Benefits of Post-Natal Pilates
As much as we like to pretend pregnancy is this amazing journey, and we get a beautiful gift at the end…. It doesn’t half cause a lot of problems! 
Over 81.9% of women had one or more children in the year 2020 with a large proportion of those suffering from long term back pain, incontinence or pelvic pain (ONS, 2020).
But… in true female fashion we put up and shut up. But why should we when there’s a perfectly brilliant and relaxing solution!
Pilates is a comprehensive body-conditioning programme with the aim of improving core-stabilisation and thus reducing injury risk and enhancing performance. To accomplish this Pilates incorporates the key principles:
- Centering
- Control
- Breathing
Joseph Pilates, the founder of Pilates, felt that modern society had robbed us of our natural physical and mental vitality with the increased sedentary indoor living, our activities have failed to exercise the body in ways that are structured and balanced (Gallagher and Kryzanowska, 2000). Pilates’ concepts were used and exercises were modified leading to the development of the Pilates classes we run today. (Australian Physiotherapy & Pilates Institute (APPI), 2014).
Kanase and Patil (2021) showed significant improvement with Pilates therapy over conventional training in reducing back pain, increasing abdominal muscle strength and improving quality of life in postnatal women.
Pilates can help with…
1 – Strengthening your pelvic floor – aiding in reducing stress incontinence as well as providing support to the pelvis, thus lessening pelvic and lower back pain
2 – Pelvic pain often results because of an increase in the laxity (stretchiness) of the ligaments
that supports the pelvis throughout your pregnancy and then the subsequent trauma the pelvis undergoes during the movements of the pelvis that occur when giving birth. By strengthening the pelvic floor and core abdominal muscles you are providing more support and stability to the pelvis, aiding in lessening any excessive movement that may be causing pain.
3 – Relaxation – we all know children can push the limits of our sanity! Just an hour a week of time to focus on yourself, incorporating relaxation and mindfulness facilitates adaptive stress-responses therefore promoting mental wellbeing (Donald et al, 2016).
4 – Diastasis recti – is a separation on the abdominal muscles during pregnancy to allow a
stretch of the tissues over your bump. Post-pregnancy this requires specific rehab and strengthening to allow a rejoining of the muscles, enabling the muscle to effectively support the abdominal, pelvis and lower back.
5 – Posture – pilates incorporates a significant amount of full body stretching as well as teaching the correct posture and providing specific exercises to allow your body to begin to naturally support and carry itself in the correct ways, thus reducing the rates of common ailments such as back and neck pain.
Here at Bradley Physio our highly experienced team of pilates instructors are able to provide you with either small group classes in our warm, clean studios or live streamed classes in the comfort of your own home. Matwork exercises are undertaken under the careful guidance of our expert team making use of small pilates equipment (you can improvise if you decide to join us from your home!) as your ability or needs allow. The chance of injury is much lower than with other forms of exercise and it is suitable for people of all ages.
For more information please visit our website:
https://www.bradleyphysio.co.uk/service/pilates
REFERENCES
Kanase, S.B. and Patil, S.K., 2021. Influence of Pilate Therapy and Conventional Therapy in PostNatal Women with Back Pain. Journal of Ecophysiology and Occupational Health, 21(4), pp.164-167.
Australian Physiotherapy & Pilates Institute (APPI) Clinical Pilates method [APPI, The APPI Pilates method (2014). In Internet: http://www.appihealthgroup.com/uploads/files/1/Resources/Education-brochure.pdf;
Chidbearing for women born in different years, England and Wales: 2020. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/conceptionandfertilityrates/bulletins/childbearingforwomenbornindifferentyearsenglandandwales/2020
Donald, J.N., Atkins, P.W., Parker, P.D., Christie, A.M. and Ryan, R.M., 2016. Daily stress and the benefits of mindfulness: Examining the daily and longitudinal relations between present-moment awareness and stress responses. Journal of Research in Personality, 65, pp.30-37.
