Pilates: A Great Physical Therapy Alternative For Injury Rehabilitation
Article Found on OCWellnessPhysicians.com
Pilates is one of the fastest growing workout routines in the United States and around the world. This popularity is due to the many benefits of Pilates like enhanced strength, flexibility, and agility due to regular practice. More than just a regular exercise, Pilates is recommended by physicians for rehabilitation treatment after an injury. If you are experiencing a horrible back ache, you can try Pilates, since it has proven to be beneficial for moderate to severe spinal conditions.
Tackle Muscle Imbalance
A lot of factors contribute to muscle imbalance in your body. Factors such as body posture, the way you walk, sit, bend, sleep, run or workout, play a huge role in muscle imbalance. The way you move while performing regular activities can lead to certain injuries. Moving incorrectly puts a lot of pressure or load on some of our muscles.
Our muscles tend to weaken over a span of time due to incorrect movement and ultimately this incorrect movement of muscles can lead to imbalance. Because of the imbalance in the muscles while performing an activity, you tend to lose balance and your body tends to be more susceptible to injuries. For example, an incorrect way of moving can put immense amount of pressure on the spine, while incapacitating the pelvic muscles. This imbalance in the muscles will make your body more susceptible to muscle pulls, strains or even worse injuries.
A Flexible Treatment Option
Physical therapists around the globe consider Pilates as one of the most flexible form of rehabilitation treatment alternative. The success of Pilates as a “recovery treatment” is based on the approach of the specialist towards the principles of Pilates. Factors like core strength, good control, and even musculature, must be given due importance. An efficient Pilates workout provides a higher degree of flexibility compared to other conventional therapy options. Pilates is an exercise routine that can be modified depending on the person’s ability and comfort level. Depending on how bad the injury is, he or she can opt for basic to advanced level of Pilates. Pilates workout teaches you how to treat your body right and attain the perfect posture to reap the maximum benefits.
Pilates is great for rehabilitation from an injury because it is a great exercise option that promotes agility and good posture by strengthening your core and toning your body. The core is considered to be the “center” of your body. Pilates helps align the spinal and pelvic muscles and strengthens the body to fight and ward off any ailment or possible injuries.
What Makes Pilates A Great Workout Alternative
Pilates is globally chosen as an effective choice for physical therapy by therapists since its dynamic and offers a complete workout that stresses on basic aspects like strength, concentration, centering, control, precision, fluidity, breathing, flow etc. No matter where you perform Pilates, these factors remain the same and help develop and strengthen your body.
Pilates workout focuses mainly on the flexibility of your spine and motion. It also compels us to pay more attention to our posture while performing various activities and range of other motions to avoid injuries in the future. The intense yet effective workout helps strengthen the muscles that support your spine and protect them from any injuries. A good Pilates workout will strengthen all the muscles that were weak due to injury and bad posture.
A good control on the breathing pattern while you workout is also essential for your muscles. If Pilates is performed regularly, it helps increase both strength and flexibility of your body.
The Effectiveness of a Pilates Workout
Pilates has many benefits, but only if performed in the proper manner or else it could lead to injures. Consulting an expert or a therapist will ensure that you are doing the right amount of exercise that is required to recover from any injury and prevent further issues. Pilates help increase focus, coordination and endurance since it is an activity that requires a good amount of focus. Further benefits include better breathing, improved balance, spine stabilization, better shoulder movement etc.
So these are some of the benefits of regularly performing Pilates under the guidance of an instructor. Before you plan on making Pilates your preferred workout, it is crucial to understand that there is a huge difference between Pilates that is performed as an exercise and Pilates that is performed as therapy.
The principles of Pilates are great for rehabilitation from an injury, but if they are not applied in conjunction with the precise therapy techniques, they can aggravate the injury. If you are going through an injury recovery, then Pilates is a great workout alternative. Choose the best Pilates instructors to help recover from an injury and relieve the consistent pain.
Grounded in the belief we are all unique beings, we begin each new client with a meticulous bio-mechanical evaluation, assessing each joint in its relationship to the movement of the body as a whole. Our therapists are skilled at reading the unique story your body tells, and treating everything from the bottom of your foot to the top of your head.
Bodywise Physical Therapy is located in Portland, Oregon. The Bodywise approach is wholistic, individualized, and can benefit people of all fitness levels. While Bodywise has always specialized in general orthopedics, spine rehabilitation, and sports medicine, they have evolved into a truly wholistic practice integrating Hands-on treatments with Mindfulness, Pilates, Trauma Release Exercise, Womens Health and Lymphedema.
