I had just moved to a new house when I received a request to review Your Pilates Physio. The timing couldn’t have been better.

Moving House Is Back-Breaking Work

If you have eve moved house, you will know how tiring it can be. The whole body aches from lifting and carrying boxes, cleaning, tidying up and even assembling furniture. I spent several hours putting together shelving units and even the dining table and chairs. Who knew you need to assemble chairs? This is intensive work that can take its toll on muscles and may cause pain and strain. It is very important, therefore, to be particularly careful and look after your body, especially your back. Pilates and physiotherapy can help to prevent injury and educate you on how to keep your body in peak condition. It was with great interest that I browsed through Your Pilates Physio, a subscription website offering different types of online Pilates classes for all levels from beginner to advance and all conditions.

Your Pilates Physio Online Classes

When you register on the website you are presented with a dashboard. You first have to complete a medical questionnaire, after which you will see a more customised dashboard. This is because, if you have an injury, for example, you will be presented with different classes options to suit you needs. Some classes will also be unavailable because of a pre-existing condition.

Founder Lyndsay Hirst is a physiotherapist who worked in the NHS and she discovered that many patients were benefiting from Pilates exercises. With several years’ hands-on experience in both clinical Pilates and physiotherapy, Lyndsay decided to start offering online classes to make them available to a wider audience. You need a monthly membership to access the classes; there is also a 14-day free trial available to see if these classes suit you.

Practising at Home

I found Lyndsay’s teaching style extremely easy to follow. Her instructions are clear and her calming voice puts you at ease so you don’t feel intimidated by the technique. She guides you through each exercise paying attention to good posture. After a few classes your body will almost automatically go into good alignment. The classes are devised in a way to suit your lifestyle and time commitments. You can choose shorter or longer sessions. There is a mixture of stretches, core stability, balance and strengthening. Because you are practising at home there is no element of competition with others, which can cause a bit of anxiety. You are only tracking your own progress and even then you don’t feel judgemental towards your body and its abilities. You learn to appreciate your body at the current moment and any improvement is a welcome development.

I particularly enjoyed the spine mobilising exercises because I write at my computer for several hours a day. Even though I take regular breaks, nothing beats gentle stretching and exercise to ensure you are pain-free at the end of your working day.

The Verdict

I benefited from free access to the online classes and all opinions are my own. I thought the exercises were very useful for my back, neck and pain tension. I also enjoyed the body conditioning element of Pilates. Overall, I think the online classes can be taken by anyone at any level of ability with good results.