Hawthorn Blog

What is Clinical Pilates?

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:30:00 GMT

By Claire Ryan

Physiotherapist

Clinical Pilates is a form of exercise cantered around 6 basic principles; concentration, cantering, control, precision, flowing movement and breathing. This focus is primarily on posture, core stability, balance, control, strength and flexibility.

Clinical Pilates (as distinct from generic Pilates) is specific to the individual and is tailored to enable a variety of injuries to be addressed, particularly those of the neck and the back. Current literature demonstrates strong evidence to support the retraining of the deep stabilizing muscles (your “core muscles”) in the successful management of low back pain.

A thorough assessment prior to commencing Clinical Pilates allows the therapist to tailor a specific program to individual needs. This will ensure optimal gain while minimizing the likelihood of injury aggravation. A Clinical Pilates program is likely to include the use of equipment such as reformer beds, trapeze tables, fit balls, resistance bands and foam rollers.

There are numerous benefits to be gained from Clinical Pilates. Some of these include:

Improved posture and core stability
Increased muscle strength and flexibility
Decreased risk and rate of injury
Restoration of normal movement patterns
Improved stability, control and balance
Increased overall body tone, especially in the tummy!
Improved pelvic floor function

Clinical Pilates also compliments other forms exercise such as running, bike riding, rowing, netball, tennis and weight training by specifically addressing any muscle imbalances that may be occurring during these activities. This can lead to better overall performance and a decrease in injury prevalence.

Pilates for Golf in Manhattan New York

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT

By Michelle Funder

In late May I completed a Pilates for Golf seminar in Manhattan New York. The course went for two and a half days and was based at the Waldorf Astoria and Chelsea Heights Golf club driving range on Manhattan Island. The course focused on the fundamentals of the golf swing and what muscles need to be strengthened and stabilized to help achieve greater golfing results and reduce injury.

Golf is a tough game that involves walking up to a small ball and using nearly every muscle in our body to explosively, in a controlled manner, hit the ball a certain distance and direction. The golf swing uses all different types of muscular contraction to control speed, force and accuracy. If there is a weak muscular link in the chain of our golf swing it can cause injury and more frustratingly poor golf shots. The idea behind pilates for golf is to work on the deep stabilizing muscles of the entire body, balance and flexibility to decrease errors and injuries.

We did practical work at the Chelsea Heights golf club driving range, putting our golfing pilates principals into practice. The driving range is on the banks of the Hudson River and is featured in a lot of Hollywood films. One of the great features of the driving range is an automatic ball machine that delivers the ball straight onto the mat for hitting, whilst this may seem like a ‘lazy’ feature it certainly helps prevent low back injuries.

I learnt a lot of new stretches and exercises that can be done specifically before, during and after a golf game whilst at the course. We also applied the theory of golf to different pilates exercises that can be done on the trapeze table, reformer and mat work during clinical pilates classes.

If you are interested in learning more about clinical pilates or specifically clinical pilates for golf please feel free to call the clinic on 9818 -7738.

Working with the Victorian Institute Athletes at the Australian Rowing Championships 2011

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:18:00 GMT

I spent one week in West Lakes Adelaide working with the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) athletes whilst they were competing in the Australian National Rowing Championships. I was part of the support team for the athletes that consisted of sports scientists, strength and conditioning coaches, and rowing coaches. My role involved treating the athletes pre and post racing over the week and also to help the sports scientists when they were organizing cool down post racing.

It was a great experience working with the athletes, majority of which had represented Australia at the past Olympic games. It was fantastic being part of a professional elite team with access to all the leading equipment in sports science. As a practitioner it is always a challenge helping elite sports people with their injuries when they have to perform, I found this very rewarding.

All the athletes did really well during the regatta and are currently in Sydney undergoing trials for the next Australian team. Due to work commitments I could not be in Sydney to help them. I am looking forward to working with the athletes in the future though.

Michelle Funder

Testing

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 04:26:00 GMT

Welcome to our new Chapel Street Osteopathy website. This website will aim to provide lots of information about the treatment of back and neck pain, as well as to discuss topics relevant to the Ostoepathic profession and the community.

This may include such topics as increased Medicare access for Osteopaths, or the ability to have improved referral rights for test such as ultrasounds and CT scans.

So keep an eye on the posts, and I hope that you will find some information relevant to you or any complaint that you may have.

Also, please feel free to contact us via the website, as there may be a topic that you wish to discuss in more detail.

So, thanks for dropping by, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Kristian van Staveren.

Chapel Street Osteopathy.