Time and time again people ask why clinical Pilates is great and how it can help them. Whether through scepticism or genuine interest it is a very valid question. The answer, put simply, is it will change your life! These days there are so many different exercise classes and fads’ going around it is any wonder people don’t know what is best. Sure, Pilates isn’t for everyone, but trust me from experience, it is likely to help most people. I wanted to share my personal story about pain and Pilates.
When I was in year 8, while playing soccer at school, I badly injured my back; I can still remember the exact moment, and the pain that went with it. For a couple of weeks my parents had to do everything for me, including carrying me into the doctors, as it was too painful to even walk! At the time the doctor recommended rest and strong pain killers. Looking back now, I wish I had of been able to see my future self for advice.
Gradually I got back to normal, playing netball, lugging around my huge school bag and keeping fit. Although, by back was never quite the same. I particularly remember the last few years of netball, needing a massage, tape, nurophen gel, and pain killers before, and often during the game! No one in their late teens and 20’s should have to do that just to play netball. Last year I could only do leg press on certain days, and had to stop at a relatively light weight, to avoid a flare up that would be sure to ruin that week’s netball game. As sad as it was, to me this all felt normal.
As much as I had learnt at University about core stability and strength being important for back pain, it wasn’t until the start of this year when I completed a Pilates training course for health professionals that my life and mindset changed!
Changing from crunches and cross over abdominal exercises, to slow controlled, deep core activation Pilates exercises was the turning point. I started doing them every day and my back was the best it had ever felt! I had stopped doing heavy weights because of my back previously, so with my back being so great I decided to start again, it didn’t take long for the same issues to appear. I had a couple of netball games where I felt like bursting into tears I had sciatica so bad. I thought; what have I done? After all this hard work. Then I stopped and thought about it… I hadn’t been doing my Pilates religiously anymore. I had started weights and interval running, and the Pilates sort of went by the way side.
So that Monday I did 2 hrs of Pilates, then every day that week a minimum of 1 hour, and yep, like clockwork I was back on that court sprinting and jumping with no worries in the world! By no means is this amount of Pilates required every week, but now I make sure I do a good session of Pilates every second day, and work bits into my work outs each day, I certainly notice the difference.
As I said in the beginning, I’m not saying Pilates if for everyone, but it changed my life, so it can’t hurt to give it a go.
People often associate Pilates with skinny little girls getting around in leotards, but it is fast becoming the future of rehab and injury prevention. Whether you are male, female, young, old, injured or healthy I urge you to give it a go. Just make sure it is Clinical Pilates with a qualified instructor, not an old school DVD you found online for $5. Correct supervision of technique is vital!
A year ago my back would ache after 6km run, fast-forward 12 months and I have just completed a half marathon, and I am feeling the best I have since I was 12. Now all I want to do is spread the word and help the 80% of Australians who experience back pain, and the other 20% to avoid ever experiencing it. The sad truth is today; most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel; well now I do, and I’m not going back!