Pilates has been around for over one hundred years and began as a way to enhance rehabilitation, improve technique, and recover from an injury sustained by dancers. The key principles of pilates are breath, concentration, centring, control, precision, and flow, which are also applied to clinical Pilates.
While Pilates has evolved to include modern practices and equipment, it is still rooted in movement patterns and the core focus of its key principles. Pilates is a widely-adopted form of exercise focused on relaxing and strengthening different muscles. With clinical Pilates, individuals are prescribed personalized plans to help with injuries and more.
What is Clinical Pilates?
Clinical Pilates is a combination of physiotherapy and specially crafted exercises that aim to help with injury rehabilitation. It’s an adaptation of traditional Pilates with a focus on strengthening a patient’s core, posture, movement control, flexibility, and breathing.
The exercises are performed in a physiotherapy environment which means each session or plan is one-on-one and is customized to each individual depending on their injury. You will get specific clinical Pilates exercises to follow depending on what you’re trying to treat.
Clinical Pilates can help with many different types of injuries, pain, and conditions.
If you have an injury or stiff muscles that you want to try and remedy through exercise, it is a good idea to meet with a physiotherapist to determine how clinical Pilates can help you.
Clinical Pilates Versus Pilates
Traditional Pilates exercises can be done by anybody to improve core strength, flexibility, and mobility. It’s generally performed in a class format where several people follow one instructor and complete the same moves.
With clinical Pilates, plans are individualized and would not be performed by a group of people together. It aims to help with specific injuries to the individual while also helping to overall strengthen and stabilize the joints and muscles of the body.
Clinical Pilates exercise plans are put together and provided to patients by a physiotherapist. At Intrinsi, we can provide you with a personalized plan to get the most out of your rehabilitation.
Common Injuries and Conditions Treated with Clinical Pilates
Clinical Pilates is used to help treat injuries, with part of this also coming from improving your proprioception and balance. It uses a mixture of physiotherapy and Pilates-specific exercises to treat regional injuries or ailments that you are contending with.
Some of the more specific benefits of clinical Pilates, and how it may help you are by:
- Strengthening the pelvic floor for prenatal and postnatal women
- Reducing neck, shoulder, and back pain due to injury or sedentary lifestyle
- Helping to ease chronic pain
- Increasing the range of motion of your hips
- Helping runners’ injuries such as ‘runner’s knee’
- Improving post-operative healing
Besides helping with injuries, clinical Pilates can be preventive and can help with range of motion, flexibility, core strengthening, balance, and more.
Book Your Self-Care Today!
If you’re dealing with an injury, reduced range of motion, poor flexibility, or other conditions, contact us at Intrinsi. Our physiotherapists and trained Pilates instructor can help put together a custom clinical Pilates exercise plan to help you.
Give us a call at 403-229-9214 or book an appointment online and we’ll get you started on the path of better health.
