clinical pilates
Healing Hands C
Clinical pilates is the use of pilates by
rehabilitation professionals. Jo Talbot finds out how health clubs are embracing the practice
linical pilates is the coming together of pilates with rehab – rehab with added ‘oomph’, you might say.
It’s carried out by clinical practitioners
– physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors – who have a postgraduate qualifi cation in clinical pilates, a course which teaches modifi ed pilates exercises, both matwork and equipment-based, that are designed specifi cally to deal with injuries and rehabilitation. It’s come about thanks to a growing body of scientifi c evidence and general acceptance that pilates is a valuable tool in the rehab kit. David Canevaro, a clinical pilates
trainer, explains: “Clinical pilates allows the rehabilitation practitioner to build on their wide range of assessment and diagnostic skills, adding a new dimension by incorporating a dynamic assessment of the patient’s injuries to help diagnose and treat problems more accurately.” Until now, clinical pilates has mainly
been offered out of specialist studios, clinics and hospitals, but health clubs with a wellness focus are beginning to offer this integrated service. While the health club receives another string to its multi-practitioner bow, the pilates studios receive a captive audience, and patients are able to be treated in a positive and healthy environment. Glenn Withers, founder of the
At work: Leslie Abrahams at Bodies Under Construction at the Riverside Health & Racquets Club in Chiswick
Australian Physiotherapy and Pilates Institute (APPI) – one of the main clinical pilates training bodies, which has a base in London – says positioning clinical pilates within the health club environment is key to its goals: “Key to the success of the APPI method is that it is available to, and achievable by,
HOW IT WORKS
The APPI bases its teaching on a fi ve- stage rehabilitation model. Firstly, the client is taught to engage the ‘cylinder of stability’. This is the group of muscles that together form a natural ‘corset’ of support for the back. These muscles are the multifi dus, transversus abdominus, pelvic fl oor and diaphragm. According to the
march 2011 © cybertrek 2011
APPI, many studies have shown that lower back pain and its recurrence can be reduced by as much as 50 per cent with specifi c re-training of this area. Says Glenn Withers, the APPI’s
founder: “Once this initial contraction is achieved, the client is then taught a series of exercises that progress slowly to challenge his or her ability to maintain a neutral spine while replicating the forces on it that occur in
everyday movements. The fi nal stage is functional re-training, to ensure carry- over into everyday activity, or specifi c to a sport or task.” The complete repertoire of
APPI pilates exercises has over 500 movements. They focus on improving spinal mobility, fl exibility of the key trunk and lower limb muscles groups, plus body and postural awareness. APPI:
www.ausphysio.com
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healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 39
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