PAINFUL KNEES: 5 IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

Knee problems are common and clients often complain of achy or painful knees.  Apart from some sort of trauma, it is often a result of misalignment through standing incorrectly or muscle imbalances.  For example, a client complained that her son was unable to do any sports at school because he would be in tears with [...]

YOUR FEET COULD BE CAUSING YOUR BACK PAIN

I never noticed people’s feet until I started teaching Pilates.  It’s not often we get the opportunity to go barefoot in this country so they are rarely on show, but in Pilates and yoga we don’t wear anything on our feet.  It wasn’t so much the state some were in, but more the effect they [...]

PILATES & YOGA: ENHANCE SPORTS PERFORMANCE

People have discovered the core stability concept and are slowly realising that the core is linked to everything in the body.  Both disciplines will help any sportsman because you improve posture, you start to integrate your core stabilisers and the breathing aspect of Pilates and yoga causes the ribcage to expand, thereby increasing your VO2 [...]

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR WALK

I’m out every day with my dogs and I prefer to run, but on days when I am walking for whatever reason, I’ve noticed a dull ache in my lower back from time to time.  I started to observe HOW I was walking and realised that I was leaning forward, almost pulling myself along and [...]

SACROILIAC JOINT (SIJ) PROBLEMS & PREVENTION

Whenever  you lie flat on your back, you are resting on the sacrum and the two flat bones either side, the ilia.  The sacroiliac joint is where they meet and can be identified by the two dimples below the waist, either side of the spine. 
The joint, supported by very strong ligaments, has a limited range of [...]

BACK PROBLEMS: FACET JOINT BREAKDOWN

A long post, I know, but there is a lot of useful information here.  Our free video this week is an excerpt taken from our Back Care Series of 3 videos to help you through each stage of back pain and help you maintain a healthy spine.
The spine is hooked together by a series of [...]

PIRIFORMIS, SCIATICA AND TREATMENT

Over the past 5 or 6 years, the piriformis is a subject that has come up on a regular basis as the culprit for problems such as sciatica.  So what is it, where is it, why is it a problem and how is it best treated?
Piriformis Muscle
It is a small, deep muscle originating at the base [...]

12 TOP BENEFITS OF EXERCISE

Encouraging people to exercise and keeping them motivated is an uphill battle, so this article in the Times recently didn’t do anyone any favours:   For a more balanced picture, read the comments at the end.
This is what you need to know:
A combination of a healthy diet and regular, varied exercise is the formula to achieving an ideal [...]

IMPROVE YOUR GOLF WITH PILATES:10 BENEFITS

A great golfer requires consistency and accuracy.  My husband has managed to reduce his golf handicap by 4 strokes over the past year.  His secret?  Better preparation.  I had been nagging him for ages to at least do some Pilates stretches before leaving the house, not least because he was complaining of lower back pain and [...]

HERNIATED DISC: OVERVIEW AND TREATMENT

Also known as slipped or bulging disc, this is actually much less common than we are led to believe: only about 5% of back problems are because of a prolapsed disc.  The term “slipped disc” is also misleading as this would lead us to believe that the whole disc slips out of place, whereas it [...]

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