You may have heard of Pilates at some point and wondered what the hell it is? Is it really exercise? Is it good for me and my back? Is it a cult?! Well let’s get some facts first.

Pilates is named after its founder Joseph Pilates who was a German bodybuilder, acrobat and rehabilitator. He created the system and refined it over his lifetime and used it to rehabilitate dancers and eventually anyone else who needed his help. In modern times it has made a resurgence and you can find classes these days in most towns throughout the UK.

Will it cure all your ills? No.

Might it help a lot of people? Yes that’s for certain. Why then?

Well, very similar to tai chi and yoga it encourages you to move ALL the joints in your body. This aids flexibility and healthy joints and soft tissues. It encourages strength throughout the body with low level endurance rather than brute strength being the key feature. And it does all this whilst asking you to breathe normally and not being rigid. It can sound complicated but it’s not.

A class is normally about 45-60 minutes long and involves a warm up, the main exercise session and a cool down at the end.

We run a number of classes each week and teach a modified version of Pilates that has allowed all of the original exercises to be placed into levels. What this does is allow anyone, regardless of pain or ability to take part. In this way you may have a class of people all doing the same exercise but all doing different levels depending on their ability.

Pilates, like some other exercises has been shown to be really beneficial for people with back pain. We have seen lots of clients who have wanted to try it out for their back. They have loved it and so have continued to keep it up either at home or in a class.

So if you have back pain and have not tried it, why not give it a go? The worst that could happen is you feel better!

We want to help you enjoy your life, pain free!

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