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Traditional Mat Pilates is not Enough...
I first resorted to traditional Pilates Mat Exercises as a result of back and buttock muscle pain. I found it both beneficial and not beneficial.
Traditional Mat Pilates was very beneficial in that:-
It quickly strengthened my abdominal muscles,
It introduced me to "Posture-Movement Awareness", & especially the concept of "strong middle range" for my lower back and pelvis.
It revealed to me - via a whole host of new and unfamiliar movement patterns - some very "tight weak" muscles that I had previously been only vaguely aware of. (The first step in healing a problem is knowing that you have a problem)!
Traditional Mat Pilates was not so beneficial in that:-
It heightened my natural tendency to pain upon lumbar flexion:
I'd get occasional twinges of pain upon bending forward to pick something up.
I got a very sore back when I fell backwards on my tail bone and jarred my back into lumbar flexion.
It encouraged my right femur to glide forward in the hip joint socket (an alarming and audible "clunk" and dull anterior groin ache) - so called "Iliopsoas bursitis" I came to teh conclusion that:-
Traditional Pilates Mat Work alone is not enough...
The best answer to the deficiencies of Mat Work is supervised exercise on Pilates Studio Equipment for example, my tendency to pain upon lumbar flexion needed some supervised Barrel-Ladder work...
Femoral anterior glide is fixable with the right knowledge & equipment, for example, The Reformer or the Cadillac...
But living in small town New Zealand meant that Pilates Equipment based workouts were not an option. I was more or less left to my own resources!
Enter "Evolved Pilates"
So what was my solution? - I did in depth research into "Posture Movement Awareness" based upon the ground breaking work of Posture-Movement teacher FM Alexander and professor of physiotherapy Shirley Sahrmann, and developed and tested a set of standing and sitting exercises to compliment traditional "Pilates on the Mat" . It worked for me, and will likely work for you!
I do Traditional Pilates every week without fail, but I also do a set of stretches and evolved Pilates.
The exercises that I do are available online for free!
Why a free pilates exercise instructions library?
Answer:
The EasyVigour Free Pilates Exercises Library was developed out of frustration! Pilates on the web is totally commercialised. What do you find when you search for "Pilates Exercises" on the web? -
Misleading Page Re-directs?
Links for Videos?
Yet more book sales?
Offers of Pilates Instructor Training?
A shop front web site for a Pilates studio in New Zealand?!!!
Ridiculous gobblegook that is just there to trick the search engines into recommending a site?
I hope to change all that. Please enjoy the Free Pilates Exercise Library!
References
(1) Shirley A Sahrmann: Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes; Publ. Mosby 2002
(2) The Official Body Control Pilates Manual Available from: http://www.bodycontrol.co.uk/
(3) Wilfred Barlow: "The Alexander Principle" Arrow Books Ltd. Reprinted 1987 ISBN 0 09 910160
(4)Kendall, McCreary, and Provance (1993) - Muscles: Testing and Function Publ. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins ISBN: 0683045768
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