Hi Sarah Edwards at Positive Pilates Solihull, I am grateful that you found the tutorial useful. I can't say enough about deep loaded barbell squats for strengthening glute max and improving pelvic stability as well as single leg squats with torso tilted forward in a hip hinge. I love hooklying single leg bridges with one knee pulled in closely to the chest and pressing up as high as you can (this helps to avoid lumbar extension). I also like Swan on the Ladder Barrel or (Roman Chair hip extensions). Side planks on the elbows are great for gluteus medius strengthening. Best of luck! Hope that helps!
Sincerely,
Sherri Betz

Thank you so much for taking the time Sherri - really helpful. I shall be looking some of these up! Best wishes

SUCH great information! Thank you!!!

WOW, this was super informative and helpful not only for my own needs but as well as for my clients. Thank you ladies!

Thank you, Sherri. I really got a lot from this and will come back to it again and again. Thank you, PA, for making great videos and instructors available.

If you have pain on the R side, would you normally put the R leg over the Pole? In a small group setting (without me assessing every leg length or hip placement) what is the easiest way to have people tell which leg should go over the pole. If you are tight in the R Hip Flexor may that also indicate the R leg should go over the pole?

Teresa Great question! Please don't have people do this technique without assessing their pelvic position. Pain is never an indicator of structural alignment. However, activating the gluteus maximus is a great way to get the ipsilateral hip flexor to relax.

I loved this and am so excited to use the valuable information presented with some of my clients! Thank you so much! This was brilliant!

This was really informative, but I hope someone can help me further. Every time I do Pilates, I get sharp lower back pain on one side - I feel it’s my SI joint, but I’m not sure. I am very fit and strong, I do advanced yoga, barre classes, heavy weight lifting, none of it triggers this issue, but Pilates does, and much as I love it, I keep giving up on it, because it gets worse the more Pilates I do (and when I stop, it goes away). I’ve seen an osteopath who is a sports therapist, she could find nothing structurally wrong, although I do have a slightly deeper lumbar spine curve than usual.

I have identified the kind of movements that trigger it, basically anything in which my legs are extended out past 90 degrees. I have very long muscular legs (ie, they are heavy!), and it feels like they are levering my lower back. Unfortunately, so many of the classic Pilates exercises, at levels past beginner, call for this position. If I was to keep my legs at 90, it wouldn’t be at all challenging for my core. Is this an SI joint issue, will the exercises in this video help me? Or does it sound like something else? I desperately want to work this out, so that I can keep practising, instead of giving up on Pilates yet again.....