Pilates for Fibromyalgia & Multiple Sclerosis

Fibromyalgia

Taken from "Pilates for Fibromyalgia"-AltMD.com

"Pilates can help maintain quality of life and the ability to perform daily activities of fibromyalgia sufferers through improvements in flexibility, strength and tone, functional use of joints, and body awareness. Specific Pilates movements incorporate safe stretching with resistance work to help improve flexibility and reduce the chance of injury to tight muscles. It increases muscle strength and tone without increasing bulk. Improvements in strength and flexibility can also improve the functional and proper use of joints. Pilates is as much a practice in mind-body awareness as a resistance and endurance training method. Being aware of how one moves and where the joints and limbs are in space improves coordination and balance."

Multiple Sclerosis

Taken from "Review: Pilates"- ActiveMSers.com

"One of the most popular exercise buzzwords over the past several years has to be Pilates. The now popular exercise program started in the early 1900s, when a young man named Joseph Pilates rigged up springs to hospital beds to help bedridden patients exercise. His rehabilitation program evolved over the years, helping everyone from professional athletes to the disabled. Today more than 10 million people practice Pilates, including a number of MSers.

What makes it so popular in the MS community? Pilates focuses on core muscles--muscles in the center of the body like deep abdominals and muscles around the spine--that are important for overall stability and balance, common problem areas in multiple sclerosis. Pilates also builds strength (without bulk), teaches body awareness (great for those MSers with numbness), promotes good posture, and improves muscle elasticity and joint mobility (stiffness anyone?)."