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I tried pilates to cure my bad back - here's what happened next

Joe Shute, Daily Telegraph, 24 July 2017

On a Friday afternoon around this time last year, I pressed send on the weekly weather column I write for the Telegraph and leant back in my office chair to notice a curious burning in my shoulder that stretched all the way down to the elbow. I dismissed it as nothing more than a mutated version of the typical aches and pains any writer gets after a long spell in front of a screen.

It was only when I was cycling home that evening and discovered I couldn’t lift my neck properly to assess the oncoming traffic that I realised there might be a more serious problem.
The next morning I woke up with a right shoulder that had seized up so badly overnight that it was clamped against my chin in the manner of Lurch from the Addams Family. The eventual diagnosis was a slipped disc between the C5 and C6 vertebrae in the cervical spine. I was in agony and to compound matters due to get married the following month.
My physio told me if I was to sort myself out in time, avoid surgery, and ensure that the same thing didn’t happen again, it was time to start making some major changes. If I didn’t, she warned, I might no longer be able to do the thing that I love the most (after my wife): write.

And so I embarked on the long and – often painful – path that 12 months later has brought me to a mat in an upstairs studio of the Light Centre in Belgravia, being urged by my instructor Sam Webster to perfect a mermaid stretch and trying not to whimper about the ache in my hamstrings.
For I am now a pilates man. And I am not alone.

As ever more of us sit down and stare at screens for a living, back pain is becoming the great leveller of our age. Humans are evolved to move, twist, bend and roam, not sit hunched in an office chair for 12 hours a day.
In the technological era we have moved from a species that is dependent on our bodies to our brains. And the damage we are doing to ourselves in the process is profound.

The latest Health and Safety Executive figures show nearly 10 million working days are lost each year for adults aged 25-64 due to back paincosting the UK economy some £12bn a year. Around 80 per cent of us will suffer from back pain at some point in our lives. 
It is men aged between 45 and 54 who are deemed most at risk of developing problems, an age bracket that is creeping down all the time.
I am 32 and have always been reasonably physically fit but my physio tells me she is increasingly seeing people my age with degenerative conditions a decade earlier than they would typically have been afflicted a generation ago.
Pilates and its close relative yoga (the former is a western invention that focuses on strength and the latter an eastern one that places greater value on flexibility) are increasingly seen as crucial weapons in the war against back pain.

Accordingly despite being an activity traditionally perceived as restricted to women, ever more men are now taking up pilates. Not even necessarily as a hobby, fun though it is, rather a necessary tool of keeping going in their lives.
The 2016 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the management of back pain recognises a combination of approaches often works best - exercise, psychological therapies as well as manipulative therapy. This ties in with a new authoritative study published in the US this month, which proved regular yoga classes relieves lower back pain as effectively as physiotherapy.

I consult a few of my fellow male attendees at the Light Centre and hear stories remarkably similar to my own. Nick Medd, 54, is a former banker for HSBC and nowadays works as a head-hunter. The married father of three says his back pain struck in his early 40s, at a time when he was sitting at his desk for 12 hours a day.
“I went to see an osteopath who just told me I was spending my whole life sitting down and if I wanted to continue to work I had to change my lifestyle. I would sit on the train to work be at a desk or otherwise be on a flight. My wife told me to start standing on the commute in from Basingstoke but it didn’t make a difference.”

Instead he started pilates and now attends classes two or three times a week in between work. He thinks it would be far better if businesses encouraged their staff to take up pilates to prevent back problems before they emerge. “The benefits to me are so obvious,” he says.

Pilates was, in fact, the invention of a man. The early 20th century German pioneer Joseph Pilates patented the technique of using control of the body to strengthen and condition it. The concept also owes something to the "medical gymnastics" developed in 1813 by Per Henrik Ling, a Swedish fencing master and romantic novelist.
It focuses largely on breathing and developing core strength. I realised how seriously this was something I lacked in my first class when a mass of cramp formed in my gluteus maximus sending shockwaves down to my calf. I leapt up from the mat yelping in pain, much to the amusement of my fellow classmates
That was in a local leisure centre where I am often the only man out of 20 women in the room. In my experience the more expensive classes in the city tend to be more mixed sex affairs.

I supplement these occasional pilates classes with my own stretches in the morning and night, and as regularly as I can during the day as well.
So what differences have I noticed? Firstly, my posture. I stand far straighter than I used to and sit better, too. My body feels stronger, and I have developed small bulges of muscle around the shoulder blades where there was none before. I still can’t touch my toes - and on busy writing weeks feel occasional stabs of pain in my shoulders – but I am getting there.

Pilates focuses on the deep postural muscles, under the abdominals. The author Martin Amis, another devotee, described the strengthening effects as while not sufficient to make his gut disappear, certainly enough to enable him to suck it in when an attractive woman walks by on the beach.
He also once neatly surmised what pilates had done for him. "I stopped groaning," he said. "When I get out of the car now, I don't go arrggghhh."
And for us devotees that, quite simply, is what it is all about.

Why people find it hard to give up pilates

The recession means that people cut back on lattes - but we find it a lot harder to give up pilates.

By Maria Fitzpatrick, Telegraph, 26 Oct 2011

The nation may have cut back on its latte habit since the big squeeze began, but one addiction – Pilates – is proving harder to give up.

“It’s a very strange thing; we were genuinely expecting classes to dip, but we’re busier than ever,” says Lynne Robinson, founder of the Body Control Pilates empire and one of the UK’s foremost experts. “People are telling us that they’re going without treats like a pedicure or blow-dry, but keeping their Pilates class because it makes them feel so good it’s difficult to live without.”

For those who haven’t had their heads turned by it yet, Pilates is a gentle form of exercise that focuses on controlling the deep muscles that form the body’s “core”. The principle is that everything, from stability to muscle tone, strength to posture, is governed by a cylindrical “centre”, that runs from the navel to the pubic bone, comprising the diaphragm, spine, back muscles, abdominals and pelvic floor muscles.

“It’s a very thoughtful, precise process where you don’t make any careless movements,” Lynne explains, “so you tend to need fewer 'repetitions’ to get results.”

Lynne, who teaches clients ranging from the fabulous (model-turned-foodie Sophie Dahl) to football teams (Chelsea), believes it’s a much-needed psychological (as well as physical) support right now.

“There’s this sense that you may not be able to control your bank balance, but your body is one aspect you can control. We’re all realising we’re going to have to work harder for longer – forget early retirement – so to survive in this climate, we need to be as fit and healthy as possible. It’s a sensible investment, like health insurance, but one that is in itself a powerful way to de-stress.”

One of Pilates’ main aims is to “lengthen you out” – a major factor when so many of us are working long hours, hunched over computers or smart phones in what Lynne calls “a collapsed 'C’ shape”, which compresses the discs and joints.

It’s also a good exercise option for all ages because it’s gentle, supportive and all the movements are done in a controlled way, so it doesn’t stress the joints.

“I hope I’ll be doing it into my nineties,” Lynne says. “I think it should be taught in schools; we’d have far fewer people in hospitals if everyone learnt the basics.

“It can be a bit tricky to get your head around the concept, so some people are suspicious of it, but with a good teacher, many are hooked from their first try.”

“Realistically, not many people have the time or money for three classes a week. You only need about five classes to understand the elements, but then I’d advise people to have a top-up class as often as they can afford, to make sure they’re getting the techniques right, and then practise as much as possible at home using books or DVDs. After all, Pilates is ultimately about empowering people to move correctly on their own.”

Balancing the body: how Pilates heals

Acrobat Suzy Barton nearly died when she fell 20ft during a show. But Pilates got her back on her feet – and now she's helping others to do the same. 

By Sophie Morris, The Independent, 28 October 2008 

One moment Suzy Barton was sailing through the air in the Millennium Dome, suspended from a giant helium balloon to perform a tricky aerial stunt for the delight of the crowds below. The next she was plummeting towards the Dome's concrete floor. "As a gymnast you think you can somersault your way out of anything," she says. Instead she hit the ground within seconds, shattering her left foot and much of her right, smashing her pelvis, breaking her back in several places and narrowly escaping death.

"With the helium balloon, you have this feeling of weightlessness," she says, eight years after the accident in 2000. "But when the pins came away I went down like a ton of bricks. I hit the floor almost instantly. I landed on the balls of my feet, folded over the harness and slapped the floor. I actually heard my pelvis smash."

Despite the extent of her injuries, Barton knew at the time that it could have been much worse. The act involved flying between a number of high walkways and towers, and the accident occurred at the beginning of her performance. They were running late because the harness had been changed for a new one between shows, and it was a rush to get Barton ready to go. So they decided to skip the first high bridge she was to dive from, and to start from a more modest height instead. Her first, gentle flight passed without a hitch, but a sudden pull upwards from the balloon proved too much for the faulty harness. The pins holding her in place were tugged out of their sockets and she was no longer supported by the balloon. "Luckily I was upright," she says. "If I had been somersaulting I could have come down on my head." The other stroke of luck, if it can be considered luck, was that Barton fell six metres. The immense canvas of what is now the O2 Arena reaches up to a height of 35 metres. 

Barton was trapped inside the tight corset of the harness, and after her feet crumbled, her body snapped shut like a clam shell. "Your subconscious behaves weirdly in these situations," she says. "I kind of knew I was screaming, and then my head thought, 'OK, this isn't helping. Shut up.'" She propped herself on to her side, still spliced almost in two by the restrictive corset. 

Anyone listening in to Barton's remarkable story, here in the bar of a west London health club, would have difficulty believing it. Her tiny frame looks in peak physical condition, as you would expect from someone whose body is their work. Barton used Pilates to aid her recovery from the horrific injuries and is now a teacher, drawing on her own trauma to help rehabilitate other people who have sustained major injuries. Amazingly, she'd only had one other accident in a 16-year career, when she broke her ankle at the end of a two-year run travelling around the US with the Barnum and Bailey circus. 

After the accident at the Dome, she was rushed to the nearest accident and emergency. She was given x-rays and MRI scans and learnt she faced at least two months in hospital. Soon she was transferred to St Thomas's in central London, where the foot specialist Mark Davies set about piecing her fractured feet back together. Of 26 bones in each foot, Barton had about 19 breaks in her left foot and another handful in her right. "I did think, 'Why aren't I wearing trainers?'" she recalls. She was in constant pain for three years following the accident; high-impact activities are still out of the question. "The ends of every bone were smashed apart. I have no covering of cartilage on any of them. If I jump, I land straight on to the bone."

It's a miracle she can walk at all. After two months in hospital she went home, but was practically housebound, still unable to bear her weight on her feet. A supportive boyfriend and friends and family got her through those first months. "It was a slow process. Even going out to the pub was a no-no. It changed my life a lot because I used to have an active social life and be really sporty. I was very frustrated. I got tired really easily and felt shattered all the time."

She was also at the top of her career game, had six months of future work planned and had started getting into choreography. "Because I've worked all my life since I was 16, I even felt guilty for lying around and doing nothing. I had six months of not being able to do very much and it was quite tough. But it was best to stay in. If I went out and fell over, I would land on my bottom. My pelvis was so sore, and I couldn't jerk my back to stand myself up." Despite the constant pain, which she describes as "nagging background pain, like a toothache", Barton's body rejected strong painkillers like morphine and codeine, so she made do with paracetamol. 

The breakthrough came after regular physiotherapy and 10 sessions of hydrotherapy, which finally got her left foot moving and able to bear weight. "After that, I got my confidence back," she says. She joined the Pilates studio at her friend's physiotherapy practice, started swimming and joined a gym – anything to get strong again. 

Barton is strikingly positive, and says she has never been depressed, but she did have some counselling to exorcise her anger. Had the harness been properly welded, she might still be performing today, instead of relying on the £510,000 compensation payout – the biggest to a UK performer in history – to pay her ongoing medical bills. She has never been back to the O2, but has flashbacks to the accident. Two years ago she stayed in a hotel with a glass lift that made her incredibly anxious. "I felt panicked all holiday, but it was just part of dealing with the trauma."

Ultimately Barton's accident led to the end of her relationship. She and her former boyfriend remain close friends, but her injuries meant they developed in different directions: he stayed social and active, while she had to build a new life. 

In 2002, she signed up to a Pilates teacher-training course. Her own experiences of chronic pain help her to empathise with clients; but her amazing success in rebuilding her body masks the long-term consequences of the accident. She has frequent joint problems and is worried about arthritis, her long-term medical prognosis. "There are always going to be issues," she says. "I am never going to be the person I was 10 years ago. I loved performing, and hearing the audiences gasp when you first appeared was a real high, but I feel that Pilates has helped me grow in a really positive way. I get something back from the people I help."

A Guide to Pilates 

• Pilates is a method of maintaining physical fitness through performing a series of postures that focus on the body's "powerhouse" – the abdomen, lower back, hips and bum. It addresses posture and postural balance, and works at muscle tone. 

• It was developed by Joseph Pilates during the First World War, to rehabilitate returning veterans and work on their mental as well as physical health. He ran a studio in New York during the 1960s frequented by dancers and actors who were devotees of his techniques.

• The "Pilates Principles" condition the entire body through proper alignment, centering, concentration, control, precision, breathing and flowing movement. The ultimate aim is for the mind to correct physical imbalances as the body moves unconsciously, by training the mind to work with the body and to carry it correctly. 

• Celebrities who use Pilates include Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Madonna, and even Martin Amis, John Cleese and Ian McKellen. Belinda Carlisle believes that she has grown over two and a half inches in height thanks to eight years of Pilates. 

• One million Brits swear by Pilates, but trouble is brewing between the couple who brought it to the UK, Lynne Robinson and Gordon Thompson, of Body Control Pilates. The pair have sold 4 million books and DVDs, but Robinson now wants to oust Thompson, who wants to promote the use of Pilates machines; Body Control advocates matwork. 

Celebrity devotees:
Testimonials from some famous devotees...

The list of celebrities who do Pilates is almost endless, from Liz Hurley, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna to Martin Amis, John Cleese and Ian McKellen. It would almost be quicker to compile a list of celebrities who don’t do Pilates.

Here is what some of them of them say about it: 

'I have been going for 13 years... How do I measure the success of Pilates? Certainly, I emerge with a tremendous sense of wellbeing, and even if I do call at the coffee shop for a croissant afterwards, I still feel my health has been served. I remain active and relatively agile.’
Joan Bakewell, writer and broadcaster, on the secret of her health and agility at the age of 70 - from an article in The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1343883,00.html

'These [Pilates] exercises are really very necessary when you do a lot of sitting… They keep you flexible enough to pull on your socks as you get older… When I get out of the car now, I don't go arrggghhh…'
Martin Amis, novelist and twice-a-week Pilates devotee 

'I do Pilates four or five times a week. The benefits are subtle, but it increases your flexibility and really tones you up. It also straightens your spine and improves your posture. In the past eight years, I've grown more than two and a half inches (6cm). I am 5ft 7ins (1.70m) and I am very pleased with that.' 
Belinda Carlisle, singer and pop icon 

'Now I have muscles of steel and could easily deal with giving birth.'
Hugh Grant, actor and film star 

'I have done every diet in the book over the years. What made the big difference was the exercise. Now I do a lot of walking, Pilates and some running and swimming.'
Lorraine Kelly, breakfast TV presenter 

'I'm a Pilates person. It's great. I had a hip problem. I had a chronic back, a pinched nerve and a hip problem and it's completely solved all of it. I love it. It makes me feel like I'm taller.' 
Jennifer Anniston, TV and movie star 

'I've been using Pilates for many years. It's the best system I've found for isolating and strengthening individual muscles without stress to the joints.'
Patrick Swayze, movie star 

'Pilates is the only exercise programme that has changed my body and made me feel great.'
Jamie Lee Curtis, movie star 

'What do I like most about Pilates? 'The fact that I can really feel my body working. I might do 250 crunches but my body is so used to them that I don't really feel them. With Pilates, I can really feel [my abdominals] even if I only do six or 12 repetitions.'
Joan Collins, actress and writer, who first started doing Pilates over 20 years ago.

'You have turned me into a Ferrari; my husband thanks you.'
Ruby Wax, actress, writer and TV personality, to her Pilates teacher 

'It helps with a lot of injury prevention. I'd recommend it to anyone.' 
Elena Baltacha, British tennis player 

'Athers suggested I try daily Pilates exercises. He swore by them.'
Andrew Flintoff, England fast bowler, on the advice he got from Mike Atherton, former England cricket captain, on how to tackle his back problems. Flintoff took the advice and was soon back to fitness and form. 

'Lying down doing breathing exercises for one and a half hours a day is not easy. But I believe it is making a difference.'
Seve Ballesteros, the Spanish golfer with a chronic back problem 

'I don't like to waste time. I want to spend it doing the best possible thing for me. Pilates has given me the greatest returns. It sucks your butt up, tones the legs and shoulders. Nothing else gives you definition like it.'
Lucy Lawless, best-known for portraying Xena, Warrior Princess fame 

'Pilates is not just for the fit. It is wonderful for injuries. My damaged shoulder was taken in hand, special exercises prescribed, attentive care always available. A younger member of our group recently had a hip operation and Pilates helped her recovery; another broke a leg and arrived for classes encased in plaster. Already she's back on her feet. I stop short of making medical claims. I merely report what I have seen.'
Joan Bakewell, writer and broadcaster, on the secret of her health and agility at the age of 70 - from a recent article in The Guardian.