Learn how to safely regain inner core strength by attending to a KX Pilates Dee Why. When you’ve suffered the setback of a sporting injury, taking up pilates might not seem like the obvious next step. But there’s more to the popular fitness technique than toning up women’s pelvic floor muscles – and an increasing number of physical therapists are incorporating it into their rehabilitation programmes.

The idea is nothing new: German born Joseph Pilates began developing the discipline while interned in Britain during World War I as a form of rehabilitation for injured soldiers. Over recent decades, it has been adapted as a popular form of low-impact exercise, with its emphasis on building core strength to improve posture, flexibility and mental awareness – and is often aligned with that other low-impact stalwart, yoga. But the therapeutic roots of pilates have not been forgotten. Today, the likes of top-class rugby players and Olympic athletes are turning to the method to help manage the recovery process after injury.

We asked two pilates experts to explain how the technique works as a form of rehabilitation and how it measures up against more traditional forms of physical therapy.

Why pilates?

“Pilates considers the body as a whole rather than just the area you may have injured,” says Ruth Smith, Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Head of ilates at Pure Sports Medicine.

“This offers a number of benefits: it helps to regain strength, control and smooth movement in the area affected as well as addressing muscle imbalance, weakness or altered movement patterns, which may have caused or contributed to the injury.”

You could even end up in better condition than before your injury occurred, she adds: “Pilates also increases your overall strength, control and coordination of movement to allow you to return to sport stronger, faster, fitter and more resilient than before your injury.”

Another key benefit of the technique is that it addresses the root cause of many injuries. “Injury can often be caused by poor postural alignment – how you stand, sit at your desk, walk, drive your car, run, play sport etc.,” says Harri Angell, Pilates instructor and author of Pilates For Runners. “Pilates can remedy this by teaching body awareness while providing a calm and healing downtime.”

How does it work?

“Injuries can be caused by a weakness or imbalance,” says Angell. “Pilates exercises redress the balance. For example, a back injury might have occurred due to some weak core muscles (tummy and pelvic-floor muscles) so by focusing on strengthening these muscles, which support the back, the injury will heal and hopefully never reoccur.”

Pilates is also sensitive to the vulnerability of the injured area, points out Smith: “Working with a pilates instructor allows you to maintain and improve mobility, strength and movement patterns in the rest of your body without putting your injured area at risk; it also helps to reduce pain levels which can be barrier to recovery.”

Can pilates help to prevent injuries, too?

Most sports activities involve repetitive movements, which can put strain on the areas involved – particularly if poor posture has been adopted. And this is where pilates comes in.

“Rehab pilates instructors are experts in movement analysis. Whether it is your running or walking gait, your swimming stroke or your golf swing, the pilates approach can identify areas of muscle imbalance which, over time could lead to injury,” says Smith.

“Many of the injuries we see in the clinic are from overloading certain areas of the body with repetitive movements where even the smallest altered movement patterns have the potential to cause pain,” she adds. “Training these smaller, deeper-control muscles increases the effectiveness of the larger-movement muscles, increasing overall strength, sports performance and resilience to injury.”

Before you start…

Rocking up to your local pilates studio and joining a drop-in class is not best advised when you’re dealing with an injury. It’s essential to get the right professional guidance before you start.

“Ensure your injury is fully assessed by a medical professional – this may be a sports doctor, physiotherapist, osteopath or GP to get the correct diagnosis early on,” advises Smith. “The best way to manage an injury is with an integrated team of sport and exercise medicine specialists, exactly as a professional sportsperson would do. This gives you the benefit of – where appropriate – medical treatment, physiotherapy, massage, pilates input, and more, at the right time for you and your injury.”

Angell agrees that team communication is key: “The pilates instructor needs to know the diagnosis and may also need to take advice from the medical professional you’ve consulted. Some exercises might not be suitable while in the first stages of rehab and so will need to be adapted.”

Whether you’re recovering from an injury or would like to strengthen an area of your body to prevent one, pilates is a great exercise technique to have in your arsenal.

Florianopolis is an island in south Brazil with 42 different beaches. Most Florianopolis beaches are very beautiful and many of them have great surf. This article gives a brief overview of each surfing beach including its name, overall rating for surf, the direction of the surf break, and the type of surf break, such as beach break, point break, river mouth, etc. Surfing app are like any other realm of apps out there.

PRAIA MOLE SURF BEACH

Anyone who has visited Florianopolis knows that Praia Mole beach is the best year-round location on the island. Literally translated, “Praia Mole” means “soft beach” and is named so due to its extremely soft and deep sand. Praia Mole beach is centrally & conveniently located on the east coast of the island and is popular for its abundant beautiful people and great surfing. It is also popular because of its convenient location, being the nearest beach to the town of Lagoa da Conceicao, where you will find a majority of the island’s bars, restaurants, grocery stores, gift shops, and year-round nightlife.

The surf on Praia Mole is known as being stronger than most other beaches, which suits the surfers just fine but can be dangerous for inexperienced swimmers during days with large surf. Surf can range anywhere from 0 feet to 20 foot faces during the winter months. For weak swimmers and children, the north end of the beach offers a protected cove where the water is always calm and swimming is safe even on some of the largest days of surf. On the beach at Praia Mole, you’ll find a volley ball net, a juice bar, a VIP lounge area, and 6 different restaurants that double as beach bars. During the summer months (Dec – Feb) these bars will either have a live DJ or loud music because Brazilians love to dance wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself. There always seems to be some action going on at Praia Mole beach.

JOAQUINA SURF BEACH

Joaquina beach (just south of Praia Mole) is one of the best surfing beaches on Florianopolis island and is often the location of the annual WCT surfing championship. The area surrounding Juaquina beach is environmentally protected sand dunes so there is no housing near the beach but it isn’t far from Praia Mole so this isn’t an issue. This beach is not very beautiful since it is surrounded by nothing but sand dunes and lots of tour buses who drop off visitors from the interior by the hundreds. However, the surf is great, especially during large swells. This is one of the few beach breaks that holds a large swell very well. When the surf is big, it peels left off the northern point.

GALHETA SURF BEACH

Galheta beach just north of Praia Mole, is also a great surf spot and much less crowded than other surf breaks since there are no access roads to it but it’s just a 10-minute walk on the beach from Praia Mole.

PRAIA BRAVA BEACH

Praia Brava is located on the north end of Florianopolis island and the surf is comparable to Praia Mole. Translated, Praia Brava means “furious beach” most likely due to the frequently big and rough surf. This beach is a good 1-hour drive from Praia Mole and downtown Centro, which means it’s on the outskirts of the island and not a convenient location for vacationers. However, if you’re a surfer looking to hit some different surf spots, this spot will suit you well during a nice swell. This beach is not surrounded by jungle and wildlife preserve like most other Florianopolis beaches. Instead, it is packed with tons of hotels and condo complexes. Unfortunately, this area becomes deserted outside December, January, and February (peak summer months) because it is simply too far away from most of the islands nightlife, shopping malls, and restaurants.

FLORIANOPOLIS SURF RATINGS

Following are most of the surf beaches on the island of Florianopolis, Brazil. This should help you when planning your Florianopolis surf vacation.

Beach, Star Rating, Direction of Break, Type of Break

– Armacao, 2, right & left, Beach Break

– Barra Da Lagoa, 2, right & left, Beach Break

– Boca da Barra, 3, right & left, rivermouth

– Caldeirao, 3, left, beach break

– Campeche Rights, 4, Right, beach break

– Canasvieiras, 3, right, sand bar

– Galheta, 3, right & left, sand bar

– Ingleses, 2, right & left, beach break

– Joaquina, 4, right & left, sand bar

– Lagoinha do Leste, 4, right & left, beach break

– Lambe Lambe, 4, right, point break

– Matadeiro, 3, right & left, beach break

– Mocambique, 3, right & left, beach break

– Morro das Pedras, 2, right & left, sand bar

– Naufragados, 5, right, beach break

– Ponta Do Rapa, 4, right, beach break

– Praia Brava, 3, right & left, beach break

– Praia do Forte, 3, right, point break

– Praia Mole, 3, right & left, beach break

– Riozinho, 5, right & left, beach break

– Santinho, 3, right & left, beach break

Don Guy lives in Florianopolis 6 months a year and owns a vacation rental on Praia Mole beach in Florianopolis Brazil. He’s also co-founder of HomesForSale.net, which helps homebuyers connect with realtors and find homes for sale. Don knows Florianopolis island well and enjoys helping others plan their Florianopolis vacation.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Don_Guy/249490

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1682713