Why Pilates
Whether you have neck, back or pelvic pain, are tired of feeling stiff and inflexible or are just looking to get stronger, improving core strength and athletic performance, then a Pilates class at In Balance Physio and Pilates is for you. Pilates is a system of movement based exercises that focus on building strength, flexibility and lean muscle tone with an emphasis on lengthening the body and aligning the spine, rather than bulking and shortening muscles. Pilates particularly focuses on the core and stabilising muscles in the body which protect the joints from injury and provide a stable framework for efficient movement to occur from.
Why Pilates at our Manly studio?
Pilates is all about control and precision and without close supervision and correction, often the exercises are performed poorly, using the wrong muscles. Pilates is often done in classes which are are large, with no one ever checking or correcting your technique, leading to poor results or worse, to injury. At In Balance we only believe in small classes which are always led by experienced physiotherapists, trained in the Pilates method and skilled in movement correction and injury management. This will ensure you perform the exercises correctly, safely and get the best possible results from the effort that you put in.
What to expect
While you will certainly work hard and should feel more limber and stronger, Pilates is different from other forms of exercise in that it is not about getting your heart rate up or cracking a sweat. The classes are 1 hour long and always led by an experienced Physiotherapist. Each client will be provided with a tailor made exercise program, based around the particular injuries or goals that they have.
Type of class
Our classes are equipment classes with max of 4 participants per class. Each person has there own individualised program, tailored specifically to their needs and ability levels and having small classes means that we are able to tailor the exercises to all levels of ability and safely work around any injuries or issues that you may have. The classes use a range of specialised Pilates equipment such as reformers and combo chairs, combining these with the smaller equipment and mat exercises. The equipment adds resistance to the exercises via sets of springs which can be set to varying levels of resistance for different exercises and ability levels.
What is a Pilates Assessment
Before joining a class, we do require that you attend a 60 min assessment with one of our physiotherapists. During this session, we take a medical history from you to ensure that you are safe to join the class and also use a real time ultrasound to image your core muscles and show them to you on the screen. This is invaluable in teaching you what a good contraction of the core muscles is and in making sure that you can turn them on well. The ultrasound is a completely non-invasive comfortable test. Finally we will have a look at the way you sit, stand and move. There are several poor postures and movement patterns that allow the core muscle to become lazy and without identifying and changing these, you often don’t get the full benefit of performing the exercises. You will then go through a number of the exercises one on one with a physio to teach you the basics.
