Should I do Pilates if I've got...

Jane Arlow • January 22, 2022

I've had a lot of conversations recently with people asking me if they can/ should do Pilates. Today, I'm bringing you the answers to the most commonly asked questions.

Spoiler alert - Pilates is great for pretty much any condition / rehab situation. But I do have a few caveats for you.

While Pilates is great for any condition, not all movements are great for every condition. Please speak to your teacher and disclose any issues before you start working together so you can squeeze the most benefit from your class.

Always make sure that your instructor is qualified and insured to work with you. Pilates teachers have a higher level of anatomy and physiology education than general fitness instructors. And there's a lot of additional education that many Pilates teachers do to you with rehab, injury or areas that aren't working as well as they might.

Your Pilates teacher is not qualified to diagnose injuries/ conditions. They might be able to give you some ideas for questions to ask your doctor or other specialist in the search for diagnosis.

If you are in the acute phase of an injury or issue, or a joint is inflamed (swollen, red, warm to the touch), working out might not be best for you. If you're under treatment from another specialist, e.g. doctor, physio or similar, please ask them when you're OK to start moving again.

If you're still not quite sure if it will help you, some of the benefits that you can expect from Pilates, whatever your situation are:

It's going to help you to focus on your body and how it's feeling;
The breathwork will calm your nervous system;
You'll sleep better;
It will calm racing thoughts.

So, with all that well out of the way, let's get down to specifics. I'll write here about Pilates and: pregnancy; hyper-mobility; and general lower back pain. If there are other topics that you'd like to learn more about, please email me!

If you're interested in reading more about doing Pilates with osteoporosis/ osteopenia, check out this blog; if plantar fasciitis is making your life miserable, then try this blog

Should I do Pilates if I'm pregnant or trying to get pregnant?

Yes, Pilates is suitable for you if you're pregnant or you're trying to get pregnant. In fact, preparing your body is going to help you to have a better pregnancy and birth experience

1. Trying to get pregnant without IVF: whether you've never done Pilates before, or are an experienced Pilateer, Pilates is definitely good for you during this time. There are no particular exercises that you should avoid (assuming no other injuries or issues).

2. Trying to get pregnant with IVF: There's a balance between getting enough movement and over-doing it during IVF treatment.

Definitely avoid intense or high impact exercise and you should also avoid movements that involve twisting or turning upside down (exercises like rolling like a ball/ seal; rollover; or jackknife).

You might also want to limit the amount of time you spend exercising and many doctors may advise you to avoid exercising at all during the week of egg retrieval.

In general, take the advice of your doctor!

3. First trimester: Many people don't even know they're pregnant during the first three months and there aren't any exercises that you should particularly avoid during this period.

Do listen to your body though - if something doesn't feel right, don't do it.

By the way, if you suddenly seem much more flexible than before, that's the relaxin getting your pelvic girdle ready for the birth. This means that you do need to take a little extra care not to over-extend joints.

3. Second trimester: If you're now in T-2 and you're already doing Pilates...fantastic! Keep going! Never tried it before? Perhaps wait until after the birth.

As your baby grows, you'll start to take some exercises out of your practice. For example, exercises where you twist or crunch. This reduces the risk of Diastasis Recti (where the connective tissue running down the middle of your abs splits).

As the trimester continues, you'll also start propping your upper body up a bit so that your head's above your heart if you're lying on your back. This will reduce the risk of fainting.

You'll probably find it increasingly less comfortable doing exercises lying on your belly, so you'll start doing exercises on all fours instead.

As your pregnancy continues, try and get into the all fours position as often as possible - this is correlated with a much better birth experience.

And in side-lying exercises, placing cushions under your bump will help your comfort too.

You'll also start to work on "hugging the baby" to activate your deep abdominals.

4. Third trimester: As your bump gets bigger, you may feel less comfortable coming to the floor so you'll do more of your exercises either sitting or standing; perform fewer repetitions of each exercise; and focus more on breath and the mind-body aspects of your practice.

Should I do a general class or a pre-natal class while pregnant?

It depends. During pre-pregnancy and T-1, a general class is going to be fine. However, as you transition into and through T-2, you might wish to consider a Pre-Natal class.

This is because ALL the exercises will be specifically suitable for pregnancy.

Should I do Pilates after the birth of my baby?

Yes, BUT, you should wait 6-8 weeks after a natural birth and 8-12 weeks after a c-section. Only start back once you've been cleared by your doctor or midwife and ask them to check you for Diastasis Recti (DR).

I strongly recommend a post-natal class rather than a general class during your post-natal period.

Even if you don't have a DR, your abdominal muscles will have been very stretched during the final three months and a specialist class will help you to strengthen these effectively.

Should I do Pilates if I have hyper-mobility?

Hyper-mobility is a condition that you might have heard described as being "double jointed". It means that some or all of your joints are unusually flexible. For example, you might have found yourself in a yoga class, being able to get into positions that others can't.

While this might seem like it's a good thing, it's actually a connective tissue disorder and many people with hyper-mobility experience pain in the joints; muscle/ ligament/ tendon injuries; and sometimes even dislocations.

There is a spectrum to hyper-mobility and being more flexible, doesn't necessarily mean you're hyper-mobile. The Beighton Test (pictured above), tests degrees of movement across nine different joints.

It's often hereditary and can be caused by an underlying connective tissue condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

While I would never normally say that Pilates is better than yoga (they're not competing), in the case of hyper-mobility, Pilates might actually be the more suitable exercise practice of the two.

This is because in Pilates we work to re-train and strengthen muscles around the hyper-mobile joints, which in turn helps to stabilise those joints.

For example:

Hyper-mobile knees - you'll work the area around your hips, your quads (big muscles at front of leg) and your hamstrings.

Hyper-mobile elbows - your focus will be biceps, triceps, your rotator cuff muscles and general shoulder stability.

Hyper-mobile shoulders - say hello to strengthening your rotator cuff, the muscles round your shouler blades, and your latissimus dorsi (your big back muscles).

In all cases, you'll also learn to feel where your limbs are in space are more effectively. This is called "proprioception" and ensures that just because you can move a joint through a big range, you can feel when to stop before injury occurs.

Should I do Pilates if I have lower back pain?

Back pain is an interesting one. It's notoriously difficult to diagnose what exactly is causing the pain; and the pain may be caused by a multiple structures - intervertebral discs; fascia; sacro-iliac joint; ligaments; muscles or nerves.

If you have a diagnosed back issue (e.g. slipped or bulging disc; facet joint irritation/ spondylosis; or osteoporosis/ osteopenia), please let your teacher know so that they can ensure you have a safe and effective class! There are specific movements that you'll want to avoid.

If you're suffering from general back pain, brought on, for example, by too much sitting - something we've all been struggling with over the last couple of years - you'll want to work on:

Strengthening your glutes (butt muscles). These are the biggest muscles in your body and play a direct role in supporting your upper body and in any movement involving your legs.
Releasing your hip flexors (the muscles at the front of your hips). Tight hip flexors act to tip your pelvis forward, meaning that your butt muscles are not able to work as effectively.
Strengthening your abdominals and back muscles. This means that your spine is able to flex and move freely.

If you're in pain, modern science suggests that gentle movement is much better than no movement in helping to relieve it. And in a study published a couple of years ago Pilates came out as being one of the most effective ways to manage lower back pain. Yay us.

Are there any conditions where I really shouldn't do Pilates?

No, but you should always let your teacher know about any conditions/ injuries etc.

Some teachers specialise in particular types of clients and your teacher might recommend that you'd be better served working with someone else. Please don't be offended if this is the case - we always want to make sure that you get the most benefit from your Pilates class!

For example, I always recommend that pre-natal clients from T2 through to post-natal attend a specialist class, not because I'm not qualified to teach you (I am), but because I feel you'll have a much better experience in a specialist class.

If any of these topics affect you and you'd like to speak to me some more about how Pilates could help, drop me an email. Similarly, if there's a topic that you'd like to learn more about, do let me know!

If this has convinced you that you need to book a class now, you can try us for free by clicking here.

See you on the mat!

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