At the Pilates and Healing Centres our approach is about more than “core training”. It is about body movement training and “pillar strength”.
Core training has gained a tremendous amount of attention in literature and from sports medicine through to the latest Hollywood craze. Athletes and professionals alike often equate core stability with abdominal strength. A strong core, or strong abdominals, is often believed to be all that is necessary to prevent injury and improve performance. However it is now well recognised that injury prevention and optimal performance lie much deeper than simple abdominal strength.
A combination of mobility, stability and strength at the shoulders, trunk and hips is also needed to efficiently transfer forces between the upper and lower body.
We need to move past the simplistic view of the core and look to a more integrated view of pillar strength. Pillar strength is the complete integration of our shoulders, trunk, and hips. Mobility, stability, and strength at each of these individual areas are needed so they can come together to create a conduit for power production and force transfer in the body.
Pillar strength means that we have to look at the way muscles, skeleton, joints and fascia move through out the body,
To achieve this we work with:
- pilates studio equipment eg reformer, wunda chair, caddilac, Ped-O-Pull, barrels
- Core Align® equipment
- Gyrotonic® equipment
- Small apparatus eg weights, balls, Bosu, Freeform boards, Yamuna® equipment
- Exercise Bikes, rowing Machines, rebounders
In your class you can and will work with any of the equipment and with all our modalities of training to achieve pillar strength. Your class or session time is one hour and you can be in a class with up to three other people, each person is doing their own program tailored to the individual’s postural needs, weaknesses and strengths. The program is constantly changing and evolving as you master a level of strength, mobility or stability.
You must start with a private appointment known as an Initial Consultation. This allows us to check your body needs, your level of body understanding and your learning style. From there a suitable program is developed to achieve your goals.
Body movement classes are ideal for those who are looking for:-
Injury prevention & or rehabilitation
Improved performance, for sports, work
Better body movement, eg posture, mobility, stability and flexibility.