10 Reasons Why I Love Pilates as a Physiotherapist: Rebekah Recommends

This post is not an affiliate link for APPI (Australian Physiotherapy Pilates Institute) or other teachers that I have linked to, I am sharing my thoughts and feelings on this topic because I want others to know how Pilates has benefitted both my personal life and career. I have linked to APPI to make it easier for you to find your local spot and training courses. 

Before I started teaching Pilates to clients and patients I attended a local APPI Pilates class for years. I totally got the Pilates bug and here are my 10 reasons Why I Love Pilates as a Physiotherapist.

10 Reasons Why I Love Pilates as a Physiotherapist: Rebekah Recommends

1. Pilates for Managing Injuries

2. Pilates for Mental Health 

3. Pilates for Community

4. Pilates for Using with Patients 

5. Pilates for Preventing Injuries

6. Pilates for Teaching Opportunities

7. Pilates for Breathing Control

8. Pilates for Versatility

9. Pilates for Earning Money

10. Pilates for Lifelong Learning

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1.   Pilates for Managing Injuries

I strongly believe that Pilates has a place in the treatment of ANY injury, when used in combination with other treatment modalities. Pilates can be a great weapon in a Physiotherapist’s armory to treat all kinds of injuries.

Essentially Pilates is about moving efficiently and injury management often requires learning, re-learning or adapting to more effective movement patterns.

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2. Pilates for Mental Health 

Mindfulness practice has been proven to have a positive effect on mental health problems such as stress, depression and anxiety when compared to doing nothing (Galante et al. 2021). During a Pilates session the focus on movement and breath provides an experience that could be described as mindful. Pilates may be useful to try for those that find sitting still to practice mindfulness challenging.

The physical aspect of breathing (Ma et al. 2017) and using Pilates to move your body has proven mental health benefits (Fleming et al. 2018).

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3. Pilates for Community

Pilates creates community. Whether that is through subscribing to a YouTube channel, attending an online class or attending an in-person class. A community is created by the act of joining with others to practice Pilates. 

The studio I attended for many years had sofas in the waiting room where the class would chat and catch up before the class. This created a community, a support network and created a positive culture of accountability to attend the class to see the rest of the group, even on stressful or busy days.

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4.   Pilates for Using with Patients 

Encouraging patients to exercise regularly is important in making every contact count (NHS Consensus Statement). Pilates is a fantastic gateway into the exercise world and is easy to start to build your patient’s confidence with exercise during your sessions.

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5.  Pilates for Preventing Injuries

Pilates is an AMAZING tool for injury prevention. You can work on:

• Flexibility 

• Balance 

• Proprioception 

• Plyometrics

• Strength

All within one session. All the components required for injury prevention!

Not only this, The Royal Osteoporosis Society advocate weight bearing exercises to strengthen bones and reduce osteoporotic fracture. 

You can also adapt: 

• Speed

• Resistance 

• Time under tension

To meet your patient’s requirements. 

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6. Pilates for Teaching Opportunities

Teaching a Pilates class is challenging. Experienced instructors make it look effortless however it is a skill that has to be practiced. 

The opportunities that come from learning to teach are endless. In terms of personal development, teaching a Pilates class will definitely develop and challenge your communication skills in new ways.

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7. Pilates for Breathing Control

Breathing control is something you may associate with Respiratory Physiotherapy however breathing control is so important for efficient movement. 

Using Pilates breathing control technique you can treat patients to control their breathing. This can maximise the effectiveness of their strength and flexibility training and pain management. 

Have you ever noticed that most patients hold their breath when a movement causes them pain or they are expecting something to hurt? This can reinforce non- useful movement patterns.

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8. Pilates for Versatility

Pilates is so versatile. You could attend multiple classes and encounter so many different types of Pilates sessions. From each one you could take away something different. 

Here are a few types of Pilates:

• Matwork 

• Reformer

• Equipment (small - bands etc)

• Equipment (large- cadillac etc) 

Within each type of Pilates you could have different focuses:

• Mobility 

• Strength 

• Relaxation 

• Pregnancy 

• Menopause 

• Mens Health

• Sport Specific 

And many more. There is a style and focus of Pilates to suit anybody, at any level of fitness and physical ability.

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9. Pilates for Earning Money

If you are looking for some extra cash, Pilates is a great way of increasing your earning potential. You could work for a Physiotherapy Clinic, Pilates Studio or Gym. You could have a regular class, ad hoc/ filling in for others or set up your own class in a local community centre.

Plus, the added knowledge of pathology and injuries as a Physiotherapist means that you are able to adapt your exercises to your clients. This means that Physiotherapy- led Pilates sessions can be charged at a premium rate because of the enhanced service you are able to provide.

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10. Pilates for Lifelong Learning 

As Physiotherapists, we sign up for lifelong learning as part of our profession standards. Pilates offers just that. There are so many courses available to learn about Pilates skills and techniques. 

Also, attending as a client will teach you about your body. It can help you to better communicate to your patients about what they should be feeling in their muscles and joints when you are providing exercise plans to your patients.

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Rebekah Recommends:

I would recommend that you should give Pilates a try. If not for the benefit of your patients then for yourself. 

If you haven’t found Pilates enjoyable before, go and try a different style, class or instructor until you find a version that you LOVE!

As with any type of exercise, you need to be consistent and stick at it for at least 3-6 months to notice the huge benefits in performance but the mental health benefits can show up from day 1. 

In my career so far I have been able to use my Pilates training to help my patients, support my colleagues, encourage friends and even utilised Pilates when I was working in elite sport to support the players in their pre-match preparation and post- match recovery. 

If you are looking for training schools I would highly recommend the Australian Physiotherapy & Pilates Institute (APPI). I have personally been trained by an APPI master trainer and have worked in a clinic using APPI principles. Click here for a link to their courses. (Not an affiliate link)

If you are looking to have a try at home here are some YouTube Instructors that I have enjoyed training along with: (Again, not affiliate links)

Nell Hoes - Takes you through progressive strength work on the reformer.

Jess P Fit - This is my favourite reformer upper body stretch session, I can’t count how many times I have followed this video.

John Gary TV - He has loads of reformer and matwork sessions that are quick and easy to fit into your daily routine.

April Plank Pilates- Another stretch session on the reformer that I have done many times.

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Have your say…

What is your favourite type of Pilates and Why?

Are there any benefits that I have missed? 😱

Share in the comments below 👇👇👇.

About the Blogger:

Hi, I’m Rebekah.

I’m a Physiotherapist with a passion to support others to get to where they want to be. I love to organise and plan which, comes in handy for my mission to empower others to achieve their Physiotherapy career goals.