Back In MotionEltham

Clinical Pilates - what is it?

Pilates is a form of exercise which was developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 1900’s³. It involves exercises to improve motor control, strength and flexibility and comes with many health benefits⁶.

There are two main forms of Pilates: mat-based Pilates and apparatus (equipment) based Pilates⁶. Equipment based Pilates uses springs to apply resistance, which allows health professionals to adjust the level of resistance or difficulty of exercises when designing individualised Pilates programs. Some equipment used in Pilates include but are not limited to the reformer, the trapeze table, the barrel and the chair³. Joseph Pilates’ work with developing Pilates has been continued over the years and adopted as a form of rehabilitation by many different health professionals for managing many different conditions⁶.

Clinical Pilates differs from fitness Pilates as it involves an initial assessment to diagnose your condition and exercises are specifically tailored to manage your presenting condition and goals³.

Benefits of Clinical Pilates:

Like with exercise, Clinical Pilates presents many benefits. Some potential benefits of Clinical Pilates include^1,2,4,8:

• Reductions in pain and disability;
• Improvements of physical function and general fitness;
• Improvements in quality of life;
• Improvements in mental health; and
• Improvements of functional movement and may help prevent running injuries.

How can Clinical Pilates may help you?

If you are presenting with pain or a musculoskeletal injury, Clinical Pilates may be an appropriate form of rehabilitation for your injury. Your health professional such as your physiotherapist or osteopath will perform a clinical assessment to help you determine if Clinical Pilates is a good form of rehabilitation management for your specific injury, or whether other forms of rehabilitation are more suitable such as strength and conditioning training or hydrotherapy.

Once your health professional has completed the assessment, based on your diagnosis and the clinical findings, they will design a Clinical Pilates program suitable for you. Your health professional will then take you through the exercises in the Pilates studio to determine the difficulty of the exercises and ensure you practice correct technique of all exercises to ensure safety while completing your program.

If you’d like more information or to book in for a Clinical Exercise assessment, please call us on 9439 6776.

This blog is written by Narin Deniz, Physiotherapist at Back In Motion Eltham.

References:

1. Byrnes, K., Wu, P. J., & Whillier, S. (2018). Is Pilates an effective rehabilitation tool? A systematic review. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 22(1), 192-202. doi 10.1016/j.jbmt.2017.04.008
2. Cruz-Díaz, D., Martínez-Amat, A., Osuna-Pérez, M. C., De la Torre-Cruz, M. J., & Hita-Contreras, F. (2016). Short-and long-term effects of a six-week clinical Pilates program in addition to physical therapy on postmenopausal women with chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. Disability and Rehabilitation, 38(13), 1300-1308. doi 10.3109/09638288.2015.1090485
3. Di Lorenzo, C. E. (2011). Pilates: what is it? Should it be used in rehabilitation?. Sports Health, 3(4), 352-361. doi: 10.1177/1941738111410285
4. Fleming, K. M., & Herring, M. P. (2018). The effects of pilates on mental health outcomes: A meta-analysis of controlled trials. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 37, 80-95. doi 10.1016/j.ctim.2018.02.003
5. Laws, A., Williams, S., & Wilson, C. (2017). The Effect of clinical Pilates on functional movement in recreational runners. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 38(10), 776-780. doi 10.1055/s-0043-111893
6. Owsley, A. (2005). An introduction to clinical Pilates. International Journal of Athletic Therapy and Training, 10(4), 19-25. Retrieved from https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijatt/10/4/article-p19.xml
7. Pilates, J. H., & Miller, W. J. (1945). Return to Life Through Contrology. Ravenio Books.
   Retrieved from: https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Q6FvDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT144&ots=pNrrXLGJtC&sig=
   JW_kqpYWw3ozf0eG07mfphA5qcI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
8. Schimidt, A. C., de Oliveira Herzinger, P., Matias, D. P., & Welling, L. C. (2020). Influence of Pilates Method on Nonspecific Lumbar Pain. Arquivos Brasileiros de Neurocirurgia: Brazilian Neurosurgery. doi 10.1055/s-0040-1716561