Pilates is a form of exercise using floor based, Swiss ball based and reformer based core stability exercises designed to improve the strength of the abdominal, back, pelvic floor and glute muscle in order to reduce injuries.
The general perception of Pilates is that it is an exercise system for women who do not like high intensity exercise or who do not like to sweat, or an exercise system for people recovering for low back pain.
However, Pilates is now being used by athletes on a regular basis to help manage sport injuries. 87% of injuries to lower limb are classified as intrinsic injuries, injuries where there is no external contact causing the problem, but more through poor joint stability or poor intrinsic strength of the soft tissues.
The injuries include ligament and joint capsule sprains, muscle strains, and tendon and bone overload injuries.
Pilates is also good exercise system for correcting posture and there are two postural patterns that precede sports injuries. These are:
The pronation pattern:
In this pattern there is a forward head posture, increased thoracic kyphosis, dynamic anterior pelvic tilt (there may be sway / flat back), medial rotational instability at the knees and pronated feet. This predisposes the athlete to ATFL sprain at the ankle, MCL sprains and ACL tears at the knee as well as medial meniscus injuries, and hamstring strain.
The laterality patterns:
In this pattern we will discuss a right footed player. There is medial rotational instability at the right knee, whereas the left knee is stable, The right inomminate anteriorly rotates and the left SIJ is restricted. There is also an anterior sling weakness from left shoulder shoulder to right hip.
The general perception of Pilates is that it is an exercise system for women who do not like high intensity exercise or who do not like to sweat, or an exercise system for people recovering for low back pain.
However, Pilates is now being used by athletes on a regular basis to help manage sport injuries. 87% of injuries to lower limb are classified as intrinsic injuries, injuries where there is no external contact causing the problem, but more through poor joint stability or poor intrinsic strength of the soft tissues.
The injuries include ligament and joint capsule sprains, muscle strains, and tendon and bone overload injuries.
Pilates is also good exercise system for correcting posture and there are two postural patterns that precede sports injuries. These are:
The pronation pattern:
In this pattern there is a forward head posture, increased thoracic kyphosis, dynamic anterior pelvic tilt (there may be sway / flat back), medial rotational instability at the knees and pronated feet. This predisposes the athlete to ATFL sprain at the ankle, MCL sprains and ACL tears at the knee as well as medial meniscus injuries, and hamstring strain.
The laterality patterns:
In this pattern we will discuss a right footed player. There is medial rotational instability at the right knee, whereas the left knee is stable, The right inomminate anteriorly rotates and the left SIJ is restricted. There is also an anterior sling weakness from left shoulder shoulder to right hip.