The bent knee opening Pilates exercise is a perfect exercise for beginners who want to improve their pelvic stability and start activating their deep core muscles.

Specifically, this exercise is suited for those looking for pre and post-natal exercises, individuals with acute or chronic back pain and those who are just starting out with core strengthening.

When we think of our core, we often think about our abs but we know now that is a rather narrow view and our core encompasses many areas and muscles of our trunk and pelvis. The bent knee opening Pilates exercise helps activate our lower core and pelvis in particular and because it is a unilateral exercise, it helps challenge our stability.

Because this exercise requires no equipment and is done lying on your back, it is easy and safe to practise at home. So why not try it now by following the steps below.

How to do the Bent knee opening step by step instructions

Lying on your back on a mat or comfortable floor, bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor.
Ensure the back of your head, ribcage and tailbone feel heavy into the floor beneath you.

Place your hands in a triangle over your lower tummy, with fingers pointing towards your pubic bone.

Breathe in and let one knee gently fall out to the side by opening from your hip socket and allowing your foot to roll out. At the end of your range, try and let your inner thigh muscles relax, without letting your pelvis move.

To draw the leg back to centre, sigh out and think about bringing the big toe back to the floor.

Try and ensure you keep your pelvis level, not letting it tip from side to side. If you haven’t already learnt about pelvic clocks, watch this video first to get a better understanding of your pelvic control.

Alternate sides and make sure the leg that is not moving, stays really still in its original starting position. Complete 5 each side, for 3 sets.

This exercise is a great starting place for all these things and more!

So often we look at the core as just your abs, but we now know this is a rather narrow view. This exercise will get you to start understanding pelvic stability and will also get you activating the deeper core system.

Top tips for the bent knee opening exercise

1. Cop a feel!
   Using your hands on your pelvis is a great way of getting the feedback you may need to see whether you are tilting your pelvis and loosing stability.
2. Revisit that pelvic clock.
   Understanding where your pelvis is in space is the first step to achieving differentiation in movement between your hips, pelvis and lower back. We all know things cannot stay still as that is not how we are designed. However, understanding your ranges will help you move things when you should rather than because you have to.
3. It’s all in the hips!
   Imagine that your hip bone is rolling in the socket. The pelvis doesn’t need to come along for the ride! Instead, find your true range of movement. This will help you when you get to those harder exercises!
4. Get the feet involved!
   We love feet and when you can feel you are stable with your pelvis, try drawing your attention to the feet and see how allowing them to move will help you fire up those inner thighs!

What are the benefits of the bent knee opening Pilates exercise?

The bent knee opening Pilates exercise is a great exercise for beginners or as a warm up to any routine. It can be done easily at home or as a warm up at the gym.

When doing this exercise, we try to keep our spine and pelvis still, opening our leg from the hip. This helps us work on lumbopelvic and hip dissociation, which is our ability to move our hips and pelvis independently from our lumbar spine. Having reduced lumbopelvic dissociation and awareness can contribute to stiffness or tightness of the area and in some cases, pain of the low back.

The bent knee opening Pilates exercise also helps activate and improve coordination of the lower abdominals, which help support the lower spine and pelvis, and are often neglected in traditional core exercises. In particular this movement can be really helpful during the first trimester of pregnancy and postnatally as it can help activate and relax the pelvic floor muscles.

Come and visit one of our Pilates clinics.

If you would like any more advice and guidance around Pilates and ‘the core’, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Why not come and try a studio class of Pilates in Kensington or 1-2-1 session with Complete Pilates at any of our studios? You can also visit us at our Pilates studio on Fulham road or our Pilates studio in the City of London.

Have you always wondered what ‘the core’ actually is? Have you been told to ‘strengthen your core’ to help with your back pain? Are you looking to strengthen your tummy after pregnancy? Or maybe you just want the knowledge to move better?

If you want to know more about the core and how Pilates can help strengthen your core muscles, this is the article for you.

Knowledge is power, so understanding what happens when you are doing your abs exercises will help you to move better, work more efficiently and ultimately get a stronger core!

What is the ‘core’?

The core is often referred to as the muscles that wrap around and pull in your stomach. However, it is a lot more complex than that.

The pelvis is the centre when looking at transferring load and weight around the body. In standing, your centre of gravity sits naturally just in front of the sacrum (see the spine anatomy handout).

When looking at ‘the core’, the diaphragm and trunk are essential in movement control and support. It has been well documented that if your head, rib cage, and pelvis are lined up around your centre of gravity then you will use the least energy during movement. This is often known as a ‘neutral spine’. This area surrounds a space which can change the volume within it by expanding and contracting. The diaphragm divides this space into the thoracic and thoraco-abdominal-pelvic cavity. The latter is our ‘core’.

Functional mechanics of the core

There are three important things to think about with a healthy ‘core’.

1. Breathing
   This generates intra-abdominal pressure and natural stability around the spine.
   
2. Postural control
   Balanced activation between the muscles on the front (flexor) and the back (extensor).
3. Control of the pelvis
   Pelvic control directly links to how you control the flexor and extensor muscles.

Having good co-ordination of these three systems gives you complex patterns of control and includes many deep muscles and structures including:

• Diaphragm
• Pelvic floor
• Transversus abdominis
• Multifidus
• Interspinales and intertransversarii (small muscles between your vertebrae)
• Psoas and iliacus
• Quadratus lumborum (particularly the medial fibres)
• Internal oblique
• Deep hip rotators

These muscles create a sleeve around you which adapt to provide ‘core control’.

Your core does lots of important things including:

Regulating internal pressure changes

This means that when you sneeze, laugh, blow your nose, or are sick, it adapts to the load automatically. When you run or jump it also helps with continence.

Breathing and postural control

Breathing is described as the most fundamental motor pattern and linked inextricably with postural control. For us to stand against gravity, we need to develop postural control. In our developmental sequence, breathing becomes integrated into our evolving patterns of movement control. As a result, breathing and postural control support each other.

A healthy breathing pattern is said to be one of lateral expansion of the lower rib cage. To get the ribs to ‘push out’, you need to be able to generate enough intra-abdominal pressure. When you have pain or poor posture your breathing changes. However, if posture is good then breathing is facilitated and vice versa.

Pilates and the core – what is the connection?

Pilates has also become strongly linked with the ‘core’, although Joseph Pilates never used the term. He focused on whole body health and complete co-ordination of body, mind and spirit. After his move to America, his work was mainly with elite dancers and athletes and looked at high load exercises. In 2002, Unagaro described the Pilates method as ‘the powerhouse’ which gives you the image of large powerful muscles rather than internal structures. Again, you can see how ‘the core’ has changed.

Background information

‘The core’ has become popular in both the medical and fitness industries, with both at one point, assuming that the core is only your abdominals and by strengthening them you will reduce back pain. However, there is no science behind this. This article is a great way of helping you to understand exactly what the core is, why it is not just the abdominals, how it functions normally and how it is commonly changed in people with spine or pelvic pain.

A lot of clinicians find that people who have spinal or pelvic pain, or a combination of both, cannot organise the basic elements of ‘core control’. As a result, a patient will often try to strengthen their abdominals. However, this could be further imprinting poor movement patterns and strategies. The debate around what the ‘core’ is and how it could help began around 2008. Despite this, it is difficult for people to give an exact definition of what ‘the core’ is.

5 Pilates Core Exercises

Core Pilates Exercise 1- Femur arcs

Lying on your back on a mat or comfortable floor. Take a moment to take some breaths, feeling the back of your head, back of your ribs and tail bone heavy into the floor beneath you.

Sigh out and float 1 leg into table top. Sigh out again, and float your second leg to join in double leg table top.

Arms resting by your side, as you sigh out, let one leg come down to the floor and then float it back up again as you breathe in. Alternate sides.

You should be able to breathe easily throughout this movement and feel your tummy, head, ribs and tailbone remain relatively still. Do as many as you can until you feel this becomes difficult, then rest and try and complete 3 sets in total.

View our Femur Arc tutorial here.

Core Pilates Exercise – Dead bug

Lying on your back on a mat or comfortable floor. As above, bring your legs into table top, one leg at a time. Bring both hands to point towards the ceiling.

As you sigh out, extend opposite arm and leg away from you and then breathe in to draw your arms and legs back to starting position. Alternate sides to begin. The lower your leg goes to the floor, the harder the exercise will be.

Ensure the back of your head, tailbone and ribs are staying relatively still and that you can keep breathing or hold a conversation.

Try 2 sets of 10 extensions of opposite sides, then try and perform 2 sets of 10 extending away on the same side.

View our dead bug tutorial here. 

Core Pilates Exercise 3 – Side to Side

Start by lying on your back on a mat or comfortable floor. To warm up, put your knees and feet together and let your legs fall to one side as your head looks in the opposite direction. Sigh and let your legs move across to the other side.

Once you’re comfortable, bring your legs up into tabletop. Bring your legs together by pressing your big toes and inner thighs together.

Tip your legs over to one side, your pelvis will follow and then your abdominals. Let your head roll to the opposite side. As you sigh, press your bottom inner thigh muscles towards the centre and bring your legs back to the centre in table top. This movement will help activate your side tummy muscles.

Try 3 sets of 10 (5 each way). If you find this exercise difficult, try it first with your feet on the floor.

Core Pilates Exercise 4 – Full Pilates Chest Lift

Lying on your back on a mat or comfortable floor with your knees bent and feet flat, place your hands behind your head.

Pick up your head, lifting it just off the floor.

As you sigh, send your gaze to your pubic bone and roll your ribs to come up into a chest lift.

Grab the back of your thighs with your hands and reach your elbows wide to come up a little higher.

Stay in that position for a few seconds, then place your hands back behind your neck and slowly roll your spine back down until the last thing to touch the mat is the back of your shoulders.

Try and repeat 10 of these, really working on the slow and controlled lowering back down to the mat.

View our chest lift tutorial here. 

Core Pilates Exercise 5 – Knee hover

Using a Pilates mat, set yourself up one all fours with shoulders set above hands and hips above knees, with your eye gaze between your hands.

Spread your fingers to create a good base of support and curl your toes under your feet.

Breathe out and press into your hands and feet until your knees hover about an inch off the floor.

Keep breathing as you hold and slowly lower. Repeat this 8-10 times if you’re holding for under 15 seconds, or 4-6 times if you’re holding for 30 seconds or more.

Try and increase how long you can hold for as you keep practising.

View our Knee hover tutorial here. 

Why not try a 15 minute core class on our YouTube channel today?

‘Core control’ and intra-abdominal pressure

The spine is the backbone of the body and helps us to move and bend freely. However, there are a lot of things which need to happen for it to be supported.

Intra-abdominal pressure has been looked at for many years when analysing adding weight to your body. These studies focus on trunk strength rather than control. However, later studies show this pressure is important in the posture and support required in normal activities of life.

Intra-abdominal pressure is generated when the diaphragm descends. A co-contraction of the known transversus abdominis and pelvic floor is created. This is an automatic response which acts like a ‘pre movement’ stabiliser. It is important that the activity level and timing between these are well balanced. Problems occur when there is not only underactivity, but also overactivity, for example gripping or bracing.

Breathing

For healthy people the amount of intra-abdominal pressure that you generate should be appropriate for the task. This means that the pressure should increase in proportion to the forces that your limbs are generating. For example, if you are lifting an extremely heavy weight, you need to splint the abdominal wall and sacrifice good breathing patterns to generate enough intra-abdominal pressure for appropriate support.

Your spine stiffness will also change through your breathing cycle. Holding your breath at the end of inspiration increases your intra-abdominal pressure and creates spine stiffness. However, breathing throughout movement creates optimal pressure which reduces the risk of unwanted spinal compression.

Variation

Importantly, intra-abdominal pressure is constantly variable. This means that it is buoyant and gives you the natural internal stability to help you maintain an upright posture against gravity. Because of this constant change in pressure, the deeper muscles work constantly but at a low level to achieve this postural uprightness and at the same time generate the support required for activity.

In movement, you can see if you have underactive or overactive abdominals. In underactive, the abdomen will protrude or dome and the ‘neutral’ spino-pelvic posture is lost as well as the relationship between the thorax and the pelvis changes.

When the superficial abdominals are too strong, the neutral spino-pelvic posture is also lost, the thoracic opening is constricted and intrabdominal pressure is constricted, also loosing stability. This is why the balance between the systems is so important.

Is the pelvic floor part of ‘the core’?

In short, yes. The pelvic floor must contract during tasks which require higher intra-abdominal pressure to both help contribute to this pressure but also to maintain continence. More and more research is showing a link between continence and poor breathing patterns.

It is about co-ordination rather than strength

As plenty of research has shown, the ‘core response’ is about muscle activation and co-ordination rather than strength. It is reliant on sensory input and is the activation of many muscles which produce complex patterns of control and movement, not the strength of an individual muscle. No muscle can work alone and trying to do this creates dysfunctional spines and poor movement. To re-train ‘core control’, you must train basic muscular patterns.

What can go wrong with your core?

All it takes is subtle changes to this fine balance to create problems. In people with chronic lower back pain it is heavily documented that their spines move less and with excess superficial muscle tension and effort. The deep system is also uncoordinated, and people hold their breath.

You can often see when there is something wrong by looking at posture from the side. A larger curve in the lumbar spine generally facilitates breathing from the upper chest and expiration is shorter. The muscles in the extensor system over-recruit, and those in the anterior under-recruit.

In rehab these people need to have more activity in their abdomen. However, not through multiple sit-ups or crunches. The best way to do this is in training the exhalation and trying to lengthen it. This must then be maintained whilst performing a task. The easiest place to start this is on your back with the hips flexed.

In people with a flat lower back, in general they are more anteriorly dominant with overactivity in the upper abdomen. This is generally a bracing response. Normally people here rely on slumping to generate stability. Again, there is an upper chest breathing pattern. In rehabilitation this group needs to down train their pelvic floor and upper abdomen to encourage better diaphragm activity.

What all this means

‘Core’ problems are common in patients who have difficulty sitting up and breathing properly. Pilates can help correct breathing patterns that in turn can help to improve ‘core control’, as it is a fundamental part of the intrinsic stability mechanism. Once breathing has been re-trained, it is important to then load the limbs in order to challenge this patterning and re-create movements that mimic what you need day to day, whether that be a hard-core HIIT class or a cycle along the canal.

Overly focusing on the abdominals alone without looking at the timing and mechanics of the trunk and pelvis, can further increase this dysfunction creating more instability and pain. Even those who do high intensity exercise benefit from Pilates training to help improve their breathing dynamics and stability, helping them create more efficient movement.

In order to have a well-functioning ‘core’ you must expand your knowledge and thoughts of what the area is and understand the timing. Most importantly, you must remember that like Goldilocks and the three bears, the activity should be neither too high, or too low, but just right.

Conclusion

If you would like any more advice and guidance around Pilates and ‘the core’, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Why not come and try a studio class of Pilates in Kensington or 1-2-1 session with Complete Pilates at any of our studios? You can also visit us at our Pilates studio on Fulham road or our Pilates studio in the City of London.

Pilates and Lumbar Fusion

Can you do Pilates with Spinal fusion?

You can do Pilates with a spinal fusion. However, it is important to remember that you may have a permanent limitation of movement in the affected section of your spine. Therefore it is important to have a realistic expectation of what flexibility you can achieve. You will need to avoid or modify some exercises to accommodate this.

It is important that you discuss your Pilates programme with your consultant or your physiotherapist. If you are working with a Pilates instructor who is not also a physiotherapist, put them in touch with your physiotherapist who can advise them appropriately.

Can Pilates after back surgery aid recovery?

Pilates is a great way to work on recovering following all types of back surgery. However, during the post-operative recovery period it is important to work with a physiotherapist to ensure you are doing exercises that are appropriate for you as not all of the Pilates repertoire is suitable.

The benefit of doing Pilates for your recovery is that there are many different levels of exercise – so it is quite suitable for taking you through from early on in your recovery right through to returning to your day-to-day activities and even sport and exercise.

If you are working with a Pilates instructor it is a good idea to put them in contact with your physiotherapist and they can work together to provide the best care for you.

Pilates exercises for spinal fusion

Dead Bugs

Femur Arcs

Bridging

Advice from a spinal consultant

Meet Mr Alexander Montgomery. Below, he is answering all the questions we hear on a daily basis in the studio and online! Remember, if you want to know more just ask us.

What is a lumbar fusion?

“In the spine, each vertebra is separated by discs and cartilage (see the spine handout) which normally move against each other. This is the reason we have spine mobility.

A spine fusion is an operation which takes away the mobility between two of these vertebrae by removing the discs and cartilage, inserting metalwork (normally screws, rods and cages), and encouraging the two vertebrae to become one by growing bone between them.”

Why would I need a lumbar fusion?

“You would only be suitable for a fusion if you have not responded to any other form of treatment. This includes Physiotherapy, appropriate one to one Pilates, pain management, and injections.

It is only completed if it is thought that the source of your pain arises from the movement between the two vertebrae.”

Can I move after a lumbar fusion?

“In short, yes. Although two of the vertebrae are fused together, it is important that the rest of your spine moves well.

When you can get up and walk depends on exactly what has happened during the operation. Your Consultant will discuss with you their post-operative guidelines, the exact operation that you have had, and how many levels have been fused. You may get the opportunity to get out of bed the same day, but otherwise the aim is to get up and walking the following day.

Over the two weeks following your surgery, you will be expected to gradually increase your mobility. At this point you will be expected to go to clinic to have your post-operative follow up appointment.”

What is the recovery time after a lumbar fusion?

“This obviously depends on the nature of the fusion and how many levels were fused together. The best thing to do is to ask your Consultant directly.

In general, for a one level operation you will be encouraged to walk as soon as possible. The inpatient hospital Physiotherapists will then give you basic stretches and exercises to complete for the first few weeks.

The wound takes approximately two weeks to heal and shortly after this you will be asked to start Physiotherapy. Patients are often capable of going to one to one Pilates classes with an appropriately trained instructor at 3-4 weeks. Ideally, by week four you are on an exercise bike in the gym, and your rehabilitation will progress from there.”

When can I go back to work after a lumbar fusion?

“When you go back to work depends on the nature of the surgery, your job, and your commute, but is typically around 5-6 weeks. However, you must check with your Consultant whether the fusion is a one stage, or two stage procedure.”

Can I exercise after a lumbar fusion

“Yes. You will be encouraged to walk as soon as possible and do the exercises that the Physiotherapists in hospital give you. However, this does not mean that you can go home and start HIIT classes or start going to the gym.

When and how you progress your movement depends on the nature of the surgery, how many levels are done, and your general fitness levels. Physiotherapy, or appropriate one to one Pilates is encouraged by week 3. The aim is to slowly increase your activity from then onwards, which will be directed by your Physiotherapist.”

Will I have a big scar after a spine fusion?

“Most of the time big scars can be avoided as minimally invasive techniques are used to reduce the amount of muscle cutting. Most people are suitable for minimally invasive surgery, but it does depend on how many levels need to be operated on.

For lumbar spine fusions, there is often a small scar at the front of your stomach below the belly button, with one or two small scars in the lower back. However, sometimes there is only one scar which is in the lower back.

For neck fusions there is normally a small scar at the front of the neck which can sometimes be hidden in the natural creases. Occasionally there is a scar in the back of your neck as well.”

How long am I in hospital for after a lumbar fusion?

“As ever it depends on the technique being used, nature of your fusion, and the number of levels done.

Often surgery in the lower back is done in two stages. Often the first stage is through the front of your abdomen, and the second through your lower back. These operations are normally done one or two weeks apart.

Each operation will keep you in hospital on average a couple of nights. However, some patients do go home after one night after the first procedure. If you are only having a one stage operation you are often in hospital 2-3 nights.

Make sure to check with your Consultant which type of operation you are having.”

Can spinal fusion cause problems later in life?

“Spinal fusion surgery reduces movement in the section of the spine that has been operated on. Research has shown that some patients may later develop pain associated with excessive motion in the sections of the spine above and below the site of the fusion. However, it may be possible to reduce the impact of this by maintaining mobility throughout the whole spine and in the hips.

In this way, movement forces are distributed throughout many different joints and the overall impact on one area is lessened. Working with a physiotherapist or Pilates instructor to improve mobility throughout your body is a great way to proactively address this problem. ”

What causes spinal fusion?

“Spinal fusion can refer to a number of different conditions of the spine.

Spinal fusion can be a result of a congenital condition where one or two spinal segments don’t fully differentiate from each other and remain blended together.

Spinal fusion could result from an acquired health condition, such as ankylosing spondylitis, where the spinal segments fuse together as a result of inflammatory processes within the body.

Spinal fusion can also refer to the surgery to join two vertebrae together in order to improve stability and or reduce pain.”

Conclusion

Pilates can be a great way to work on your strength and mobility prior to lumbar fusion surgery and can also help you recover from your surgery. However, we would recommend that you are always working under the guidance of a medical trained professional if you are recovering from surgery.

Here at Complete Pilates we have instructors who are qualified physiotherapists and clinical Pilates instructors who work closely under the guidance of our physiotherapists so you can ensure you are always in the best care.

Do you need expert advice about lumbar fusion recovery? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and ask to speak to one of our qualified physiotherapists You can work with one of our Pilates instructors at a 1-2-1 Pilates class in West London. You can also visit us at our Pilates studio in Angel or our Pilates studio near Aldgate.

Do you have back pain which will not go away? Do you always get back pain when you are doing abs exercises? Have you got a disc prolapse, seen a consultant and had no idea what they were talking about? Or maybe you simply want to learn more about your spine? How does Pilates relate to the spine?

At Complete Pilates we see thousands of people with problems just like these.

Our biggest advice is education is key.

The more you understand about your body, the more likely you will be to fix it! Remember, we can give you the skills but we cannot come home with you!

The facts

The spine is made up of 3 natural curves which together form an ‘S’ shape. The muscles in your core, around your back, diaphragm and pelvic floor, help maintain and support these curves. This means weight and force is safely and evenly distributed throughout.

There are 33 bones, or vertebrae, in total in your spine but only the top 25 move as your sacrum and coccyx are fused. Each vertebrae has unique features which help them perform their function.

The Anatomy of the spine

The neck anatomy (cervical spine)

Its main function is to support the weight of the head. It has the most movement because of the top two vertebrae which connect to the skull.

The first vertebrae (C1) is a ring shape which connects directly to the skull and allows you to nod. It is also called the atlas. The second (C2) is a peg shape and has a projection which allows the atlas to pivot on it, enabling you to shake your head. It is also called the axis.

When you are moving around, your neck should always be free to move rather than being fixed. It was designed for mobility so that we could spot danger and run away!

The mid back anatomy (thoracic spine)

Its main function is to hold the rib cage and protect the heart and lungs. It is specialised for stability and keeping your body upright. The discs in this area are narrower.

Your thoracic spine curves outwards, so when you are lying on your back you will naturally feel more pressure here. This means that it does not extend very much!

The lower back anatomy (lumbar spine)

This part of the spine is designed for weight-bearing and taking heavy load. To help with this the bones are much larger to help absorb the stresses of lifting or carrying large objects. The spinal canal is also larger to allow for more space for the nerves to pass.

The most typical thing we see is that people try to force it down to the floor when they are doing abdominal work or in a bridge. Remember, it has an inwards curve.

When you are doing abdominal work, try not to imprint your spine, but instead maintain its natural curves. This means that you are keeping the same shape you have in standing so will naturally get stronger more functionally!

The discs

Each bone in your spine is separated and cushioned by a disc which help with shock absorption. These discs get larger as you move down the spine from the neck.

Each disc has an outer ring called the annulus. This has crisscrossing fibres which make it really strong. Inside is the nucleus which is a filled with gel and held in place by the annulus.

With age, our discs naturally become flatter, with less fluid. This is one of the reasons we get shorter. The main reason for the speed of this happening is genetics.

The spinal cord

The spinal cord connects the entire nervous system from the brain to the rest of the body and acts like a motorway, sending information back and forth. The brain sends movement signals down and the soft tissue sends sensory information back.

To help protect us we have automatic responses which are called spinal reflexes. This means that you do not have to think about something before you do it. For example, when you touch something very hot, you immediately pull away.

This is an automatic reaction which is us reacting without sending messages back up to the brain.

The spinal cord passes through a hollow column from your neck to your sacrum called the spinal canal. These nerves leave the spine at each level through channels called the intervertebral foreman. Two nerves exit at each level, one to the right and one to the left.

At your lowest thoracic, or highest lumbar vertebrae, the spinal cord splits into the cauda equina. Imagine this like the hairs on a horses tail.

The nerves

There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves which come off the spinal cord.

Your nerves are like telephone lines which carry messages around your body and help control your movement and sensation.

Each spinal nerve has two roots. One of these carries all the movement signals and the other carries sensory signals. These fuse together to form the nerve and come out of the spinal canal at the intervertebral foramen.

Each nerve supplies a specific area of the body with sensation which is called a dermatome. Medical professionals can use this to identify a problem with a specific area in your the spine.

Why is the spine important?

Without your spine, you would not be able to keep your body upright or even stand up!

It gives you support and structure to allow you to move freely. It helps protect your spinal cord which sends messages to your muscles telling them to work.

Lower back pain is also one of the biggest reasons for people missing work. By taking care of your spine, noticing any problems quickly, and investing the time to fix it is key.

As with any injury, the longer you leave it the harder it is to fix.

Pilates and the spine FAQs

Is Pilates good for the spine?

Pilates is a great way to work on spinal movements. The spine is made up of discs and vertebrae surrounded in a case filled with spinal fluid. Spinal mobility exercise, in particular twisting exercises, help to keep the spinal fluid lubricating the spinal discs which keeps them plump and healthy. Pilates spinal exercises also help to keep the joints of the spine mobile, and the muscles attaching to the spine flexible. Pilates exercises also help to work the muscles that give support and stability to the spine, which help to protect from strain and injury.

What are the 5 actions of the spine Pilates?

The 5 actions of the spine in Pilates refers to the different directions that the spine can move in. Flexion is the forward bending motion – such as when you bend down to pick something up off the floor. Extension is the backward bending movement, such as when you look up to the sky. Side flexion refers to a side bending movement, such as when you lean to pick up a bag from the floor. Rotation is the twisting movement you need, for example, if you turn to look behind you. The fifth movement is called circumduction and refers to movement in a circle. This can be a combination of all the movements.

Can Pilates realign your spine?

Pilates is a great way of getting your spine moving, particularly through its focus on exercises that concentrate on sequential movement of the spine. It also has a great variety of exercises that move the spine in all directions and in combinations of different directions. Pilates can help you to become aware of your posture and to be able to alter your posture where appropriate. This is especially helpful where altered postures or movement patterns appear to be contributing to pain. However, Pilates cannot alter structural alignment issues in the spine. If you have a deviation away from “ideal” posture that is related to changes in muscle strength, tightness in your muscles, or stiff sections of the spine, Pilates can help you to work on these.

What does ‘neutral spine’ mean?

The ‘neutral’ spine position refers to the natural resting position of the spine. The natural resting position of the spine is not straight up and down. If you look a the spine sideways on, it is shaped like an elongated ‘S’. The lower back slightly curves in and the upper back slightly curves outwards, with the back of the neck curving in at the top of the ‘S’. The neutral spine refers particularly to the gentle curve of the lower back, which is called the ‘lordosis’.

What are the best Pilates back exercises?

Pilates has a great many exercises that mobilise the spine in all directions. However, if you are looking specifically for exercises to strengthen your back, look no further than our dedicated article on the 8 best back exercises.

Are there any spine-related Pilates equipment?

All the Pilates equipment are great for working the strength and mobility of the spine, depending on the exercises that are used. However, the ladder barrel and spine corrector are particularly useful, due to their curved surfaces, for working on spinal mobility.

Top tips for a healthy spine

To help keep your spine healthy, try the following things:

• Rotate please link to book openings exercise video page to each direction regularly. You can do this in your office chair!
• Try and sleep well to help recovery
• Stay active with a variety of activity, not just heavy impact classes or heavy weights
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Stay hydrated
• Work smart: organise your space and move regularly
• Pay attention to warning signs and seek advice please load up a contact us form quickly.

Pilates exercises for a healthy spine

Seated spinal rotation

Book openings

Cat-Cow

Thread the Needle

Conclusion

The spine is an amazing structure of the body. It houses the information superhighway of the spinal cord, transporting millions of tiny messages from the body to the brain and vice versa. Not only this, but it is an amazing piece of biomechanical engineering. The spine is perfectly designed to hold up the rest of the skeleton, absorb shock as we move around and bend in all directions to allow us to navigate and interact with our environment. Spines absolutely love movement to keep them healthy, and Pilates is brilliantly suited to giving them the movement they need!

Are you experiencing spine-related issues? Or perhaps you just feel inspired to get moving?! If you would like any more advice and guidance around Pilates for your spine, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Why not come and try a studio class of Pilates in Chelsea or 1-2-1 session with Complete Pilates at any of our studios? You can also visit us at our Pilates studio in North London or our Pilates studio near Shoreditch.

Have you just started a rehabilitation programme and been asked about what your goals are? Do you have difficulty knowing the answer? Have you ever had to set goals before? Are you someone who struggles to feel motivated with exercise? This article may just help!

Here at Complete Pilates we aim to help you set goals for your rehabilitation and movement journeys. However, this can be surprisingly hard to do.

You might feel tempted to ask someone else for advice or even have arrived at Pilates on the recommendation of a friend…. but it’s important that you are at the centre of the goal setting process. Goals should be yours and nobody else’s! With that in mind, we wrote this piece to help you, our clients, with this process.

Why bother to set goals?

There are lots of reasons for to set goals for rehabilitation and training – here are just a few:

• To give focus, direction and purpose.
• To have something to progress towards.
• To help you know when you are progressing.
• To keep you motivated.
• To help you be able to live the life you want.
• To give you ownership of your rehabilitation or movement journey.
• To improve confidence through achievement.
• To know when you have finished your rehabilitation!
• To have something to celebrate!

How to set goals?

Have a system

There are many different systems for setting goals but the most commonly known method is the SMART method. You may find that other systems work for you better but the most important thing is that you have an effective goal setting method. We’ll discuss SMART goals in more detail later.

Write your goals down

Writing your goals down means that you are more likely to remember them, you can refer back to them as needed, and it increases your commitment to your goal. Research shows that goals that are written down are more likely to be achieved.

Involve others

Tell someone about your goal. Telling other people can be a great way to keep yourself accountable to your goals. However, you should choose wisely with this one – make sure you have a supportive encourager on your side!

Prioritise your goals

Having too many goals, and not knowing which is the most important, can make it difficult to succeed. Work out what is most important to you and set goals according to your priorities.

Goal Setting Systems: Setting SMART goals

Framing goals in a concrete way is more likely to lead to success. SMART goals are a well-known tool that help to turn our aims in to practicable steps. SMART is an acronym which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. It was originally conceived as business tool but has been adopted for many other settings.

Specific

We often have more vague ideas of what our desired outcome should be. For example, if you have a goal to get stronger, this may mean different things to different people. For some it may mean increasing their muscle bulk, for others it may mean being able to lift heavy weights or do a press up.

For other people it might be more about being able to do day to day tasks such as lift heavy saucepans, plant pots, or being able to get out of the bath.

Thinking about what strength means to you, will help you to be more specific about your strength goal.

Measurable

Having a measurable goal means that you can track your progress against your goal and know when you have completed your goal. The following are ways you can measure physical tasks: counting a number of repetitions, timing how long you can do something for, being able to do a specific named activity or task that you couldn’t do before, reducing the rating of your pain on a scale from 0 – 10, counting the number of days or weeks between painful episodes.

Without a measurable outcome, it can be difficult to know whether you are making progress and this can make it harder to stay motivated.

Achievable

The perfect goal is a goal that is neither too easy nor too hard. Setting yourself a goal that is too easy and requires little effort, does not produce the same kind of motivation as one that takes more work. However, setting a very difficult goal – whilst that can be aspirational – decreases the likelihood of succeeding.

It can be helpful to think of your aspirational goal and then break it down into smaller steps. For example – if you are 60 years old, have badly sprained your ankle and you want to start running but you have never run before, setting yourself a goal of running a marathon in 6 months is a tall ask. However, setting yourself a goal to run 5km within in a year is more realistic.

Realistic

When setting a goal, you should think about whether the goal is realistic – given the time, resources, knowledge and support that you have.
If you want to get strong and reduce your pain following a shoulder injury, but you have a demanding job, a family and can only participate in rehabilitation once a week, then your goal may take longer than if you are able to commit to three or four strength training sessions in a week.

Time-bound

Setting a time frame for a goal ensures that you prioritise the goal and allocate the appropriate effort into working towards it.

Pitfalls of Setting Goals

Setting a dead person’s goal

A goal is generally considered to be more effective if you are working towards positive outcome rather than away from a negative outcome. You can think of the latter as a ‘dead person’s goal’.

For example – if you set a goal to never eat a cake again – that is something that a dead person can do. If you set a goal to eat more vegetables – that’s something a dead person cannot do. Set live person goals for increasing the likelihood of succeeding.

As a species often motivated to avoid unpleasant things we can also find ourselves setting goals like ‘to never have pain’, but this is neither realistic nor does it tell us whether we are improving – if you are pain free but you have achieved this by lying in bed all the time, then this goal may not be as useful to you as a goal that says you can do the vacuuming in one go, or go for a walk for an hour.

Failing to set meaningful goals

One drawback of the original SMART goal system is that is doesn’t tap into the idea of having a meaningful goal.

Setting yourself a goal to be able to swim 20 lengths is going to be very difficult to achieve if don’t like swimming and you hate water. Whilst that is an obvious example, we can often set goals that, if we are really honest, don’t really light us up. Without that passion behind the goal, it can be harder to achieve.

Thinking about your values and what is important to you can also help you come up with goals that fit you – for example – you value fun, so you choose equipment-based Pilates as your exercise of choice, because it is fun and you choose Complete Pilates because our instructors are fun too.

Quite often we might find ourselves at the doctor, physiotherapist or a gym because someone else has recommended that we go. This means we might not be quite sure why we are there or what we want from the encounter. we might also end up with someone else’s goal.

We might do these things because we know we ‘should’ or ‘that’s what you’re supposed to do’. Or we might do things to keep others company. We might even let other people set us goals because we don’t know how to do it.

You are more likely to succeed in a goal that comes from your own desires. So that is why we ask our clients to set goals – your goals should be more important than our goals. Even if you started off with someone else’s goal, it still pays dividends to think about how you can turn it into your own SMART goal.

Adhering too rigidly to a goal

In our enthusiasm to achieve, we might end up with another problem – sticking rigidly to our goal in the face of evidence that it is not the right goal. Goals can be flexible! Tweak your goals according to progress and in response to changes in circumstances.

How can Complete Pilates help you achieve goals?

At Complete we have the expertise to help you set and achieve goals. We are a physio-led Pilates service. Physiotherapists are trained to problem-solve. As part of your assessment we build a picture of what your physical problems are, what activities you are having difficulty with and how that is affecting your wider life. 

We generate a list of treatment solutions for each of those problems (you may not realise that is what we are doing as we are talking to you – but we are!). All of this can really help to inform the goal setting process. 

For example – you think you have back pain but you haven’t really thought about the impact of that other than it’s unpleasant and it hurts. We notice when we are talking to you that the wider issue is that your mood is really low and this is affecting your relationships because you haven’t been able to do your usual exercise that keeps you happy and healthy.  

We reflect that back to you and you have more clarity about what you want – so your goal becomes to be able to return to cycling to work. We then will choose exercises that support your need to return to cycling – focusing on the muscles groups that need working and incorporate sitting exercises into your programme to make it relevant to cycling. 

Perhaps you have already achieved your rehabilitation goals and you are looking for a new challenge? You would like to be able to perform one of our more challenging Pilates exercises but you don’t have the flexibility and strength yet. We can help you to achieve that goal by breaking down that challenging exercise into exercises that work on the different components. 

For example – the Pilates “Gymnast” exercise requires a strong upper body, triceps strength, and shoulder mobility. 

You might need to work on shoulder mobility first – using the Chair triceps press below:

You might then progress to working on frog facing out on the Chair.

You can then gradually work towards the full Gymnast exercise.

Our team has the necessary expertise to help you work towards your goals as they understand what is needed for different exercises and can help you to work at the right level for your current ability and then progress at an appropriate speed towards your goals.

Feeling inspired? Set yourself some goals!

If you want to share your goals with us – why not complete our worksheet here.

Otherwise, find yourself a piece of paper or open a word document on your computer…

Think of up to three things that you may be having difficulty doing or aspire to be able to do. 

Now, see if you can turn it into a SMART goal. Even if it is not quite SMART – having a SMARTish goal will still set you moving forward towards progress. 

How will you make that goal specific, rather than general? 

How will you know when you have achieved that goal – is it measurable? 

Is this goal achievable or do you need to re-evaluate and choose something more manageable? Sometimes it can be difficult to know whether a goal is achievable so this is something you may need to adjust as you go – or ask for advice from an expert. 

Is this goal realistic – given the time, resources and support that you have? 

Is this goal time-bound – have you defined the time frame over which this goal should take place? This is an important part of committing to your goal – otherwise it may never happen!

If you haven’t already been to see us and you think we can help you with your health goals – why not drop in and see us at one of our studios, in Chelsea, Angel or City. We’d love to help!

Alternatively, contact us with any questions to find out more about how we work. 

Resources

Matthews, Gail, “The Impact of Commitment, Accountability, and Written Goals on Goal Achievement” (2007). Psychology | Faculty Presentations. 3.

https://scholar.dominican.edu/psychology-faculty-conference-presentations/3