Pilates Exercises are great for back pain. Why? Because they are easy and they are effective. They are effective because they focus on the small muscles that support the spine. During episodes of back pain these small muscles stop working. Pilates wakes them back up again.

You have low back pain. An exercise isn't going to change that fact a whole lot for today. But an exercise (or quite preferably a series of exercises) may change your pain level for tomorrow and for next week and for next month.

Speaking on my personal experiences, I am in a lot less pain today than I was a year ago.

Overall, my back pain was less in my 30's than in my 20's (except for that nasty surgery at 39--icky, icky, icky) and I fully expect as I embark on my 40's that my 40's will be even more pain free than my 30's. Here's how back pain works. You are in pain. Usually the pain is from a spasm of some large muscles (erector spinae of the spine for example) that are trying to brace you.

That's right the muscles are actually trying to help you by bracing (read: spasm) you into a position that will prevent further injury. Think of it as a body cast from the inside. Not a bad self-preservation tool that our bodies have, huh?

The not-so-great thing about this self-preservation tool is that it can create further weakness and then further bracing of adjoining muscle areas. Just because a muscles is tight and in spasm doesn't mean it is strong. It usually means quite the opposite. The large muscle that is spasming becomes weak and the smaller muscles that generally support a joint totally begin to drop out. So big muscles are in spasm and weak and little muscles have gone to sleep. yikes. It's a combo that leads to a vicious circle of more pain and more weakness. Your job is to stop that cycle.

You'll need to build up to about 7 -12 exercises that you can do on a regular basis.

Here's the first one.

I'll add a new one every week along with my other posts for job security. Does every Pilates instructor love to bake or is it just me? I have this 'self-preserving' instinct to fill people with calories so they have to exercise. :-)

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