LAST MONTH, I met Melanie Byford-Young, a dynamic physiotherapist and Pilates master trainer based in the United States. It was she who introduced the first rehabilitation Pilates course in the Philippines. She became a major part in teaching and integrating rehabilitation in the existing Pilates program of STOTT Pilates founder Moira Merrithew.

I belonged to the first batch of rehab professionals who took the five-day Rehabilitation Pilates course at Vivian Zapanta?s Pilates studio. The main focus of this course was spinal, pelvic and scapular stabilization, a regimen that could be applied to clients with postural problems and/or with existing muscular and orthopedic conditions.

Rehab tool

Nowadays, a lot of people are getting into exercise and sports like running, badminton, golf, triathlon. Many are experiencing different types of injuries, hence the increasing need for some exercises like Pilates, a great tool in rehabilitating one?s existing musculo-skeletal problems.

According to Melanie, Pilates applies a holistic approach in developing one?s strength, mobility and control to prevent or get over an existing injury. She believes that movement, like Pilates exercises, can help individuals re-align their body, properly recruit their muscles at the right time and educate them to execute and integrate movement in the most effective way, using different planes of motion.

The most common injuries she often encounters in her rehab Pilates practice include disc herniation, shoulder impingement, cervical spine problems.

For professionals

The new STOTT Pilates Rehabilitation program is designed for professionals like sports and rehab doctors, licensed physical and occupational therapists who assess, treat and prescribe exercises for rehabilitation and prevention of injuries. They can integrate Pilates exercises in their practice.

The STOTT Pilates Rehabilitation program requires participants to consistently apply the learning to their existing patients or clients in the next six months, before they can take the certification exam.

The integration of Pilates exercises in the prevention and rehabilitation of injuries is a great way to strengthen an effective referral system between orthopedic, rehab doctors and other rehab professionals working in a fitness or clinical setting.

Some of the participants of the rehab Pilates course are currently working in a clinical setting, like Jennifer Peng of Taiwan and Jude Pedrajas of Makati Medical Center. They plan to apply Pilates in their practice. In my case as a personal trainer, I can integrate rehab Pilates in my training sessions with my healthy clients in injury prevention and then apply rehab Pilates to my clients with existing conditions, using more of my knowledge from my physical therapy degree.

Most Pilates instructors already have their degree in sports or rehabilitation, so they can decide to take a rehab Pilates course they can effectively integrate into their practice. Maureen Villao and Mona Valdes are doing this; they took the rehab course and are both Pilates instructors with a medical degree. According to them, the rehab course changed their mindset in dealing with their existing Pilates clients in terms of assessment, exercise prescription and programming, so they can give clients faster results.

How it works

Targeted muscle activation. There are some misconceptions about Pilates like using a Pilates reformer to be able to execute a Pilates move, and that one should be able to do all the advanced Pilates moves on Pilates machines for the exercises to be considered effective. In reality, the less Pilates equipment, the harder the exercise is, since you will be needing less assistance to perform an exercise.

In rehab Pilates, a client can use different Pilates equipment in different positions with exercise modifications based on the existing condition and goals of the program. For example, a client can use a strap to maintain a neutral position. This effectively fires the deeper muscles of her spine, which is needed in rehabilitating her back problem.

Breathing and control. We were taught to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth while keeping the shoulders and other parts of the body in a stable position. One should be able to master proper breathing to have more effective control over the desired movement pattern necessary for rehabilitating your condition.

For example, learning proper breathing, focusing on lateral expansion of the ribcage and contracting the deep breathing muscles of the torso can be used to decrease muscle tightness and to strengthen muscles in and around the torso.

Postural correction and re-education. Awareness and automatic correction of one?s posture are important in injury prevention and rehab. If you have a forward head posture or a lordotic (arched/hyper-extended) or kyphotic (rounded) spine, tight and weak muscles should be worked on with some exercises to be able to apply automatic correction as a result of consistent practice of prescribed Pilates exercises at least one to three times a week.

Execution of activity-specific training. Melanie mentioned some important Pilates exercises that should be done two to three times a week to improve sports performance and prevent injuries in some common sports like running and triathlon: the shoulder bridge for inner thighs and back muscle of the thigh, swimming for the back and improving reciprocal motion and single leg stretch to strengthen the obliques more.

Email the author at mitchfelipe@gmail.com