5 Tips to get the Best Pilates Personal Training in London
With so many Pilates studios in London offering Pilates one-on-one training, you must wonder where the Best Pilates Personal Training in London can be found.
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Mindfulness in Pilates Exercise
Nowadays almost everyone, football players, celebrities, from rehab clients to aging populations are eager to regain mobility experience the benefits of including a mindful type of workout in their exercise regimes. What type of mindfulness exercises are right for you? (more…)
Is Pilates good for Low Back Pain?
When people ask if Pilates is good for low back pain my answer is a resounding YES.
However, there are many important variables to consider. To clarify, not ALL Pilates exercises are great for all back pain sufferers because not all low back pain originates from the same structures. Therefore, your choice of Pilates exercises will depend on specific individual variants. Find our more… (more…)
What is best, Reformer group classes or Personal Training sessions?
The most important thing to consider when choosing group classes vs personal training sessions is your budget and your time.
While personal training sessions can be expensive, each workout is tailored for your own needs. Also, you can train on your own schedule without having to rely on when classes are offered or full, plus you can use all the equipment in the house. However, it is important to consider that not everyone can afford to pay for this type of training. Therefore, group classes are a great alternative to one-on-one sessions (more…)
Choosing the Best Pilates class?
Would you book into an intermediate tango class if you have never danced tango before? Of course your worn not. Similarly, when choosing a Pilates class, the same example applies. Pilates exercise was created by Joseph Pilates who was influenced by professional dancers, gymnasts and athletes. Thus, the repertoire is complex and requires mastering. In fact, very few people actually get to master the advanced repertoire. (more…)
How can I choose the best Pilates Personal Trainer?
If you are looking for the best Pilates personal training experience here are a few tips that you need to know (more…)
Pilates is a widely accepted and fantastic form of exercise pioneered by the late Joseph Pilates (1883-1967). Mr Pilates was a gymnast and bodybuilder and moved to England from Germany before World War I. There, he began developing his concept of an integrated and comprehensive system of physical exercise, which he later called “Contrology” (more…)
Pilates reformer classes can make a difference in your quality of life whether you are a complete beginner, a sports enthusiast or suffer from injuries.
Some of the benefits you can expect with Pilates reformer classes are:
Improved joint mobility
Getting out of bed is easier in the morning when your joints are supple!
As we age our joints lose mobility and our muscles lose elasticity. Especially our spines and muscles that are held in shortened positions will create contractures. (E.g. while sitting for long periods). Pilates exercise aims to mobilise your spine from the neck to the base, in many planes and directions and separate each bit segmentally. Additionally, Pilates reformer classes aims to restore balance in your muscles. The benefits of improved mobility are to reduce pressure on restricted joints and therefore reduce wear and tear on the spine.
“You are only as old as your spine is” Joseph Pilates.
Pilates exercise will aim to move your spine through segmental articulations. This means that you will learn to articulate your spine like a ripple sequentially in various exercises and work in every spinal plane. If you are already practising Pilates and you are not doing the above, then you are likely not really practising Pilates.
Improve back pain
Back pain as a result of joint stiffness, poor stability, muscular weakness and lack of movement can improve with Pilates exercises. (*NICE guidelines for low back pain, 2016). Even spinal injuries can benefit from Pilates reformer classes.
Improved Core Strength
Strengthen from the inside out, because core strength is at the core of Pilates exercise. Pilates exercises aim to work from the core to the periphery, from the inside out. Joseph Pilates original name was “Contrology”. Thus, as the name suggests, you will need to concentrate in order to control every bit of your body.
Improved body awareness and Coordination
Get to know your body and move freely. Discover that you can move in ways you never have and lear to connect with muscles you never thought you had. Complexity is at the core of the Pilates repertoire. Movement is mostly multi-planal. If you learn to move your body in combined planes of motion your quality of movement will be superior. It’s not about pushing and pulling, but about creating mindful connections with your body and becoming aware of how much better you can move.
Mindful Movement
Discover an intelligent and mindful approach to exercise with Pilates. For years many disciplines have advocated the notion the mind and body are interconnected. Mindful exercise can help to reduce stress and through a focus on breath, bring a calmer state of mind through precise, controlled movement.
As our lives get busier and more complex, leaving us with scarce time to “unplug”, the demands on our busy lives is increasingly growing. More than ever people lack the time to reflect and be present and to be mindful. Learn mindful movement with our Pilates classes.
How long for results?
People often ask how long will it take them to see results with Pilates. As with every discipline, depends on the individual, the times per week spent training, the person’s level of conditioning before starting, body awareness, injuries, restrictions and so forth. However, one can expect to see results almost immediately after starting. The most challenging obstacle I often see with people is making the decision to start. Most people start Pilates after it’s been prescribed for a joint problem, but once they start, they end up loving the workout.
Learning the Pilates technique correctly may take a bit of time, but along the way your body will feel great and you will see the changes surprisingly sooner than expected.
How advanced is advanced Pilates?
In Pilates, you don’t progress by being able to lift more weights or adding more resistance or hold planks for longer periods of time. In fact, most Pilates exercises do not hold positions statically at all. Some exercises, in fact, become more difficult on the equipment by reducing the tension. The difficulty in the advanced Pilates repertoire lies in the complexity of the movement and your ability to control your body without restrictions. By this I mean, short muscles, joint restrictions, or weaknesses. E.g. tight hamstrings, poor spinal movement, limited arm movement, tight hip flexors etc. The advanced Pilates work flows dynamically and was originally created for athletes, dancers, boxers and gymnasts. So, if you think about a gymnast/dancer exercising on a Pilates reformer, that would be what the classical advanced Pilates repertoire looks like.
Pilates can make a true difference in your quality of life and can help you improve your whole body mobility, reduce back and neck pain, improve shoulder movement and reduce pain.
How much do I have to train?
If you put the time in and attend classes at least twice per week, you will see results soon. The best part of starting a Pilates programme is that the improvements you make will help you in your daily life and activities, such as playing golf, tennis, or simply playing with your kids.
References:
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends a mind-body group exercise programme within the NHS for people with a specific episode or flare-up of low back pain with or without sciatica as a first line treatment for low back pain.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng59/chapter/Recommendations#non-invasive-treatments-for-low-back-pain-and-sciatica
Reformer Pilates for back pain
Reformer Pilates can be very beneficial for back pain. However, One size doesn’t always fit all.
Some of the widely advocated benefits of regularly practising Pilates reformer are improved core strength, posture, and increased flexibility. These will help you improve and prevent bak pain. Pilates exercises focus on strengthening your abdominal muscles, in fact preferentially recruiting the deep ones. The goal is to retrain your muscles to fire when they are required, with the right amount of force at the right time in order to stabilise your spine. At the same time, maintaining your entire spine mobile. Remember, “You are only as old as your spine is” Joseph Pilates…
Intelligent Exercise. Focus and Think
Concentration is crucial to Pilates exercise! Mindful movement means that you have to be present in the moment without distractions and focus on the task in hand.
So if you are looking for exercises to fix your back without having to think about what you are doing, Pilates is not for you. If you are willing to put the effort and voluntarily learn how to recruit your muscles by concentrating and focusing on precision and learning anatomically how your body needs to work, Pilates is definitely for you. #intelligentpilates
Working from the Inside Out
As with every rehabilitation programme, local stability means that the joints in your spine are preferentially recruited before calling on the big power producing ones. Truly, deep stabilising muscles work close to the joint and need to work before targeting the big mobilising ones. Learn how to do this with our Pilates Exercise for Back Pain classes.
How Does the Spine Degenerate?
As we age and sometimes through injury, the spinal segments degenerate. Spinal degeneration happens when the spine is put through stresses that the discs are unable to withstand. Moreover, poor posture, sitting for prolonged periods slumping will speed up this process. A weak support system can cause also the spinal segments to shear, compress the discs and it’s contents. (annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulpous.
Compression of the discs cause small tears to appear on the outside portion of the disc (fibrillation). These tears heal with scar tissue. Scar tissue is weaker than the original architecture of the disc.
Overtime, the annulus and nucleus lose its water content, the disc loses height and the vertebral segments come closer to each other. As a result, the facet joints in the back to overlap and twist into an unnatural position. In an attempt to stabilise the spine, the body creates bone spurs on the vertebral bodies and the facets. These spurs can cause pain, ache or discomfort as they lose their ability to move properly and may irritate the joint capsule as you move without support.
Pilates as Prevention For Further Damage
Pilates Exercise for Back Pain can help maintain your spinal segments mobile, strengthen your deep abdominal musculature in order to stabilise your spine as you move around in your daily activities.
Prevention is better than the treatment!
We Can Help
If you suffer from episodic mechanical, non-specific back pain, a Pilates programme may be beneficial for you.
Book now an assessment. We can diagnose, treat and help you get strong through Pilates exercise
Blog written by Carlo Yanez
Registered Osteopath B.A.(Hons.), B.Ost.(Hons)
Fully certified STOTT PILATES® Instructor
Tips on how To Improve Your Posture
A head forward posture should give you a clue to whether you might need to improve your posture or not. With the ubiquitous use of mobile phones, tablets and computers, most of us nowadays spend hours at a time seated or with our heads forward looking over our very loved electronic devices. As a result, poor posture, head forward, rounded shoulders, slumped back leads to faster degeneration of our spines. Even more, you will be degenerating your neck joints much sooner in life with this type of posture. Nonetheless, you can do something about this NOW! Keep reading. (more…)