​Many of us picture the rounded or “hunched” posture with a forward head position as poor posture. However, there are many variations of postural abnormalities. One of the most common we see at Pilates Sante, is an overly upright "military" like posture.

In western society, the military bracing pose is frequently held as the ideal posture. However, this idea of 'suck in your gut, stick out your chest, and pull in your chin' is not ideal for many or most of us!

The problem with this military posing is excessive straightening of the spine by reducing or eliminating its natural curves. The lordotic curves in the neck and low back, and kyphotic curve in the mid back are essential. These curves convert the spine into a flexible spring rather than a rigid post. The cervical and lumbar curves place the intervertebral discs at their optional position to handle gravitational load as well. Therefore reduction of these curves can lead (and often does) to disc pain & injuries, and degenerative disc disease!

At Pilates Santé, we always begin with a postural assessment from either a trained Pilates Instructor or Physical Therapist. Once the type of postural malalignment is determined, the instructor can address the muscles tightness, weakness, joint restrictions, and proprioceptive (sense of position) deficits contributing to the poor posture.

The pilates based exercise repertoire has an enormous variety of exercises to choose from in order to make postural improvements. If you have questions about your posture, or would like a postural assessment, please feel free to ask your pilates instructor or therapist!

​Very warmly,
Ariel Lehaitre PT
Pilates Sante founder/owner

Many of us with low back pain have been told by our doctors or therapists to strengthen our core. But what does that mean exactly? Is the core purely our abdominal muscles? And how exactly do our abdominal muscles help our back from hurting?

The core is not just our abdominal muscles, but rather our entire torso! Our core encompasses our pelvis all the way to our rib cage. Our core is a cylinder of sorts, creating a support system around all sides of our body.

The specific muscles that make up our core, include our 

• gluteal or buttock muscles 
  
• low back muscles 
  
• lower transverse abdominus 
  
• rectus abdominus 
  
• oblique muscles
  
• and pelvic floor muscles

​These muscles when working together and properly, decrease load on our low back which decreases associated pain and symptoms. However when we have low back pain, we often struggle to engage our core effectively or efficiently. Hence, we can benefit from the instruction and cueing from our pilates instructors during specific focused core exercises on both the mat and pilates equipment! Studies show plenty of repetition and practice, 5-6 days per week ideally, of therapeutic core exercises are needed to reap the benefit. However, the reward of manageable or minimal symptoms with a chronic low back condition is significant!

Here are a few of our videos demonstrating therapeutic core exercises:

​If you have any questions about your home core exercises, please don’t hesitate to ask your instructor for assistance. If your exercises begin to feel easy, please inquire about core exercise progressions as well!

Thank you so much for trusting us with your care.

Warmly,
Ariel
Pilates Sante owner/founder