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Clinical Pilates with a Registered Physiotherapist

Learn how Clinical Pilates differs from traditional Pilates and how our physiotherapists use it for rehabilitation, injury recovery, and movement retraining.

3 min read
Clinical PilatesMovement TherapyRehabilitation

Key Takeaways

  • Clinical Pilates bridges rehabilitation and movement retraining with specialized equipment
  • Beneficial for injury recovery, chronic pain, athletes, and prenatal/postnatal clients
  • Sessions include detailed assessment, hands-on facilitation, and personalized home exercises

At Ease Physiotherapy integrates Clinical Pilates into our physiotherapy approach to help clients move with confidence, control, and ease. Unlike traditional Pilates classes, Clinical Pilates is a rehabilitative and personalized form of movement therapy offered by a Registered Physiotherapist with Advanced Training in Clinical Pilates. Our Physiotherapists perform a detailed history and movement assessment and take the time to understand your unique goals and needs. Whether you’re recovering from an injury, managing chronic pain, or aiming to improve strength and mobility, Clinical Pilates can be an important step in helping you reach your functional goals.

What Makes Clinical Pilates Different?

Clinical Pilates bridges the gap between rehabilitation and movement retraining, focusing on core stability, postural alignment, and efficient movement patterns. Clinical Pilates uses specialized equipment like a reformer, trapeze table, stability chair, stability balls, and resistance bands to provide progressive, evidence-based rehabilitation tailored to your body’s needs. Research shows that targeted Pilates-based exercises can improve muscular endurance, flexibility, and postural control, reducing the risk of injury and pain recurrence. Our goal is to improve your body’s resilience and adaptability so that you can return to the activities that you love to do.

Who Can Benefit?

Clinical Pilates is beneficial for a variety of conditions and goals, including:

  • Posture & Movement Correction – Helps correct muscle imbalances and improves postural control for long-term musculoskeletal health and improved daily function.
  • Injury Recovery – A structured and physiotherapist-tailored low-impact approach to regaining strength and mobility after injury or surgery.
  • Chronic Pain Management – Studies show that Pilates-based exercises can significantly reduce back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, and hip pain and improve function.
  • Athletes & Active Individuals – Enhances movement efficiency, balance, and core stability for sports performance.
  • Prenatal & Postnatal Clients – Strengthens the deep core, pelvic floor, and postural muscles, supporting a healthy pregnancy and recovery.

What to Expect in a Session

Our Physiotherapists will begin with a detailed history and movement assessment to identify areas of non-optimal loading, weakness, imbalance, and dysfunction. Based on these findings, we will provide hands-on facilitation and cueing integrated with movement therapy to support your unique rehabilitation/functional goals. Personalized home exercises and education will enhance the benefits of each session and help you improve your body awareness in daily life and exercise. Sessions focus on optimizing loading strategies, core activation, and functional movement re-patterning in a one-on-one setting.

Clinical Pilates is more than just exercise—it’s a science-backed approach to improving movement efficiency and resiliency and reducing pain. Many clients pair Clinical Pilates with other therapeutic services like dry needling, kinesiology, or manual therapy for comprehensive rehabilitation. Ready to experience the benefits? Book a session with Larissa or Susannah to try out this approach to rehab and wellness.

References

  • Bernardo, L. M. (2013). The effectiveness of Pilates training in healthy adults. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 17(4), 721-730.
  • Cruz-Díaz, D., et al. (2018). The effectiveness of 12 weeks of Pilates intervention on disability, pain intensity, and kinesiophobia in patients with chronic low back pain. Clinical Rehabilitation, 32(9), 1249-1257.
  • Kloubec, J. A. (2010). Pilates for improvement of muscle endurance, flexibility, balance, and posture. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(3), 661-667.
  • Wells, C., et al. (2014). The effectiveness of Pilates exercise in people with chronic low back pain. PLOS ONE, 9(7), e100402.

About the Author

Susannah Reid

Susannah Reid

Clinic Owner & Registered Physiotherapist

Visceral ManipulationConcussion RecoveryPelvic HealthCranioSacral Therapy
"Treating only the top layer of the issue will result in it resurfacing sooner or later. Assessing and treating these deeper systems of our bodies gives more excellent and lasting results."