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Written by Network and select guest authors, this blog is designed to keep you up to speed with everything fitness industry related. Contribute and help shape the industry.

Pilates and back pain, is there a link?

by Ryan Hogan | Sunday, October 18, 2009

In a recent edition of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, an article was published with the title: Core Promises. In a nutshell it discusses how Pilates can either strengthen your core muscles in an effective, strong manner or it can cause back pain, even in conditioned participants. The difference between the two outcomes can sometimes be very small and involve the most subtle changes in how you engage the most important muscle group in your body, your core.

The article interviews a number of doctors, physiotherapists and Pilates practitioners and most do agree that since the explosion in popularity of Pilates in Australia in the early 2000’s, they have seen an increase in incidence of lower back pain. Jo Keers, a physiotherapist and clinical Pilates instructor writes in the article: “Unfortunately, what is often taught or understood (in classes) is core rigidity rather than core stability, where the large surface trunk muscles are being overtrained and the deep core muscles aren't even working. This leads to bracing yourself while doing the exercises, which is very likely to cause damage.”

This last statement brings up a real truth that is current in our industry. The concept of “bracing” your core whilst exercising has become commonplace and in fact accepted in many fitness professionals vocabulary. I have heard in a number of Group Fitness sessions (and not just Pilates classes) the instructor command that their participants “brace their core” while they perform their exercises. I have also noticed Personal Trainers asking their clients to do the same while they take them through their routine of the day. Part of these statements would have to come from mainstream instructors and trainers misinterpreting information that they receive in short courses or simply from over hearing colleagues.

A very interesting note in this article was a statement from Professor Paul Hodges, of the school of health and rehabilitation sciences at the University of Queensland. He says one-size-fits-all programs are likely to be part of the problem, as well as poor instruction. “If someone is healthy and never had back pain, then doing generic core-strengthening training programs is likely to be OK. However, 80 to 90 per cent of the adult population has at least one episode of back pain during their life,” he says. “Back pain changes the way you use your muscles even after the pain has gone. So if you then do a general core-strength training program, it's quite likely that it'll simply re-enforce the wrong muscle strategies your body has adopted to cope.”

Being part of an industry that promotes health and well-being we need to be as aware as possible of the pros and cons of everything we prescribe and regularly assess what we tell our clients and class participants. Allied health professionals and properly trained Pilates practitioners have been voicing their concern for years about the difference between Rigidity and Stability. Lisa Champion, managing director for Network wrote a whole article on it which you can read here: http://tinyurl.com/yecx4w3.

You can read the full Sydney Morning Herald article by clicking here.

Have you been telling your clients to “brace” their core or have you moved on to promote stability? Do you have thoughts on the matter? Please use the comments feature below to generate discussion and inform your industry!

 

 

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