How Pilates Can Help You Reduce Injury

Where did Pilates come from?

Joseph Pilates is born in Germany in 1883. As a child he battled asthma and other ailments and he turned to exercise to help his health. He was attracted to the classical Greek ideal of “a man balanced in body, mind, and spirit,” and from his fascination of this concept he began to develop his own exercise system based on this concept.

Joseph Pilates came to the US in 1926 and may he could have been one of the first few Physical Therapist but he was interested in dance and movement. “Contrology” was the original name of the Pilates Method. Many dancers were sent to Joe Pilates to be “fixed” for rehabilitation. Joe Pilates believed his exercise format embodied “complete coordination of body, mind and spirit”

Some of our aches and pains can stem from our lack of awareness of how we move, control and coordinate our movements through space and how we execute our tasks/activities. How have we taught ourselves to stabilize our body to complete a task? Having too many “gives” and “restrictions” can cause “compression” and “shear” thus leading to pain overtime. Working with a certified Pilates instructor or Physical Therapist can help you learn to improve strength, improve flexibility and improve joint range of motion, along with develop a strong core, improve posture, create an evenly conditioned body, help reduce injury and enhance body awareness.

The Pilates 8 Principles:

What is STOTT Pilates?

Since the original method of Pilates was created there have been over 100 years of research since the creation. Pilates purist believe that it should still be taught with no variations or modification from Joseph Pilates. Moria Stott was one of the original disciples of Joseph Pilates. Stott went on to study with physical therapists and sports medicine experts. What she discovered was that though the original Pilates method is highly effective, it did not evolve to modern principles of postural alignment and exercise sequencing. As a result STOTT Pilates was developed as a modernized version of the historical technique from Joseph Pilates.

The modernized version provides many preparations and modifications to assist clients to progress exercise safely. Time is spent to teach clients to utilize a neutral spine and address scapular stability among other issues.

STOTT Principles: