Pilates is the most effective thing for back pain

That’s right, Pilates has recently been proven to be the most effective exercise to relieve back pain. Another reason to jump on the Pilates train immediately

Did you know that up to 60% of the adult population will have low back pain at some point in their lifetime? That is a huge amount of people suffering with pain that can have a huge impact on people's quality of life. Thankfully there are many things that we can do to help prevent or ease the symptoms of back pain. A big one being exercise. Excitingly, a recent study has concluded that Pilates is actually the most effective exercise treatment for reducing pain intensity and functional limitations of back pain in comparison with other common exercises like weight lifting, running or yoga etc. If you love Pilates, keep doing it - you are onto something! However, if you don’t find yourself gelling with Pilates but you love to move in other ways like dance, weightlifting or running etc, just do that. The important thing here is to get moving. Often when we feel pain we go into protective mode and think that we should rest to prevent further pain/injury. For most people with chronic low back pain this is exactly the opposite of what they should do. One of the key things that will help prevent and ease low back pain is to get moving. Walking, cycling, yoga, weight lighting, dancing, Pilates - anything that you like to do that gets you moving will help. And not only with the pain: moving more will help reduce anxiety, improve your sleep and prevent illness, among other benefits.

Research shows that 15 to 30 minutes of low- to moderate-intensity exercise three times a week eases anxiety, and—best of all—the effects kick in after a single session.

But it is also important to understand that the benefits from Pilates are not just because of the type of specific movement we do. Over 95% of back pain occurs in the absence of any identifiable injury to the muscles, tendons, ligaments or spine…

What does this mean for us? Well how we traditionally think of pain is that tissue damage occurs and communicates a nerve signal to the brain which tells us to feel pain because something is damaged - but that is not how pain actually works most of the time.

A metaphor that will help us understand pain is if you imagine the cup represents your ability to tolerate stress. We all have stress. If the amount of stress you pour into your cup exceeds the capacity of the cup and it overflows, the overflow can be pain.

Pilates is so effective with reducing this pain because it

• improve sleeps

• reduces anxiety & depressive symptoms

• reduces inflammation

• provides social support

• improves self-efficacy

• And many other things that will help prevent your cup from overflowing and therefore experiencing pain.
  

So in short, Pilates is absolutely the most effective exercise for back pain, for many reasons over and above the immediate benefit of it improving your strength and flexibility.

See you in class!