Any good physio will tell you that it takes more than just sporadic massages to keep you free from aches and pains. To really take control of your body, you need a good strengthening programme. With a mixture of help from your physio and strengthening through pilates, a strong, lean, pain-free body can be yours!

Working on the city fringe means the express team is spoilt for choice when it comes to physio and pilates places, but going to a one-stop shop is pretty special! Grey Lynn clinic re:ab on Selbourne doesn’t just help people with sprained joints or pulled muscles (although they do that very well). They help their clients prevent further injuries and pain and correct their posture while improving their fitness and toning up their bodies – it’s win/win! They taught us more about this combination of physio + pilates and how it can work for you!

Prepare with pilates

Pilates has become pretty trendy over the last few years, but has been around since early last century when it was developed by Joseph Pilates. The philosophy of pilates is “contrology” – a method where the mind controls the body in order to improve core strength, flexibility, agility and biomechanics. Although pilates uses mats like yoga, the practice has grown over the years to include several pieces of apparatus to help people get in touch with their bodies.

Pilates can help people who are recovering from injury by helping you restore your natural movement patterns, muscle strength and coordination. For those of you looking to improve sports performance, pilates develops length and strength in muscle, and flexibility in joints, which can help deal with the “niggles” associated with training. For office workers, pilates can help improve posture awareness while strengthening important postural muscles. And for those of you looking for assistance with general fitness and toning, pilates can help you tones all areas of the body in a safe, low impact way. That’s got to be good for you!

Let’s get physio

Physio really is a miracle cure, so long as physio exercises are followed to the letter until you’re back on your feet. Our friends at re:ab say visiting an expert physiotherapist will help you regain strength and get moving again, whether you have an acute injury or ongoing pain or imbalance. Through a series of 30-minute (or more) appointments, physio work can help with musculoskeletal, post surgical, rehabilitation and back injuries. And if you’ve had an accident, ACC will help with the cost! The re:ab team uses pilates equipment for rehabilitation, especially for people with persistent injuries, as well as traditional manual therapy, acupuncture and massage.

Get up & go

If you’re amping to start training and being active again, consider a physio and pilates plan. For more information on re:ab, visit www.reab.co.nz, phone 09 360 2929 or email info@reab.co.nz.