Find out how Luisa found pilates as a client, then went on to become and instructor........ and her own journey with injury and illness and the role pilates has played for her and can play for us all.

Watch this great Video to find out more

Pilates - why do it

Pilates is a great way to exercise and care for your body.  It is a fantastic form of exercise when pregnant and in returning to activity following giving birth. 

Equipment pilates for men

Equipment pilates for men helps back pain, shoulder pain and core strength as well as a myriad of other things. Equipment pilates helps retrain a strong core, strengthen the back helping pain and protect other joints including the shoulders.

The importance of exercise in improving health comes through time and time again in research. This may be from things like cancer through to back pain or chronic pain conditions, for example fibromyalgia.  A recent study looking at exercise in older athletes in the British Medical journal stated the following: "Engaging in regular physical activity may be one of our best 'life enhancing medicines' and should be used extensively".

In this study higher intensity exercise was found to be more beneficial than moderate intensity exercise, following a twice a week program, at home or in a class setting. Being given a set program helped gain more motivation and compliance from participants.  At Physiologix, we are passionate about getting you moving. In our stunning private gym area, with state of the art pilates and rehabilitation equipment, we run an extensive timetable of small, pilates classes where you will have your own individualised program to follow. We also run small physio supervised classes for those needing a little more help and support.

Here is a snapshot of a few pilates based exercises and why we might be doing them.

The 'Scooter' on the reformer is a great exercise to work on hip stability and strengthen for glutes and legs. The idea is to keep your body weight and your balance on the supporting leg, as you kick back with the other leg.  Yet it is amazing how many people have done this in Pilates workouts for years before coming to us and felt the exercise more in the front of the thigh…..totally missing the point of this exercise!!! A few little tricks and this becomes one of the best buttock muscle activation and strength exercises there is.

The ‘Step Back’ on the wunda chair is one of the functional exercises that we use during our physio rehab and the Pilates classes. Depending on the springs that you are using, you can have more or less support to step up, so we can always adapt the exercises for your level. 

This is a fantastic exercise to strengthen your glutes and legs, and work on your balance and full body control.

Pilates is not only about rehabilitation. You can also work really hard! Our pilates instructors have a fitness background to help you to reach your fitness or sporting goals. This 'long stretch series' is an example of a challenging core work.

Our ability to mix rehab and pilates equipment together at Physiologix allows us to progress and challenge you. In this case, the addition of the BOSU for Kneeling Chariot/Lat Pull creates an added challenge by being on an unstable surface. Your deep core stabilisers need to work harder to maintain stability without compromising posture. 

Motivated? No matter how unfit or fit you are, no matter what your injuries or health issues, at Physiologix we will get you moving.  Get in to see our Sports and Exercise physios to get an individualized program for yourself, either to do in one of our many classes, or to do from home. 

"We're talking Kegel Balls! Yes, Kegel balls or vaginal weights, are more than pleasure toys! They are actually a great tool that allows physios help women to progress pelvic floor muscle strength work in a more functional way, for example when doing physical work like walking and lifting.

Why do we need a strong pelvic floor? The pelvic floor muscle is the muscle that sits at the base of the pelvis. This muscle is responsible for your continence (bladder and bowel leak control), supporting your internal organs and giving pelvic stability. A strong pelvic floor will even give improved sexual function. So you can see, there are lots of reasons to have a good strong pelvic floor.

To listen and learn more click on the play button above.

At Physiologix we have therapists specially trained in womens' health. Please email us from the contact us page or call us on 3511 1112.

Read more information on the health of the Pelvic Floor here!

Urinary incontinence is a common complaint in women, with reported rates between 32 and 64%. The two most common types of female urinary incontinence are stress incontinence (involuntary loss of urine on effort or physical exertion, sneezing or coughing) and urgency incontinence (loss of urine associated with urgency). Many women present with a mix of the two. Incontinence can affect quality of life and participation in social activities, especially physical activity.

Pilates: Perfect For a Fit and Healthy Body

How are those New Year’s resolutions going? Getting fit and healthy has been the aim for so many of us. Exercise should be seen like a balanced diet: you need bits of everything, cardio, strength, balance, flexibility to name a few.

What Is Pilates

Learn about the Pilates we teach at Physiologix. Centered around precission, control and breathing whilst learning to move the body, regaining muscle control, flexibility, co-ordination, balance and alignment. Ultrasound guided core activation is taught. Using state of theart equipment in the stunning Physiologix gym. Supervised by highly qualified physiotherapists.

Physiologix is now offering a much larger range of sessions. All the Pilates is run and supervised ONLY by highly qualified and experienced physiotherapists. Firstly they will ensure you are able to activate your deep muscles correctly using ultrasound imaging, cutting edge technology. This is essential if you are to gain the full benefit of Pilates.  They will then set up an individualised program specific to your issues, injuries, weaknesses and concerns.  You then have a range of options again depending on your confidence, ability and affordability.   Physiologix offers Pilates classes (max 6 people), smaller 3 person groups, orone to one sessions.  The sessions utilise specialised equipment and exercises to ensure recovery and strengthening of muscles essential to having a stable, strong body.

One of the key components to injury prevention at Physiologix is Pilates. Pilates was initially developed by German, Joseph Pilates, during the First World War, to rehabilitate injured soldiers. It then became popular with dancers and performers as a way to stretch and strengthen the body, through a gentle but effective workout. Pilates has continued to become increasingly popular, due to its focus on posture and good alignment. Physiotherapists now widely use Pilates as an enjoyable and extremely effective way to prevent, and rehabilitate from injury.

Want to play golf without your knee hurting, cut the hedge without your shoulder aching, be able to play with the grandkids without your back pulling you up? Or just generally want to get your core going and feel fitter and stronger? Pilates can help you do all this!

Pilates is for all men. It is the modern day wonder exercise routine. It increases flexibility and balance whilst focusing on creating a strong core. A powerful core is so essential, whether for young men to remain fit, or for older men and those who have lost condition, to ensure they avoid injury and live active lives. 

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 Here we discuss some simple ideas to deal with back pain.

Back pain, sadly affects too many of us, 80% actually. Very often with good initial management, what potentially could end up being a long term problem, can be controlled with a good recovery made.

If your back “goes” it usually locks up and you become very restricted in your movement. This is because the muscles go into “spasm”. This is like an overprotect mode where the muscles contract to prevent you moving. In a way, it is a natural form of bracing. In the initial stages the main focus is reducing this spasm. Heat is often best. This is because there is about 4-6cm of muscle between the surface of the skin and the deep joint structures that have been affected in the injury. You would usually use ice on an acute injury but in this case the injury is so deep that the ice won’t reach. Heat relaxes the muscles on the surface and so help to relax the spasm. This in turn unlocks the joints, allowing you to move.

With many endurance events coming up, it is important to keep an eye out for OVERUSE injuries!