Pilates

Popular coverage often presents the fitness training applications of Pilates as an exercise routine. Yet Fitness Pilates is but one stream of the potentially highly-beneficial Pilates method.

The other main stream of Pilates is Clinical Pilates. This has as its basis the application of Pilates to treat individual needs and clinical conditions. In certain cases a course of Pilates might supplement other treatment programmes or even substitute for them.

Benefits of Pilates

Pilates is claimed to offer benefits for almost anyone of any age or fitness level:

Aiding rehabilitation after strain, injury or an operation
Improving posture and balance
Improving strength and stamina
Preventing injury
Treating and preventing back, neck and hip problems
Relieving stress and improving sleep patterns
Helping prevent osteoporosis
Getting back into shape after giving birth.

After careful assessment, I incorporate Pilates into exercise programmes tailored to individual needs and goals.

Pilates in Your Fifties and Beyond

Generally, public and gym Pilates classes may not suit everyone attending them. This becomes increasingly evident as the years advance.

For clients in their fifties and beyond, after consultation and careful assessment, I tailor Pilates programmes to suit their pace, physical condition and preferences for exercise.

More on this aspect of Pilates on my Pilates Beyond 50 page.

Clinical Pilates

In recent years the scientific community has taken an interest in Pilates and its use for injury rehabilitation and the treatment of specific conditions. Clinical Pilates, the fusion of Pilates methods with well-established physiotherapy concepts, started in the 1990s and is now widespread.

Today osteopaths, physiotherapists and GPs may well recommend Clinical Pilates as a safe form of exercise. Pilates may be recommended to augment other treatment programmes.

Clinical Pilates vs Exercise Pilates

The popular practice of exercise Pilates is in classes held at gyms and health clubs. This is the application of Pilates directly as an exercise aimed at general improvement in fitness.

Clinical Pilates is an entirely personal, one-to-one, application of Pilates techniques to the treatment of specific conditions and to accelerate rates of recovery.

The benefits of one-to-one Clinical Pilates can be summarised:

Deals with individual, rather than group, needs
Achieves faster results than those achieved through exercise-oriented activities
Incorporates functional exercises which mimic everyday movements
Can head off potential injuries by restoring the body's correct physical balances
One-to-one relationship between patient and practitioner.

Pilates in Fitness Training

For those following a sport, energetic pastime or determined fitness programme, I have integrated Pilates routines into activities, aiming to achieve the best muscular and skeletal balance essential for their full enjoyment of their efforts, however energetic.

Golf, badminton, tennis, squash, rugby, football, cricket and so on, even walking, all make physical demands on the body. Pilates, applied appropriately, can condition muscles to meet these demands, thus improving performance and reducing the risk of injury.

I expand on this application of Pilates on my Fitness Pilates page.

Your Assessment

The evaluation is the most important aspect of your programme. At your first appointment I will ask a series of questions about your state of health and fitness, and then complete a full postural evaluation.

The information gathered forms the basis of recommendations for a Pilates programme. Where necessary, I shall work with your osteopath, physiotherapist or GP to provide you with your ideal course of Pilates.

Small Pilates Classes at Hildenborough, Near Tonbridge

As an alternative to one-to-one sessions, or in addition to them, some clients attend my classes, benefitting from the advantages being members of a small group of people of similar ability and sharing similar aims.

Clients in classes at The Studio in Hildenborough, near Tonbridge, come from Kent, Surrey and Sussex including the Crowborough, Edenbridge, Hadlow, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Wadhurst areas.

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