About Clinical Pilates
Clinical Pilates is a form of exercise-based rehabilitation that combines the principles of Pilates with the clinical knowledge and assessment skills of a healthcare professional.
At The Courtyard Clinic, Clinical Pilates is delivered on a one-to-one basis by Annie, a qualified Osteopath with additional Clinical Pilates training. Sessions are individually tailored to your body, your symptoms, your goals, and your current level of fitness and function. Unlike a traditional Pilates class, Clinical Pilates is guided by clinical assessment and reasoning. Every exercise is selected for a specific purpose and adapted to suit the individual in front of us.
Whether you are recovering from an injury, managing ongoing aches and pains, returning to exercise, looking to improve sporting performance, or simply wanting to move better and feel stronger, Clinical Pilates can help you build confidence in your body and improve the way you move.
Clinical Pilates vs Traditional Pilates Classes
Many people are familiar with Pilates classes offered in gyms, leisure centres, and fitness studios. These classes can be an excellent way to improve strength, flexibility, balance, and general fitness. However, group classes are designed to accommodate multiple people at the same time. Whilst instructors may offer modifications, they are not able to continuously assess and tailor every exercise to each individual participant.
Clinical Pilates takes a different approach. Your first session includes a detailed assessment of your symptoms, medical history, movement patterns, posture, strength, flexibility, and functional goals. This allows us to identify specific areas of weakness, stiffness, poor movement control, or compensatory movement patterns that may be contributing to your symptoms. From there, a personalised programme is developed specifically for you.
During each session, Annie works closely with you to ensure exercises are performed correctly, providing continuous feedback and adjustments to improve movement quality, muscle activation, posture, and control. Rather than following a generic class programme, every exercise is chosen because it relates directly to your needs and goals.
Who Can Benefit From Clinical Pilates?
- Are recovering from injury
- Experience recurring back, neck, shoulder, hip, or knee pain
- Want to improve posture
- Feel stiff or restricted in their movement
- Are returning to exercise after a period of inactivity
- Want to improve balance and coordination
- Wish to reduce the risk of future injuries
- Want to improve sporting performance
- Are looking to build strength and confidence in movement
What Happens During a Session?
- Breathing control
- Core stability
- Postural awareness
- Rib cage positioning
- Shoulder control
- Head and neck positioning
- Balance and coordination
- Whole-body movement patterns
