I have been a competitive Triathlete for many years but lower back pain which started three minutes into any run forced me to stop running altogether. Every morning I would get out of bed with back pain and slowly have to stretch to be able to start the day.
I tried physiotherapy, massage, rest, different running shoes and indeed anything that was recommended but nothing seemed to help.
We started Pilates once a week at work and it was almost desperation that made me sign up for it as I really had nothing left to try and I simply refused to give up on running altogether.
I found Pilates a strange exercise to start with after years of training at high heart rates and interval training, I found it relaxing but certainly not easy. Pilates seems to target very specific and perhaps underused areas of the body with simple exercises. It targets posture and posture awareness as well as core strength. It generally helps you move and function as nature intended and helps eliminate years of bad posture, underused and overused muscle areas.
Within four weeks of starting Pilates I was able to slowly start running again and I have since been able to go back to running at the level I was before my back problems. I also no longer experience back pain in the mornings.
Adding Pilates to your life will help you become the complete athlete as it will strengthen areas of weakness and will help with historic injuries and prevent new ones. Pilates grows with your experience, we have been doing it weekly for over twelve months and it never gets old. The individual exercises continually develop and it can be tailored to suit an individual’s needs and level.
I would recommend it to anyone of any age or fitness level. It makes simple day to day living easier.
