Once your back pain has resolved and your movement has been restored by our team of physiotherapists, you’ll be ready to start our Pilates programme. We use the Clinical Pilates method, which is a research-based form of Pilates developed by Craig Phillips, an internationally recognised Australian Physiotherapist. We keep our classes small with 1 or 2 participants only.
Pilates exercises, specific to your injury are selected by our physiotherapists.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is a body conditioning method that targets the deep postural muscles, building strength from the inside out, rebalancing the body and helping correct alignment.
The origins of pilates date back to the early 1900s, when German-born Joseph Pilates living in England, working as a circus performer and boxer, was placed in forced internment in England at the outbreak of WWI. While in the internment camp, he began to rehabilitate injured detainees using floor exercises that evolved into what we now know as the Pilates mat work.
Why Pilates?
Injury leads to weakness of our deep stabilising or ‘core’ muscles and the over activity or compensation by the superficial ‘moving’ muscles. Without correct function of our deep stabilising muscles our joints are left unsupported during movement.
Research has found that our deep stabilising back muscles waste away after low back injury or pain. Further research found that these muscles do not automatically regain their strength once the injury has resolved. However with specific activation of these muscles, with physiotherapy-based Pilates, the weakness can be reversed.
The superficial or ‘moving’ muscles become over recruited by our brains (the path of least resistance) and we learn patterns of movement that are inefficient and promote ongoing injury.
We don’t realise this is happening to us until we end up with recurring injury or pain from activities that once caused us no problem at all.
Physiotherapy-based Pilates exercises work to correct this over recruitment, restoring the deep stabilisers first, before strengthening the superficial or moving muscles.
Catherine Gambaro our highly experienced Pilates instructor and Senior Physiotherapist will work with you individually, or in a small class of two by request. Catherine’s expertise include 360 degree breathing, postural correction, mobility and alignment.