Pilates.

[marksx]

Hi all,

Recently I have been going to regular physio appointments for neck pain/restricted movement etc.

Pretty much instantly he put it down to poor posture. I sit/carry myself hunched forward, head down and forward, shoulders forward thanks to 27 years of sitting badly, riding small mountain bikes, being lazy etc.

I have been doing regular exercises and he discharged me today, and (very) strongly reccomended I do some pilates classes or exercises at home, to strengthen my core.

Does anyone have any good links for me to browse through, good book or DVD reccomendations so I can do it at home. Or should I stick to classes? Too many questions!

Cheers.

EDIT - I have no idea what pilates is really and have typical pre-conceptions of it been for girls who like lentils!

[RemainAllHoof]

You can google pilates for a definition. As to your next step, attend a class. If you follow a DVD or book, you'll not benefit much as you'll likely not have the correct posture even if you think you do. A teacher will correct you there and then. It's like anything where accuracy is important - you can't learn to do karate or snowboard simply by reading a book. You need someone to teach you. Plus, most pilates teachers are hot.

[ClassicMercs]

My wife has felt better for some Pilates classes. She does two different ones and finds one teacher much better than the other - probably as the better one is also a trainer. So I would recommend seeing what local classes you have around and look for opinions on the best one - with or without the hot teacher.
My brother likewise does classes to assist in managing his aches and pains - 25 years as a decorator and he is wearing out quickly.

[dreamer75]

I do a couple of Pilates classes and have tried others. Pilates is basically (there is m ore to it about strengthening your core (deep abdominal muscles) to hold you in a good posture at all times, and working on the posture up your spine/neck. A lot of it is core strengthening doing what look like very easy exercises, which if you do them properly can be damned difficult!

I find that if an exercise is easy, you're probably not doing it right !

I would say there is a big variation in the teachers, and its important that you get the basics right. The breathing, the lower back posture. Even with a 1:1 I didn't get the lower back right for a while (I started because of back problems).

See if you can get a personal recommendation for a class somewhere, or try a few until you find one that gives you the right levels of attention, and picks up on your mistakes.

[mattikake]

marksx said:

Hi all,

Recently I have been going to regular physio appointments for neck pain/restricted movement etc.

Pretty much instantly he put it down to poor posture. I sit/carry myself hunched forward, head down and forward, shoulders forward thanks to 27 years of sitting badly, riding small mountain bikes, being lazy etc.

I have been doing regular exercises and he discharged me today, and (very) strongly reccomended I do some pilates classes or exercises at home, to strengthen my core.

Does anyone have any good links for me to browse through, good book or DVD reccomendations so I can do it at home. Or should I stick to classes? Too many questions!

Cheers.

EDIT - I have no idea what pilates is really and have typical pre-conceptions of it been for girls who like lentils!

As said Pilates is (are) about core strength. Your core is largely dominated by endurance slow twitch fibres so the exercise tends to be more endurance and flexibility based than strength or power.

If you are hunched over you have Kyphosis. Any decent GP/Trainer will spot this in seconds, maybe even in 1 second...

The reccommendation is for Pilates is a sound one, but this will mostly concentrate on lower core and deep core muscle groups. If you have Kyphosis it's mostly your upper front is dominating your upper back (the srtonger muscles pulls your weaker shoulders and neck forwards).

However, while the problems can extend from a weak core, they can also be from weak glutes, tight hamstrings, even your tight or overly strong calfs. Muscles pull on other muscles which pull on more muscles etc. So Pilates is a good start, but you may need good plumbline or squat analysis to see where the problem originates. And as any good PT will say, if in doubt, a Whole Body Approach (WBA) to exercise is likely to see better results.

My favourite analogy - remember those little statue toys that had parts that were attached by string? When it's limp it flops over any old where, but as soon as you press the button on the base, the string tightens and it stand to attention perfectly. The string is your muscles, and the parts it goes through are your bones. It doesn't matter so much which muscles you strengthen (as long as you don't ever do it in one particular area or you'll go from one extreme to the other, but that would take months of overtaining to achieve, so for beginners it's not an issue) and not so much HOW much, only that you do. Your skeletal system will do the rest and you'll pop back into shape with ease.

If it's a recent problem, my guess is you have a desk job. It will only get worse unless you do something about it.

Edited by mattikake on Thursday 12th May 18:24