Clinical Pilates has become a very popular form of improving and maintaining body function. The term "Clinical Pilates" describes the process of individually assessing each person to design and implement a tailored exercise program. This ensures that each person gets the specific exercises designed to help their needs.

Our understanding of the human body continues to improve with ongoing research which in turn leads to new treatment techniques. The popularity of "Clinical Pilates" as a form of treatment has lead to more research being conducted in this field, and hence our understanding and methods continue to change.

This change in knowledge has meant that physiotherapists practicing Pilates will usually try to design individual programs based on our assessment findings. We use movements of the spine that are able to improve flexibility, reduce pain and improve motor function. We are also recognising that exercises which may help a particular individual with one body type may be extremely damaging for another person. This is why we choose to conduct Clinical Pilates in small groups after a suitable program is written.

Read on for our SPECIAL Pilates offer.

A Finnish research team recently published their research in the effects of neck muscle training on the severity and frequency of neck pain in a group of 180 female patients with chronic neck pain.

This study found in the Journal Of Strength and Conditioning, discovered increased neck muscle strength was associated with a reduction in neck pain. The study concluded that specific neck muscle training should be completed at least twice each week, and continue for up to 12 months following injury.

The participants of the study most commonly reported neck pain as the result of a whiplash injury, or had been told it was due to poor posture. Pain in the neck will often lead to reduced activity of the deep neck "stabiliser" muscles as the "global" or "power" muscles take over and go into spasm. This inhibits the small and very crucial stabiliser muscles supporting the neck and over time become very weak.

If you suffer from chronic (long term) neck pain be sure to make an appointment with a physiotherapist from Hawthorn Physio who will assess your neck problem to see if you have this weakness issue. They will give you that crucial guidance on how to specifically strengthen these muscles and get you back on track.

Most Physio's, personal trainer's, coaches and other people involved in the industry of getting and staying fit firmly believe that a good warm up is essential. Common beliefs are that it reduces the chance of injury as well as preparing the body for the activities after. But have warm-ups ever been proven to show a reduction in the incidence of injuries?

The Journal of Sports Science and Medicine recently produced an article where academics from Monash University in Melbourne looked at this very question. They were only able to find 5 quality studies over the past 40 years that specifically looked at the link between warm-up's and injuries.

From the five studies examined, three of the studies found significant benefits from using a warm-up, while the two others were inconclusive.

The Monash researchers went on to conclude from their evaluation that:

• In the three positive studies there was more emphasis placed on general exercise to increase body temperature.
• The two inconclusive studies had more time dedicated to static stretching.
• The three positive studies found that the reduced injury risk was associated with the age and type of activity undertaken. This suggests warm-up's are more important for older bodies.

Even though there is limited research supporting the use of a warm-up, we still strongly suggest that you do some amount of warming up before activity. What we do learn from this research review is that static stretches alone are probably of limited benefit for the uninjured athlete. However if you have been instructed to do stretches for a particular problem by a health care professional then continue as instructed.

We believe a good warm up therefore involves:

• Some gentle activity that replicates the more strenuous activity. This should increase the body temperature and will therefore be at least 5 minutes in duration.
• Some more specific range of motion stretching/ movements that also replicates the more strenuous activity. This can be done in a static way but we also encourage some stretching through movement. (e.g.. Swinging leg forward and backward as a good warm up for kicking sports, high knee lifts as a good running warm up).
• Gradually increasing intensity becoming more specific and “game like” as you build into the activity, or before the sport/game.

If you need more guidance as to what you should be doing as a warm up then book in to see a physio at Hawthorn Physiotherapy Clinic and we can tailor a warm up for your sport.

For the month of September only: Mention that you saw this promotion when you call Hawthorn Physio and we will book you in for a FREE 30 minute Pilates Assessment.

This will start building your knowledge about your own body and help you start a home/gym program. Hurry as limited places and times are available.