What is the cause of a lot of head aches, neck pain, shoulder and back pain?

Poor posture.

What makes a dress not fit right, or the straps of a top fall off your shoulders?

Poor posture.

What makes your shoes wear in one place more than the rest?

Poor posture.

Why do we get poor posture?

Think about how you spend your day, after driving to work in your car, you sit at your desk and work the whole day, you get home from work exhausted and after dinner you relax watching the TV. Where has your body been all day? Hunched over, that’s where.

We have repetitive lives, our body gets into bad habits, some muscles stretch too much and others tighten up and shorten.

How can I improve my posture?

Have a physiotherapist analyse your posture, they can then prescribe gentle stretches and exercises to move the joints and lengthen the tight muscles, specific exercises to strengthen the weakened muscles. They can also teach you good sitting, standing, and movement patterns and positions.

Why good posture?

Posture is who we are, how we move, without it all movement is unduly laboured and we are at greater risk of injury. Good posture reduces head aches, mechanical spinal or limb pain.

If you’re not sure how your posture rates, then take a look at a photo of yourself- taken from a distance, when you didn’t realise it was being taken- have you got the body position you want other people to see? Because that isn’t just a bad photo, that is how you stand most of the time, your natural body posture, when you’re not thinking about it.

If not, maybe you should think about getting an assessment to start you towards the body you want to have.

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So you think you’ve heard it all before

So you think you know everything about Pilates/core stability

• Well, did you know that anyone can call themselves a Pilates instructor? As Pilates isn’t a trademark name.
• Did you know that the principles of Pilates can be performed with any exercises- in a pool, while doing weights, on a ball, on specialised equipment?
• Did you know that physiotherapists train for 3 years-learning about the bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons in the body, injury management and prevention.
• Did you know that you could be an elite athlete and still not have sufficient core stability.
• Did you know that Pilates can assist in pain during pregnancy?
• Did you know that some neurological disorders benefit from pilates too?

No? Didn’t think so.

Read this to find out more.

The principle of Pilates is a central core of stability this involves your pelvic floor muscles (yes boys you do have them too!) a deep tummy muscle, and a muscle in your back that controls the movement of your spine. When these three muscles are working in harmony together then they act as a natural corset for your body.

When the core muscles are working together our whole body functions better.

Long distance runners have better endurance, gymnasts and dancers have better control in their jumps and turns, builders and carpenters can prevent back pain, or reduce problems already developed.

It’s possible to be a strong athlete but not have good core stability control. Why? Because you need the correct strength of your stabilizers for the activity you do.

Pilates can prevent lumbar and sacral pain during pregnancy and enhance a quicker recovery post vaginal delivery or caesarean.

You need the correct level of core strength for the activities you do on a regular basis.

Many neurological disorders need a strong core/trunk control to be able to move with efficient, quality movement, without a central foundation lower limb and upper limb function is compromised and balance control is reduced.

That’s why you should always check the qualification of your instructors and look for a school that offers specialised and varied classes. So you can pick one that suits your lifestyle and activity level.

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Imagine you’ve just had surgery to fix a break in your leg.

You’re hobbling around on crutches, unable to fully weightbear, your shoulders and hands hurt from using the elbow crutches, your leg is throbbing, and now even your good leg is getting painful!

You’re coming to see a physiotherapist for exercises- but everything just hurts, it hurts to bend your leg, straighten your knee, put any weight on that leg. Isn’t there an easier way you say to yourself?

Everything’s just too painful, and you feel like you’re just not getting anywhere.

You ask yourself, what if this early stage of your physiotherapy rehab could be different?

Now close your eyes and imagine you are relaxing in a pool of warm water, every movement you make is supported by the buoyancy of the water and your life seems to tick by a little slower as each movement is slower in the increased density of being surrounded in a liquid.

Your pain is reduced since you’re not weight bearing fully and the warmth of the water is relaxing your sore and achey muscles, and the swelling which has been building up around your joint is naturally being pulled away because of the hydrostatic pressure.

Now think about how much easier it would be to do your physiotherapy exercises in the water. An aquatic physiotherapist can treat you in a heated pool, in a one-on-one session, treatment can involve both hands –on techniques and specific therapeutic exercises tailored for your body and the goals you wish to achieve. with specific exercises, just like you would get in the clinic

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We all know the saying ‘the miracle of birth’.  Have you ever stopped to think about the miraculous changes that a woman’s body undergoes during pregnancy?  A pregnant woman changes in nine months from an everyday female body to one that nurtures, grows and delivers another human being. That’s amazing!  Here’s the science behind the incredible changes that happen to a woman’s body during pregnancy.

As soon as the fertilised egg implants in the wall of the uterus, the hormones in the body start to change. An ovarian hormone called relaxin is released. The job of this hormone is to gradually loosen the ligaments around the pelvis in preparation for childbirth.  All ligaments in the body are affected.  Ligaments aren’t the only tissues affected by relaxin.  It also softens vein walls which can contribute to varicose veins.

Heart rate (pulse) changes.  A pregnant woman’s resting pulse increases by about 7 beats per minute in the first four weeks of pregnancy and by 15-20 beats per minute by mid-pregnancy.  This would be an ‘exercise’ heart rate for the non-pregnant body.  However, pregnant women can still exercise safely by exercising at a lower level of intensity.  In fact, exercise during pregnancy should be encouraged as the appropriate intensity of exercise has been shown to have a positive effect on placental function, baby growth and the general well-being of the mother.

In the pregnant body, Blood Volume increases by up to 40-50%.  Combined with the softened vein walls, this can cause fluid retention leading to swelling of the ankles.

New blood vessels form within the uterus to supply the growing baby which causes the mother’s blood pressure to drop during the second trimester.  This can be a cause of the dizziness that many pregnant woman experience with rapid changes in position.

Metabolic rate is the amount of energy expended by the body for the functioning of its vital organs.  In pregnancy, metabolic rate is increased by 20%.  Combined with the calorific requirements of ‘eating for two’, this means that the expectant mother requires more nutrition than normal.  A further effect of an increase in metabolic rate is a rise in core temperature by 0.5 degrees.

The body undergoes significant muscle changes during pregnancy.  As the baby grows, the abdominal muscles lengthen and a separation of the ‘six pack’ occurs to make room.  The pelvic floor muscles, which are the sling of muscles under the pelvis that support the internal organs, have an extra workload during pregnancy as they are supporting a growing baby as well.

One of the most obvious changes is the pregnant woman’s body shape.  When standing, our centre of gravity falls between our feet. Because the baby is carried in front, as it grows, it moves the woman’s centre of gravity forwards.  As a reaction to this, the arch in the lower back increases.  As well as the growing baby pushing forwards, it also pushes up and down.  Pressure upwards is on the diaphragm which can, at times, make the mother feel short of breath.  Pressure downwards is on the bladder which is why pregnant woman have to go to the bathroom more often.

The average increase in body weight is 10-15 kg. 50% of this increase is the baby, the uterus and amniotic fluid and 50% is body fat stores and fluid retention.

Wow!  All that in nine months!  This process is not designed by a complicated computer programme or driven by anything external.  It’s the human body’s most dramatic, natural change.  And when it’s done all that, it goes full circle and returns to its original state.

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Stretching/or mobilising your body is important for everybody.

If you repeatedly undertake impact exercise, resistance exercise training, sit at a computer for most of the day or travel long distances without stretching your muscles (and soft tissues)will lose length.

When you go to move the muscles into a position they are not used to doing they send signals to your brain saying they are too tight and sometimes they can even send signals saying they are too painful to move into that position. Your body is now in a vicious cycle. Your joints are sore to move to their end of range, so you don’t move them there, the joint range shortens more, you feel more tight, you try to stretch, it feels difficult and painful, you think, maybe this isn’t a good idea.

Another side effect of your muscles shortening is that once your muscles are no longer long enough for your joint to move through a full range of motion you are then unable to keep that section of the joint healthy.Most joints are kept healthy and well lubricated by joint movement. Here’s the science bit- Joint movement acts as a stimulate to the special capsule around your joint to produce lubrication. The more the joint moves the more fluid the joint capsule produces.

Once parts of the joint are ‘never’ used (due to shortened muscle length or a sedentary lifestyle) those parts don’t get lubricated as much and the joint becomes stiffer and the joint range becomes smaller. In the worst case this can lead to the start of joint degeneration, joint capsule tightening and lose of function.

Simply stretching twice a week will keep all these negative things from building up and becoming a problem for you. Even adding in a few easy standing spinal roll downs will start you off on feeling better. Why don’t you try it and see how you feel. Try doing three to four in a row every morning before going to work. and see if you start to feel the difference just by adding in one mobility exercise to your day. Stand tall with your feet hip distance apart. You should feel each part of your foot planted into the ground, from your toes to your heel. Starting from your head your aim is to curl your spine one vertebrae at a time all the way down to your pelvis. Think about taking nice long slow breaths as you roll down, when you return to standing try to reverse the curl- so you are slowly stacking one vertebrae on top of another starting from the pelvis and the lower back all the way up to your head. The more you curl the better the stretch and mobility for your spine.

If you already feel uncomfortable about moving your body and find when you do try to stretch that it is painful then try moving into the stretches a little more gently, or if you are still unsure of what to do, book an appointment with a Physiotherapist. They will be happy to help you work out a mobility programme that will suit you and help you achieve your goals.

Mobilising/stretching your body is the thing that will keep you mobile for longer, allow you to be able to keep fit and healthy for longer and can help to prevent sporting injuries.

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