As product and service offerings go, you'll be hard pressed to find a more lucrative option than Pilates. Incorporating this surefire bottom-line builder into your practice is an excellent way to bring in new patients and to grow retention rates of existing patients. Whatever your motivation, don't overlook the hottest method in rehab or its low-cost/high-return benefits. Pilates matwork requires only a handful of functional training tools (some of which your practice probably already uses) and a minimal amount of space.

Pilates Matwork

Pilates exercises are a phenomenal way to help patients build core strength, stabilize their spine, and improve balance/proprioception. Whether a patient does Pilates at home or in the clinic, many cost-effective, functional tools are available that provide variable levels of challenge and can be performed in limited space. One of the great things about Pilates is its adaptability and the ability to modify techniques for patient-specific applications.

Also known as the Pilates ball, the Overball adds an instability challenge, or focuses core muscles.

The following functional tools are terrific examples of Pilates' versatility.

Foam Rollers

Foam rollers are the most in-demand products we sell. With various size and firmness options, OPTP has a roller for all applications. Our PRO series of rollers provides progressive, dynamic balance challenges while standing up to the rigors of any high-volume practice.

Swiss Exercise Balls

Also known as "stability balls," these large, inflatable balls promote flexibility, balance, core strength, proprioception, and neuromotor learning, to name a few. OPTP carries exercise balls that are available in burst- or non burst-resistant styles. An excellent educational resource for Pilates training on the ball is Ellie Herman's Pilates Workbook on the Ball (Ulysses Press, 2003).

The Magic Circle promotes strength and endurance through recruitment and proper engagement of targeted muscle groups.

Exercise Bands

Exercise bands are available in various resistances and are excellent tools for improving strength and stability. Examples are Thera-Band® and latex-free REP Band®, both of which are available in multiple lengths.

Soft Gym Overball

At 9 inches in diameter, this soft, easy-to-grip ball is an ideal positioning tool. Also known as the Pilates ball, it is used to add an instability challenge or to focus core muscles. An excellent educational resource demonstrating the Overball is The Intrinsic Core: Using the Soft Gym Overball (OPTP, 2006).

The Magic Circle promotes strength and endurance through recruitment and proper engagement of targeted muscle groups.

Pilates Magic Circle™

Designed by Joseph Pilates, the Magic Circle is a soft rubber ring that promotes strength and endurance through recruitment and proper engagement of targeted muscle groups.

BodyBolster™

You can incorporate the Bolster into your daily Pilates or stretching routine to increase free movement. Everyday activities such as walking, sitting, or swinging a club all become easier as you strengthen weak areas and retrain your muscles to work together. It easily inflates or deflates with the twist of a valve. A 52-page instruction booklet featuring 100 exercises is included. It is available in multiple colors.

The following educational resources are also available:

Pilates for Rehab: A Guidebook to Integrating Pilates in Patient Care (OPTP, 2005).

Pilates for Rehab takes an evidence-based approach to incorporating Pilates exercises into a rehabilitation setting. With references to such experts as Vladimir Janda, Paul Hodges, and Shirley Sahrmann, authors Elizabeth Smith, PT, ATC, and Kristin Smith, BA, CFT, have combined their hands-on rehab, lecturing, and teaching experience to create a clear guidebook for incorporating Pilates into a rehab program. Case studies and resources are also provided.

Ellie Herman's Pilates Props Workbook (Ulysses Press, 2004).

From Pilates expert Ellie Herman, this book enhances Pilates mat exercises with the use of tools traditionally used by rehab professionals to facilitate rehabilitation. Each movement is explained with captions and photo sequences. Special programs for strains, injuries, and chronic problems are also featured.

Your Ultimate Pilates Body Challenge: At the Gym, on the Mat, and on the Move (Broadway Books, 2005).

Brooke Siler is once again revolutionizing the Pilates world by reinventing where Pilates is performed. She challenges readers to rethink the way they move, and to incorporate Pilates movements into their daily routines at home, at the gym, on the mat, and during sports training.

The Golfer's Guide to Pilates (Ulysses Press, 2006).

Upgrade the most important piece of golf equipment you possess—your body! Author Monica Clyde provides exercises that include step-by-step programs for flexibility, core strength, stance, and rotation. Transform your game to one of absolute control and power. Great for golfers of all fitness levels.

Integrating Pilates

Pilates' appeal is massive, and the method is versatile enough to apply to numerous patient populations such as seniors, golfers, children, and athletes. That said, its application in chiropractic may be more appropriate than you think. Certified Pilates instructors Elizabeth Smith, PT, ATC, and Kristin Smith, CFT, write in their best-selling book, Pilates for Rehab: A Guidebook to Integrating Pilates in Patient Care: "From a theoretical perspective, integrating Pilates-based fundamental movement patterns and exercises that emphasize proper alignment and torso stability into rehabilitation programs can complement treatment plans in a number of ways for patients young to old, athlete to non-athlete, sedentary worker to manual laborer.

Some examples:

• Normalize and enhance muscle-recruitment patterns.
• Increase segmental spinal stabilization.
• Improve postural alignment.
• Improve functional movement, proprioception, and balance through neuromuscular re-education.
• Enhance stabilization with traditional strength training and flexibility exercises.

Shari Schroeder is president of OPTP, located in Minneapolis. For information, contact .

Working with Functional Tools

Not all patients respond to the same types of cues, exercises, or tactile feedback. Once a patient masters the principles of core stabilization in fundamental Pilates mat exercises, add equipment to increase challenge, variety, or focus. Depending on your patient's musculoskeletal dysfunction and rehabilitation goals, add equipment first with basic or fundamental exercises and progress to those that are more difficult. Equipment can also help rehabilitation providers to enhance or modify exercises based on the patient's capabilities or identified faulty movement patterns, and to make the most of a patient's alignment. Other things to remember to increase safety:

• Use a textured surface to provide more sensory feedback and reduce the patient's risk of slipping off the rounded surface.
• Perform exercises with bare feet to enhance sensory feedback and stability.
• Do not choose clothing that is tight, restrictive, or slippery.
• Always demonstrate mounting positions and exercises first to increase your patient's safety and understanding.¹

Pilates is more than a trend, and as a patient myself, I can personally attest to the benefits of its methodology. As reputable, evidence-based information continues to become available, OPTP will continue to expand its product and resource selection.

Reference

1. Smith E, Smith K. Pilates for Rehab: A Guidebook to Integrating Pilates in Patient Care. Minneapolis, MN: OPTP, 2005:15