Exercises are very important to help improve muscle strength and flexibility (length), and improve movement. Physiotherapy will teach and advise you on specific exercises for your condition that you can do at home or at a gym, whatever is more suitable for you.

Following an injury, operation or actually any condition that causes you pain muscles will become weaker. This is because pain stops muscles working as well and damage to a muscle will also make muscles weaker. Therefore it is important you do specific exercise to strengthen your muscles back up again. This is important as joints need strong muscles around them to enable them to move well.

Pilates is a specific type of exercise which can help conditions such as poor posture and back pain. Pilates helps you to strengthen and have good control of your postural muscles which tend to be muscles that lie deep within your body providing support to our spine. Pilates is also known as core stability exercise.

Modified Pilates is a form of dynamic stabilisation retraining. It helps to recondition the body from the central core (the low back and pelvic region). Modified Pilates helps to prevent the recurrence of, and treat a range of postural, musculo-skeletal and neurological conditions.

Physiotherapists have designed the Modified Pilates repertoire specifically for use in the rehabilitation setting. Included are mat work exercises, which will be tailored depending on individual needs following an assessment. These are designed to promote core stability, flexibility, endurance, postural and body awareness and to correct muscle imbalances.

The Technique

Pilates is based on the eight following principles.

1. Breathing - co-ordinated with the exercise so that exhalation occurs with the most difficult movement

2. Concentration - provides a work out for the mind and body

3. Control - essential when working against gravity in mat work exercise

4. Centering - exercises primarily facilitate core stability, challenged through various arm and leg movements

5. Precision - a long-term goal. Routine in the techniques creates precision, which leads to greater awareness and control

6. Flow - performed evenly, continuous flowing movement

7. Integrated isolation - routine allows one to recognise incorrect patterns of movement, isolate them and correct them

8. Routine - repetition leads to greater skill and greater benefits