Maggie Schlegel
Last updated August 13, 2024

Reformer Pilates for Back Pain – Is Pilates the Solution for You?

Back pain can be hugely debilitating and affect every aspect of your day. It’s easy to wonder if you’ll ever have a relaxing, pain-free moment again.

With Reformer Pilates… you most likely can. At Sultivate Reformer Pilates Studio we often have people with serious back pain walk through our doors.

The good news is using Reformer Pilates for back pain is sometimes a gentle, effective way to fix and prevent it.

To understand a possible cure it’s important to understand the cause…

Understanding Your Back Pain

It would be impossible to write a blanket statement saying that Reformer Pilates will fix all back pain all the time. So let’s talk a bit about the different kinds of back pain and their possible causes first.

Where does your back pain stem from?

There are typically three overarching causes of back pain.¹

Injuries: typically caused by an inciting incident. Think car accident, sports injury, or falls. Sometimes this pain can be completely erased, sometimes not.
Degeneration: pain that builds up over time. Sometimes you may think nothing of it to start. The cause could be related to aging, arthritis, or degenerative disc disease. A lot of times, with degenerative back pain, it’s about pain management rather than getting rid of it altogether. Keeping the pain as low level as possible. But some degenerative caused pain can be reversed completely.
Lifestyle: This pain also likely builds up over time. It can occur due to poor posture, a sedentary lifestyle, or excessive activity and exercise. This pain is often able to be gotten rid of completely with the right interventions.

While each of these causes has tons of different possible examples that lead to back pain, they typically present with different symptoms.

For example, back pain born out of an injury is likely going to be very intense… at least to start. While Degeneration or lifestyle back pain is probably going to creep up slowly.

Your back may not be as painful to start, but it can still cause a lot of pain over time – and if left untreated could become chronic…

Every body is different so these generalizations may or may not apply to you. But what probably does apply, is that conventional methods of treating back pain aren’t working so well.

Why conventional back pain treatment methods aren’t working

Whether your doctor thinks it’s time for surgery or you’re being given pain management solutions – the truth is, you probably feel it’s not enough.

We don’t blame you. Often conventional methods of treatment target the symptoms rather than the cause.

Or you’re shuffled off to physical therapy for six weeks… receive a brief rest from the pain and 2 months later you’re right back where you started… in pain.

If this sounds anything like your experience, you’re not alone.

Reformer Pilates for back pain is a completely different kind of intervention.

Reformer Pilates as a Solution

Reformer Pilates is something Doctors don’t usually prescribe. Rather than being a short term solution, Reformer Pilates helps you create a healthy, strong lifestyle. So when you manage to lessen or get rid of your back pain, you can stay rid of it.

What exactly is Reformer Pilates?

Reformer Pilates is a low-impact, workout that uses a special piece of equipment called a Reformer. The Reformer allows you to customize your workout to your needs fully:

Low-intensity or high-intensity
Low resistance or high resistance
Non-weight bearing or weight bearing
Targeting core muscles or big muscles

The ability to customize your workout to your body’s needs is one of the things that makes Reformer Pilates so amazing.

Reformer Pilates for back pain

In fact, this customization makes Reformer Pilates perfect for helping you manage and relieve your back pain.

Using controlled, supported movements on a Reformer is easy. You’re back can also be fully supported by the Reformer carriage – the bed-like moving platform of the Reformer.

This can help you to keep your body aligned throughout your exercises. All while working the muscles that support your back… your core.

Building up your core strength, flexibility, and stability is key to alleviating your back pain.

Benefits of Reformer Pilates for Back Pain

Let’s talk a bit about each of these and how they play a part in your back pain.²

Core strength and stability

Your core muscles – the muscles that encase your trunk, spine, and hips, including your abs – are very important for supporting your back.

These may not be the glamour muscles people focus on at the gym, but they support every movement you make.

Having a strong core removes the strain from your back because it carries the load of your movements. Not only can a strong core help reduce and remove back pain, it can help prevent it in the first place.

Reformer Pilates is proven to offer a great way to build those core muscles safely, effectively, and without risk of more injury to your already inflamed back.³

The support of the Reformer carriage, allows you to customize your workout so you aren’t risking movements that will strain your back further. But it still allows you to target those core muscles with a very effective workout.

The best part? As your core gets stronger and your pain decreases you can add in more resistance using the same safe movements. Then, when you feel confident in your strength, you can add in more mobile exercises.

Sometimes it’s not just a weak core that’s contributing to your back pain, though.

Improved posture and alignment to release tension

Poor posture can both cause back pain and get worse as a result of back pain. The longer you’re in pain, and the worse the pain gets, the more your posture can devolve.

This can both increase your back pain and cause pain in other areas of your body.

As you strengthen your muscles with Reformer Pilates, improving your posture is a natural side effect. You are essentially retraining your muscles to support your body correctly.

This brings your body into better alignment. Creating the perfect support system for your back.

It also helps to release the tension you unconsciously have throughout your body and back. When your core muscles are activated and your posture is improved, it releases the tension other muscles have been holding as they try futilely to keep your body in alignment.

The other thing that contributes to back pain goes hand in hand with posture, alignment, and tension.

Flexibility and mobility

Tension can be one of the leading causes of a lack of flexibility and mobility.

When one group of muscles doesn’t do their job, it forces another group to do too much. Which can lead to extremely tight muscles – and a general reduction of flexibility throughout your body.

Not only can back pain lead to tight back muscles but it can affect your mobility muscles as well, including your hip flexors, hamstrings, and, pelvic muscles.

The tighter all your muscles get, the more strain and pain your back will feel as it tries to compensate for this lack of movement and flexibility.

Reformer Pilates is great for increasing your flexibility and mobility while keeping your back safe from further injury.

With its carriage that uses springs to create resistance, you can get a deeper stretch throughout your body. All while lying down and being supported. Sounds counterintuitive, right?

But the Reformer allows you to stretch without straining already tight muscles for a safer, deeper, more targeted stretch.

You’re able to loosen your muscles safely and effectively. This can help you reduce the tightness you feel throughout your body including your back for a huge boost in mobility.

Removing all these back pain stressors may sound great… but how should you incorporate it into your recovery journey?

Incorporating Reformer Pilates Into Your Life

Your back pain is unique to you. There is no one-size-fits-all cure for your back pain.

But the first thing that will affect whether Reformer Pilates for back pain is a good solution, is your time investment.

How often to incorporate Reformer Pilates for back pain

Going to Pilates once a month isn’t going to fix your back pain. Making the investment to:

Improve your posture
Increase your flexibility
Build your core strength

…well, it’s not an overnight solution.

“In 10 sessions you’ll feel the difference, in 20 sessions you’ll see the difference, in 30 sessions you’ll have a whole new body”

– Joseph Pilates (Founder of Pilates)⁴

Making the choice to practice Reformer Pilates 2-5 times a week is key to seeing results. The more effort you put into decreasing your back pain, the faster you’ll start seeing results.

While your back pain probably won’t disappear in just 30 sessions, it’s a good reminder that what you get out of Pilates is directly related to the effort you put in.

You’ll also want to make sure you’re working out correctly on the Reformer.

Finding a qualified Pilates instructor for safe practice

This means finding the right Reformer Pilates Studio to workout at.

At Sultivate, we provide modifications to every exercise we teach. We want to make sure your needs are met.

To get the best results it’s a good idea to let your instructor know about your back pain at the beginning of class. This way they have time to consider the best modifications to give you for your specific pain.

A good instructor will also keep an eye on you as you workout to make sure you’re targeting the right muscles. You don’t want to make your back pain worse by accidentally using the wrong muscles to complete the exercise.

Targeting the wrong muscles is something we’re all prone to as we start something new. Or even something we’re familiar with.

This is why even Olympic athletes rely on their coaches for instruction.

If you have acute back pain you may want to include other treatments into your rehab plan.

Combining Pilates with other treatments for best results

Think about what kind of back injury you have. Is it acute? Is it from degeneration? Is it due to lifestyle choices?

If your pain is intense, regardless of the cause, it may be a good idea to combine it with another intervention as well.

Interventions like:

Massage
Chiropractors
Pain medication
Physical Therapy (PT)

Keep in mind, if you’re under the care of health professionals for your back pain, it’s always important to tell them of your desire to incorporate Pilates.

They can tell you exercises to avoid as needed and give ideas of muscles to specifically target.

If you’re working with a PT or Chiropractor and plan to do Pilates as well, you may look into Private Pilates Sessions.

This will allow you to really dial in on the important muscles and mobility to get the best results for your back pain.

But remember, you will always know your body better than someone else.

Tips for safe and effective practice

Being aware of your pain and letting it guide you is important. While striving for less back pain it can be tempting to jump into Reformer Pilates full throttle.

But it’s important to listen to your body.

Is your pain getting better or worse?
Are you allowing your body to rest and recover between interventions?
Are you experiencing muscle soreness from working out? Or more acute pain?
Are you setting realistic goals for your pain management – based on the cause of your back pain?

Keeping your goals realistic and listening to your body throughout your recovery journey can be so important to how successful Reformer Pilates is for back pain.

Can Pilates Help Back Pain Disappear?

Ultimately, the Reformer can be a great tool to help you decrease or even get rid of your back pain.

The key is finding the right mix of interventions to get a pain-free life back.

If you’re looking for help with mild to moderate back pain, one of our Pilates classes might be just the thing to help you in your recovery.

Do you have severe back pain or want more guidance when starting out? Book a private Pilates Session with us at Sultivate and let’s create a custom plan to build your strength and decrease your pain.

It’s time to reclaim your life – without daily pain holding you back.