This course is an excellent way to help you look after your back’s health.
Pilates for back care focuses on improving the strength and flexibility of the muscles that support your entire spine and the joints that need extra care in order to maintain a healthy and strong back.
Pilates practice can also help with posture, muscle tone, balance and joint mobility whilst relieving stress and tension.
We will begin each session in a standing position with stretches to warm up your body. You will then move through exercises lying on your back, your side and your front, before moving on to your hands and knees and then to seated. To finish you will stand and stretch and leave ready to enjoy the rest of your day. We will use equipment such as resistance bands and over balls which the studio provides.
The teacher will give assistance and guidance or alternative exercises if a particular exercise does not feel comfortable or is not suitable for participants. Please speak to the teacher if you have any concerns or have any questions.
WEEK ONE: Finding your core with resistance
You will learn or be reminded of the Pilates breathing techniques and the neutral body alignment to help make the exercises more efficient and find your Core whilst you also develop the understanding of the quality and controlled movements to increase body awareness in each of the exercises. We will be using resistance equipment.
WEEK TWO: Isolation of movements and understanding your range of movement.
With practice and focus you will learn and feel the movement in the desired place but also will concentrate on keeping the rest of the body quiet as you breath and control your movements promoting challenging range of movements and improve your coordination.
WEEK THREE: Dynamic Alignment and Flexibility
Going further with your understanding of your body and its movements, this week will focus on moving whilst you maintain neutral alignment, feeling the movement and know when you need to stop and go back. We will modify exercises accordingly to your own ability.
WEEK FOUR: Postural Control and gravity
We will keep on practicing exercises focused on the movement quality to gain equal muscle strength and work with opposition to gravity and how this affects our postural alignment.
WEEK FIVE: Adaptations and progression
We will practice previous sequences and learn more challenging exercises ensuring individual flexibility and physical ability whilst you use the previous knowledge to create a more flowing and controlled movements.
WEEK SIX: Advanced balance and review
In the final week, we will challenge your balance whilst practicing different exercises learnt from the basic exercises to the advanced repertoire, will review if necessary to make sure you have a full understanding of the body awareness.
These sessions are each 60mins in length and the course is priced at £85 for 6 weeks.
Please bring your own mat if you have one, and a medium-sized towel for head-support.