Pilates is power

After all of this isolating and maybe too little physical activity, it might be time to give your core muscles more attention.


One of the safest more effective core exercises is the Pilates Bridge

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Place your arms at your sides. Tighten your buttocks, then lift your hips up off the floor until they form a straight line with your hips and shoulders. Hold. Return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.

Your core muscles, located throughout much of your trunk, are the key to supporting your lower back and helping you stand, get out of a chair, bend, lift, and maintain your balance. So regular maintenance and tune-ups of the core muscles are important.Your core muscles provide stability for the moving parts above and below them — the mid-back, or thoracic, spine that helps you twist and turn, and the hips that move you up, down, back, or forward.Generally speaking, the core starts at the lower rib cage and extends to the buttocks. Core muscles in the abdomen include the long rectus abdominis muscles in the front; the external and internal obliques on the sides; and a wide, flat girdle in front called the transversus abdominis. In your back, a group of muscles called the erector spinae help you stand up tall. The gluteal muscles in the buttocks help you extend your leg, push off from a starting point, walk, and climb stairs. And in the pelvis area, the iliacus and the psoas muscles enable you to lift your legs and remain stable while standing; and the quadratus lumborum, a long muscle on each side, helps you bend to the side and back.

In the old days, sit-ups and crunches were the go-to moves to keep your core muscles in good shape. But those exercises are not as effective as we once believed. They strengthen only a few muscles, and they pose risks for older adults. They’re dangerous because you’re pulling on your neck. And they don’t train your core. They train the hip flexor muscles. If those muscles get too strong, they pull on the lower back and contribute to back pain.

Since we still can’t have an in-person Pilates classes, sign up for a zoom class.Start or continue your Pilates with the physio.It may be recoverable by insurance. Call,  text or click below to book a lesson. Pilates is an umbrella treatment under Physiotherapy so it is an essential service and still available during lockdown.