Pilates is a low-impact exercise that strengthens deep stabilizing muscles and improves posture, balance, core strength, and mobility.
Physiotherapy is known for its holistic approach, providing treatment that addresses the root causes of pain and imbalances. Combining physiotherapy with Pilates has numerous benefits for your physical and mental health.
1. Improved Posture
Poor body posture can lead to pain and dysfunction throughout the musculoskeletal system. Physiotherapy and Pilates are both effective at improving posture, reducing muscle imbalances, and promoting proper movement patterns.
Using a combination of hands on treatment and exercise prescription, years of bad posture can be changed in just a few sessions with a physiotherapist. This will help to loosen shortened muscles, improve spinal mobility and increase core strength.
Pilates requires concentration and precise movements, fostering greater awareness of body alignment and movement known as proprioception. This is a valuable skill for a variety of health and fitness goals.
Incorporating physio-Pilates into an exercise routine is helpful for individuals who are recovering from injuries or managing musculoskeletal conditions. Physio-Pilates helps to strengthen supporting muscles, retrains movement patterns, and promotes a mind-body connection. This combination is ideal for achieving long-term posture improvement, reducing the risk of future injury, and optimizing recovery times. This is especially true with clinical Pilates, which is supervised by Physiotherapy clinic in Bendigo. This allows clients to receive a comprehensive assessment and diagnosis, manual therapy and exercise instruction all in one place.
2. Reduced Risk of Injury
The combination of physiotherapy and Pilates helps reduce injury risk and improve recovery times. Physiotherapy addresses imbalances, strengthens weak areas and improves movement patterns to prevent pain, stiffness and inflammation. Pilates exercises have a similar effect by strengthening and toning muscles that support the joints of the body. They also improve posture and help with core strength, which can reduce the likelihood of pain and injury. Injuries are often caused by poor posture or abnormal movement patterns. Physiotherapy identifies and treats these issues and helps the patient learn how to manage them in the future.
Pilates focuses on precise and controlled movements, improving body awareness and movement mechanics. It can help improve balance, proprioception and muscle activation – all of which are vital in injury prevention and rehabilitation. It is particularly beneficial for runners who wish to rehab, prehab or stay injury free as it can aid in core strength, joint mobility and balance. It can also help prevent running injuries, such as knee pain, calf strains and low back pain. This is because it can improve running technique and prevent over-training.
3. Increased Strength
Pilates is well known as a form of exercise for improving muscle strength and flexibility, but it’s also an effective tool for injury prevention, pain management, and pre/post pregnancy recovery. It strengthens the deep stabilizing muscles of the core, improves posture and alignment, increases body awareness and promotes functional movement patterns.
When used in combination with physiotherapy, Pilates can enhance the rehabilitation process by increasing muscle strength and coordination, and by speeding up the healing time of injuries or surgery. It can even help prevent re-injury by promoting good movement patterns and helping to correct imbalances.
Combining physiotherapy and pilates classes in Castlemaine is the best way to ensure proper exercise technique and prevent future injuries. Physiotherapists can assess your current injuries, movement limitations and balance to create a comprehensive program that will improve your overall strength, stability, and performance. Then, a trained physio-led Pilates instructor will be able to guide you through Pilates exercises that specifically address your injuries and/or health needs. This will also ensure that you are performing the exercises correctly, safely and efficiently.
4. Improved Flexibility
Many physiotherapy techniques are used to help patients improve their mobility and strengthen muscles. Clinical Pilates is a great way to complement these methods, as it adapts the full range of movements of the kinetic chain to provide an individualized treatment plan for each client.
This combination allows for better overall body movement and helps to prevent future injuries. It can also reduce the risk of developing chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, which is characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, and cognitive disturbances.
Incorporating Pilates into your physical therapy routine will increase flexibility, resulting in improved balance and posture. Additionally, Pilates requires concentration and precise movement, which helps to build strength while promoting greater awareness of the body’s alignment known as proprioception.
5. Reduced Stress
Pilates is known for its stress-relief benefits, and combining it with physiotherapy can help you achieve greater physical and mental wellbeing. Regular practice improves balance, coordination and proprioception (spatial awareness) – all of which can reduce your risk of falls and injuries.
This is particularly helpful for those with joint injuries, spinal pain, postural imbalances or musculoskeletal conditions. It also aids rehabilitation after surgery, promoting strength, movement pattern and flexibility while minimizing pain and reducing scar tissue formation.
Physio-led Pilates sessions are tailored to your specific needs, helping you achieve your recovery goals in the safest and most effective way. This can be done in group classes, one to ones or at home if you have the equipment. Research has shown that incorporating a physio-led pilates program into your treatment can increase core strength, balance, range of motion and flexibility while decreasing pain and improving posture. Physio-Pilates also provides a number of psychological benefits such as increased self-efficacy and mood, which can support your recovery from injury or surgery.