By Kirsty Grice-Venour on Monday, November 26, 2001 - 06:54 am:

Hi There! I suffer from Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome. It's great to find a place like this where I can get in touch with sufferers of similar conditions.I never knew it existed! My knees are the worst, I spent a great deal of last year on crutches due to my right one not being strong enough to hold me.Anyhow, I have been advised to take up Pilates, to increase the strength of my joints. Has anybody else done this? What were the results?
Thanks, Kirsty (19)

By Beth Fairfield (Beth) on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 08:26 pm:

Never heard of Pilates. What is it?

Hugs
Beth

By Ian North on Saturday, December 01, 2001 - 01:19 am:

The Pilates Method is a conditioning program that is advertised as improving muscle control, flexibility, coordination, strength and tone. A person with joint hyper mobility needs to have excellent muscle tone to try to control the joints. The Pilates programme is one of numerous conditioning programmes that are marketed. The essential points to remember are that a hyper mobile must not become over weight; must not do jarring exercise and must keep good muscle tone.

By Beth Fairfield (Beth) on Saturday, December 01, 2001 - 02:25 am:

I see. Sounds like it could work if done right.

Hugs Beth

By Tammy Yount on Saturday, January 12, 2002 - 06:12 pm:

Hello, I've recently been diagnosed with HMS. My physical therapist warned me not to do the Pilates program. I don't remember the exact reason why, but he was very adamant about avoiding that exercise program. Besides my regular core stability exercises, he suggested swimming and biking. - Just wanted to let you know.

By suzanne Ralf on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 10:06 am:

hi there,

The reason the physio advised not doing pilates is because of the link to improving flexibility, something BJHMS sufferers don't need. This is like Yoga. I have recently been told by my physio that my back pain is caused by hypermobile joints and this was probably triggered by Yoga.

Suzanne

By Cathy on Friday, January 24, 2003 - 08:50 am:

I think your physio may be confused between yoga and pilates... they are not the same thing... my BJHS was triggered by jogging, step-aerobics and yoga, not to mention years of gymnastics and cheerleading, but I have done pilates over the last two years and it is the only thing that has helped! It is not about flexibility or stretching at all, it has to do with strengthening the transverse abdominals and your pelvic floor in order to better support the back.
Good luck!

By Ian on Friday, January 24, 2003 - 10:59 am:

Cathy -
You are correct about strengthening exercises. The problem with hyper mobile joints is that they have inadequately control and the muscles have to work much harder to maintain control and prevent dislocation.
Harsh exercise is a disaster (Jogging, gymnastics etc) but muscle strengthening is essential and Pilates is one way of achieving this.

By Margreth on Monday, January 27, 2003 - 07:30 am:

When you are hypermobile you do not need to improve your flexibility, but there are some specialist who say it is wise to maintain your natural range of motion. I think Pilates aims at that.

By Lee on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 08:19 am:

I have been doing private reformer pilates training now for about a year (2x a week). I think there are aspects of it that do emhpasize stretching... though always in a stablized fashion. It's a "strengthen while you lenghthen" type philosophy. I have achieved benefit on my lumbar spine with the training... with the si joints popping out less...but I may have injured m neck/shoulders in the process. It has been the best stabilization results I've had on the lumbar- but as always.. we have to be very careful about vulnerable or weak areas as we exercise. Ii never had neck or shoulder/jaw pain before... and am not sure if it surfaced as a result of the pilates training... I love the Pilates work though..and have not given it up - despite my new pain syndrome (which is very distressing).

Would be interested in any more insight on Pilates for hypermobility. I think it would be key to tell your trainer that you want to stabilze - and stregnthen... Stretching being the last priority. Be well..Lee

By Lee on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 08:30 am:

One other thing I should mention.... There is a HUGE difference between taking a "Mat Pilates" class - and doing private training with a solid teacher - on the Reformer equipment. Please recognize that MAT classes are NOT the way to go for us "hypermobile" folks. The MAT work does not provide any support systems to ensure stability during the work. It relies soley on your body's ability to do this. On the other hand, working with a certified trainer on the equipment provies TONS of this. The equipment works on a system of springs and pulleys which lend a great deal of "built-in" stability to the exercises. A good trainer watches you like a hawk - so that your form (neutral spine etc.) is perfect and you are recruiting the muscle strength from where you should be. MAT work is much more challenging - and should not be embarked on till you are very well conditioned and understand all the principles of the pilates work... Be well... Lee

By Lee on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 08:30 am:

One other thing I should mention.... There is a HUGE difference between taking a "Mat Pilates" class - and doing private training with a solid teacher - on the Reformer equipment. Please recognize that MAT classes are NOT the way to go for us "hypermobile" folks. The MAT work does not provide any support systems to ensure stability during the work. It relies soley on your body's ability to do this. On the other hand, working with a certified trainer on the equipment provies TONS of this. The equipment works on a system of springs and pulleys which lend a great deal of "built-in" stability to the exercises. A good trainer watches you like a hawk - so that your form (neutral spine etc.) is perfect and you are recruiting the muscle strength from where you should be. MAT work is much more challenging - and should not be embarked on till you are very well conditioned and understand all the principles of the pilates work... Be well... Lee

By Mel on Friday, January 31, 2003 - 08:11 am:

I don't know much about Pilates even though I plan to learn more. However, you should know that there are many forms of Yoga and they do not all do similar things and cause similar effects. The only exercise program I have ever found to address my shoulder hypermobility and manage my back pain is Ashtanga Yoga. It does not have increasing flexibility as a primary goal, but instead attempts to blend strength, flexibility and aerobic capacity training. To me the most important aspect is that is improved the "dynamic" stability of my shoulders rather than static stability.
Maybe you know what I mean, but the kind of training I had previously had from physical therapy would improve the strenght of a specific muscle or a specific kind of movement (using a single muscle). But I still would find it extremely hard to do something like reaching out and opening a heavy door because it involved using a combination of muscles and transitioning the effort from one group of muscles to the the other in a seamless sequence. I found that Ashtanga gave me that "flow" much better. Ashtanga is more popularly known as power yoga, but to complicate matters, lots of teachers of power yoga are not really teaching Ashtanga, but a modified version of some other form like Hatha, etc.
As a caveat I have no real scientific basis for anything I am saying except for my personal experience. Also, I have never really had a formal teacher for Ashtanga, I learned from a book and have attended a few weekend workshops.

By Rosemary Small on Sunday, June 15, 2003 - 08:01 pm:

I have been taking Pilates lessons in Portland Oregon for almost a year. We work slowly to increase muscle strength, balance and control always, always within a reasonable range of motion. The stability of my ribs, shoulder blades, SI joints and feet have increased substantially. I can now walk upright and put my feet one in front of the other instead of doing the side by side shuffle as the many muscles girding the hip joint are so much stronger. I still slip and slide but my confidence level is way up. The reformer, cadillac and other equipment are wonderful if you have a good experienced teacher who watches you like a hawk to see you are doing the movements just right. A good teacher can also teach you a mat routine that's good for you. (I do not do any exercises requiring rolling or sitting on my tailbone, which is a horribly mobile pest) Progress is slow but worth it. Avoid group sessions at the Y or health club, you need private or semi private lessons(two people at most) until both you and the teacher understands your structural peculiarities.