Pilates for Injury Prevention

While we know that getting regular exercise is crucial for our overall wellbeing, sometimes the risk of injury can cause us to hold back. Sprains and strains can impact our everyday lives, but it shouldn’t keep you from regularly moving your body.

Did you know that attending just two 45 minute Pilates classes a week for 8 weeks can work to increase your flexibility, strength and back control? Not only is Pilates an effective, low impact workout, but it can also leave you less susceptible to injury from other physical activity.

The importance of posture
All of our movements – from everyday function through to sports and lifting weights – stem from a foundation of posture. When this foundation isn’t built on good posture, you prevent your body from using the deep supporting muscles designed for optimal function and can leave yourself at risk of muscular pain, back and neck pain.

Regular Pilates classes can not only help you to identify how ideal postures should feel for your body, but also condition you to adopt these postures as second nature moving forward. After all, it’s easier said than done to relearn good posture.

Our classes have been designed with a focus on proper technique, from the simplest of movements in our Foundation classes through to more complex movements. By spending crucial time developing your confidence and capability to hold these postures, you will be able to progress far more quickly than trying to relearn them alone.

Prioritise form and function
An exercise routine focussed solely on strength or solely on flexibility lacks the holistic approach needed to develop optimal movement.

Pilates not only promotes mobility throughout your joints and muscles, but also works to develop strength throughout your core muscle group which are utilised in so many of the movements we carry out every day.

Concurrently working to build strength while also maintaining mobility throughout the body ensures you can complete movements with stability, power and fluidity. In turn, this gives you a greater range of movement and reduces the strain and stress on your body as you exercise.

Engage your core
While your core muscles can be worked through compound movements in a weights session, these muscles can often be underengaged – or require dedicated exercises which are often the last thing you feel like doing after a session at the gym.

Though it’s hard to isolate, the core muscle group plays a crucial role in a host of everyday movements. A weak or improperly engaged core can exacerbate stress on other areas of the body, leaving you more prone to injury even if you aren’t regularly engaging in exercise.

Pilates is one of the most effective exercises when it comes to keeping your core engaged, through regular, dynamic movements that are challenging without being high-intensity.

After just a few weeks of consistent practice, you should begin to notice enhanced stability as it becomes easier to complete the movements of your day-to-day routine. Plus, you’ll be able to challenge yourself further in your classes!

The benefits to your mobility and control of your body as a result of regular Pilates classes can’t be overstated. Build your core strength, learn more about how to hold and move your body optimally, and make this low-impact, highly rewarding exercise part of your routine with Return Pilates.

Feeling ready to give your first class a try? Return Pilates offers multiple class types every day, and our friendly team would be more than happy to show you the ropes (or the springs, in this case). Find your ideal class fit by completing our quiz or check out our timetable here.