Do you struggle with side plank? If so, you aren’t alone, it is like Marmite for many Pilates’ students, but the benefits of doing side plank are huge. These include the following: It strengthens three muscle groups at once. To keep you stabilized in a side plank position, the muscles in your shoulders, hips, and […]
Side Plank Exercises Read More »
Do you struggle with side plank? If so, you aren’t alone, it is like Marmite for many Pilates’ students, but the benefits of doing side plank are huge. These include the following: It strengthens three muscle groups at once. To keep you stabilized in a side plank position, the muscles in your shoulders, hips, and
The Psoas (pronounced so-ass) is an incredibly important muscle that many people don’t think about, but stretching and strengthening the Psoas can make all the difference to our well-being. If you have low back pain, hip pain, or various other tightness and stress in your body, stretching and/or strengthening the Psoas can potentially completely fix
Having a neutral pelvis and a neutral spine is something that is talked about frequently; whether in an article about how to ride, or in an article about our health. But what are they and why are they really so important? As horse riders, I suppose the main reason they are so important is because
Neutral Pelvis & Spine Read More »
As both a Rider Biomechanics coach and a Pilates Instructor I hear a lot of people complain about having tight hamstrings. But what causes tight hamstrings? Quite simply, most of us spend far too long sitting down and not enough time up and about stretching and lengthening our hamstrings. You’re particularly prone to tight hamstrings
Many people and in particular, many horse riders and cyclists, moan about having tight hips. That makes sense, as spending a lot of time sitting means the hip flexors stay in a shortened position for longer than they should. Constricting the muscles in this way can make the hip flexors extremely tight, especially if the
Have you ever had difficulty reaching up to the top shelf or had pain in your shoulder or upper arm when raising your arm to the side or overhead? Shoulder pain or tightness is common, affecting some 18 to 26 per cent of adults. The shoulder is one of the largest and most complex joints
Lower back pain affects most people at some time in their lives. It is thought that as many as 4 out of 5 of us will experience it to a greater or lesser extent at some point. In fact, such a large number of people need lower back pain relief that it accounts for a
If you suffer from hip pain, Pilates is an excellent way to remedy discomfort. The pain is often caused by issues with nearby muscles, ligaments or tendons, although hip pain can also be referred from the lower back. While it may be tempting to keep the area immobile, regularly practicing Pilates can decrease pain significantly.
Discomfort in the hips Read More »
The knee is one of the largest and most complex joints in the body. The knee joins the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia). The smaller bone that runs alongside the tibia (fibula) and the kneecap (patella) are the other bones that make the knee joint. Tendons connect the knee bones to the