Is Pilates good for tennis? Thanks to the likes of Andy Murray and Serena Williams, the benefits of Pilates for tennis players are now well-known. Committing to regular Pilates sessions helps Williams, Murray and many other players with their post-match recovery and with injury prevention. According to reports, taking up Pilates has even improved Murray’s mindset both on and off the court! But you don’t have to be a tennis pro to use Pilates to refine aspects of your game. In fact, even if you only play tennis for fun or to keep fit, Pilates classes can still be a great way to enhance your e ..read more

Lower back pain is a common health problem. It is so widespread, in fact, that 80 percent of Brits experience an episode of lower back pain at some point in their life. Reassuringly, most of the time back pain isn’t caused by a serious medical condition. It normally gets better over time and without intervention. However, more complicated cases may require treatment such as manual therapy, exercise, or medication. Regardless of its severity, back pain can affect your ability to work, exercise, and do other everyday activities. Because of this it can take a considerable psychological toll on ..read more

At Complete Pilates, we are often asked whether clients should be stretching more and what the benefits of stretching are. Pilates and stretching are very much interlinked due to the focus in Pilates on mobility, breathing and flow. Incorporating stretching into your daily routine as well as throughout your exercise can help improve flexibility, range of motion, posture, performance and mental health. In this article we discuss the benefits of stretching, the types of stretching, the limitation of stretching and how it really works. Quick Summary Pilates vs Stretching: Pilates and str ..read more

Do you experience shoulder pain? Do you have a shoulder injury or a ‘frozen shoulder?’ Shoulder pain or stiffness is a common problem that many people experience and something we see a lot at Complete Pilates. Quick Summary Regular Pilates practice not only aids in reducing or eliminating shoulder pain but can also help prevent shoulder injury and help maintain a healthy and mobile shoulder for the future. Shoulder discomfort can arise from conditions such as rotator cuff tendinopathy and arthritis. Because the shoulder has so much freedom of movement, it requires strength and stability to ..read more

You often hear medical practitioners and fitness professionals talk about the core to help you with your posture and relieve back pain. However, the spine and muscles around the back, play a huge role in supporting you! We’ve compiled a list of 8 effective Pilates back exercises you can do at home. We’ll be focusing on both lower back Pilates exercises and upper back Pilates exercises so you can ensure you’re working the entire back as a whole. It is really important to think of the back as a whole as lots of the major muscles cross the upper back and lower back! This means you cannot separa ..read more

Do you experience hip pain? Our hip joints do a lot for us every day. Not only do they help us simply move about, but they also help us carry out more dynamic activities such as running, playing sports and moving explosively through HIIT classes. This means that the hip joints can experience a lot of load and impact. If our hip joints and the surrounding tissues aren’t able to cope with the load we expose them to, this can lead to pain and dysfunction. The hip joint is a very stable and strong joint and is known as a ball-and-socket joint (the top of the thigh bone is shaped like a ball and ..read more

Are you wondering what sciatica is? Or whether the pain you’re currently experiencing is sciatica? In this article we discuss what sciatica is, the common causes and Pilates exercises for sciatica pain so you reduce and prevent recurrent sciatica symptoms. What is Sciatica? Sciatica refers to pain that is localised along your sciatic nerve. Rather than being a diagnosis it is a description of the symptoms. What is sciatica pain like? Sciatic pain comes in various forms and degrees but usually feels like a constant burning or shooting sensation down the back of the leg. The sciatic nerve is o ..read more

When you think of leg day, do you just think of being in the gym and squatting weight? Have you ever considered Pilates leg exercises that you can do at home? Doing leg exercises at home, is a really easy way to start building leg strength, and doesn’t require lots of heavy lifting! Starting with bodyweight exercises, you can make sure that you move well and master the techniques. You can then add weights and resistance bands to most of the moves to challenge you further. A major function of the legs is to support the weight of your body with minimal energy expenditure. You have probably hea ..read more

Is Pilates better than the gym? What is the difference between Pilates and gym? We get asked these questions a lot here at Complete Pilates, the main thing to emphasise is that any form of exercise is good, be it working out in the gym or doing Pilates. Variety of exercise is key to help build a functional healthy body and avoid injury. In this article we will be discussing: What is the difference between Pilates and a workout? How can Pilates complement your gym regime? The benefits of Pilates for gym goers 4 Pilates exercises to support gym training What is the difference between Pilates ..read more

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the UK and affects over 10 million people. We see a lot of patients in the Pilates studio who suffer with symptoms from osteoarthritis. But is Pilates good for Arthritis? This blog is about osteoarthritis and how Pilates can be beneficial. This blog is about osteoarthritis and how Pilates can be beneficial. What is osteoarthritis? Osteoarthritis is a condition that causes the joints to become painful and stiff. The severity and symptoms of arthritis can vary greatly from person to person and even between different joints in one person ..read more