As a pelvic floor physical therapist, I have 13 years of experience.  In 2013 ( I think***) I went through polestar pilates training to becoming a certified polestar pilates rehab instructor- so 10 years experience?! I am getting older . . . .  It was an awesome training.  It changed the way I thought of movement and breath, and really helped fine tune my ability to get patient to use the correct muscles during each movement.  With the said.

Pilates can compliment pelvic floor physical therapy beautifully! I LOVE Pilates.  Love the movement and love how it makes me feel, but I was doing it wrong for a loooong time and didn’t even know it, when I realized that, I was pissed- I also realized doing it wrong was the case of my hip flexor pain.  Once I learned how to exercise my core correctly- my hip pain went away, and also my posture improved.   

As a certified polestar pilates rehabilitative provider here are a few tips:

1. The cue “navel to spine” has the best of intentions, but it is not quiet right.  What most people end up doing is hold their breath, widen their ribs and pull belly in.  This gets the obliques going, but not the true deep core muscles like the pelvic floor and transverses

2. Curling up- there is a myth that if you have a diastasis you cannot crunch/ curl up.  Well people, that is just wrong.  If you curl up and notice a doming or increase in your diastasis; then yes you should NOT be doing them.  But if you can contain your diastasis and maintain tension then you are good to go!  Not sure, ask us here at info@empoweryourselfpt.com

3. Do you hold your breath?  Pilates is also known as contrology and one of the pillars is breath control.  You must be able to control the movement through breath.  For example exhaling/ blowing out during flexion (ie roll down or chest curl) can really help you use your abdominals correctly versus inhaling during Swan can help you get better extension.  Reversing the breath actually makes the exercises harder!

4. People of all shapes and sizes can do pilates- the beauty of pilates is it is 10000% customizable.  You do not have to be a size 2 in super tight black leggings. 

5. It is okay to bend your knees!  A lot of the moves on the reformer ask for legs extended- well heck I say bend your knees.  Think about the hundred, short arm series on your back, coordination, etc .  . .all of those are legs long and almost parallel to the floor.  That puts a lot of stress and strain on your back and hip flexors- trust me, go ahead and bend your knees and bring your legs into table top- I promise you will still get a good work out!

Have more questions?  Email us at info@empoweryourselfpt.com!