What’s the Link Between Pilates and Core Stability?

Core Stability vs Pilates

The whole ‘core stability’ phenomenon started in the 1920s with a chap named Joseph Pilates, whose exercise regimes have become quite trendy in the last ten years.

Pilates talked about developing a ‘girdle of strength’ by learning to recruit the deep-trunk muscles. Even without complete knowledge of anatomy and the benefits of the latest muscle activity research, he was aware of these deep muscles’ importance and their supportive effects.

Core stability training targets explicitly the smaller and deeper back and stomach muscles. Once recruited, these muscles control the position of the spine during dynamic movements of your body.

Is Pilates for Everyone?

Sadly, No! Exercise programs that aim to develop your deep core strength can often do just the opposite. The most common reason for injury and back pain is the incorrect timing of core muscle recruitment.

Pilates, Yoga, gym strengthening, and other exercise forms place high demands on your core stability system. Abnormal core muscle recruitment order increases your injury chance proportion with the exercise difficulty.

Remember, if you build a tower on a weak foundation, it will eventually topple. Look what happened to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It’s got lousy core stability! The same goes for your core stability muscles.

However, recruiting the deeper core muscles before your superficial layers, just like adding floors to a sturdy skyscraper and your back, will forever be healthy and pain-free.

Why is it Important to Specially Retrain your Core Stability Muscles?

Research has identified that the order of core muscle recruitment is one of the most critical factors in preventing or resolving pain. Once the core muscles become weak and their timing is incorrect, you can experience prolonged back pain and are at a much higher risk of re-occurrence. Real-Time Ultrasound Physiotherapy has proven particularly useful to correct the muscle recruitment order.

To solve your back pain and reduce your re-injury risk, you must retrain these muscles back to an appropriate level for your needs. If you are relatively sedentary, you may only need a low level of control. However, if you are a high-level sportsperson or a manual worker, you will need to work up to a much higher core strength level.

What Should You Expect?

You need to consciously activate these muscles in the initial stage and incorporate them into an exercise program. Many people find it difficult to isolate these muscles and need help to be able to activate them effectively.

Research has discovered that real-time ultrasound-guided treatment is the most effective way to retrain an isolated and well-timed core stability contraction successfully.