative (if health and wellness is your jam). Click here to register and you'll also get a twenty minute stretch video to your inbox as a welcome gift!