Pilates and Back Care

Research shows up to 90% of us will experience some kind of lower back pain in our lives. There are many reasons for this, two of the most common are our more sedentary lifestyles and our “weekend warrior” mentality when it comes to exercise. There are other things to consider too, like mental health, weight and the physical work we do day to day.

You might here health professionals say, “you should try Pilates” Why?

Pilates can help strengthen the core as well as everything surrounding it, the practice can help keep your back sturdy and supple. This is because we're not interested in just one muscle group. We're interested in making all of them strong and flexible helping them to develop a good relationship with each other. Pilates also increases awareness for good posture and healthy body mechanics.

An example of this, when we sit or stand with an awareness of having the spine lengthened, we are creating space in between our vertebrae relieving some of the pressure we can put on the spine and the vertebral discs.

Pilates teaches you how to be aware of, and listen to, your body so you can push yourself just enough to get stronger in your own time.

Back pain doesn’t only come from the back itself. It can be caused by other imbalances in the body, like the hips or pelvis. Even the way we sit or stand (crossing one leg over whilst seated) can have an impact on this. Introducing a Pilates practise can work on ironing out some of these imbalances.

With just one Pilates session you can often feel the benefit and alleviate back pain in the same way a massage can alleviate tight muscles.

In our modern lifestyles we can put a lot of pressure on our lower back simply by driving or sitting at a desk for many hours (which can lead to tight hamstrings and weak glutes) and by hunching over a phone or computer we can create a khyphotic posture (rounded spine). Pilates emphasizes a neutral spine and promotes a healthy posture as well as strengthening the surrounding muscles, so you can begin to counteract and iron out some of these postural imbalances.

Pilates increases awareness of proper spinal alignment and good posture. Even a short series of Pilates exercises and stretches done consistently, can create lasting improvements.