How Reformer Pilates can reduce your back pain

An astounding 80% of people understand how deliberating a sore back can be. If you’re reading this now, you’re most likely part of this percentage and suffer from back pain.

While back pain is common, it shouldn’t be something that’s ignored, accepted or just lived with. Our backs are the very element in our body that supports us in all our daily activities; sitting, laying, standing, exercising – them all! This back pain is most commonly a sign of years of everyday bad habits including bad posture and sitting hours on end (often at a desk).

Overcoming back pain may seem out of reach but you can reduce your pain and regain your life. Using Reformer Pilates, our professional instructors can help.

Here’s how Reformer Pilates works to reduce your back pain.

Builds core muscles

A strong core means a strong back. Your transverse abdominus is the abdominal muscle that supports your lumbar spine, and often lower back pain is linked to a weak transverse abdominus. Reformer Pilates teaches you to connect your mind and your body to build up your core strength. This training and building of your abdominal muscle will increase the support to your spine.

Reformer exercises also teach correct body alignment and provide gentle stretches to relax any tight muscles in your back. Building a strong core is also imperative to reducing the risk of reinjuring your back.

Supports your back

Reformer exercises target your core, abdomen, and back muscles, building and strengthening them. Mat exercises may do this in an environment that doesn’t fully support your spine, whereas Reformer Pilates is all about providing support and building your strength in weak areas over time, to reduce the risk of further injury.

Using the Reformer, lying flat, your spine can be fully supported, and you can still perform many different exercises. You’ll also have a comfortable head rest to ensure your spine stays completely braced. Because of this support and the ability to adjust your workout intensity, when exercising on a Reformer, you might notice that the movements are easier and feel more supported then those performed on a mat.

Exercise with safe, versatile exercises

The Reformer may appear to be a complicated, scary looking machine, but once your professional trainers show you how to correctly use it, you’ll discover how comfortable and safe it is to exercise on with an injury like a sore back. As your back and core strength grows, you can challenge your Reformer exercises in many different positions (standing, sitting, kneeling or side lying) to challenge your balance, motor control, and core strength differently. This will give your exercise regime complete versatility.

As your structural support, your spine functions your movement and protects important tissue in your body. Experiencing back pain shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s more important than you may first think to get started on healing your spine. Healing your spine now, will help to prevent ongoing pain and future loss of mobility.

Reformer Pilates can help in all stages of life, with an array of fitness and health goals, including improving your back pain and building your back and core strength to support your spine. Contact our team to book your free ‘Pilates Body Assessment’ to see if Reformer Pilates is right for you.