Many of our Pilates clients seek us out because they are in pain, and most of our clients will have pain at one time or another. Often, the pain will resolve as tissues heal, muscles strengthen, and the client improves their overall fitness. But how do we judge how fast to progress a client in pain? And what about the people who don’t get better?

In order to work effectively we must understand what pain is, and the role of the central nervous system in pain processing. Advances in pain science demonstrate that rather than being simply a signal from the body that something is wrong, pain is an output of the brain. And each individual’s pain experience depends not just (and sometimes not at all) on tissue damage, but on their history, their thoughts and beliefs, and the baseline state of their nervous system. Further, research has shown that educating our clients about pain can reduce their pain and improve their function.

In this Movement Science Made Simple course, we will:

• Update our understanding of pain, and learn to convey that understanding to clients
• Familiarize ourselves with the symptomatology of common painful conditions of the low back and shoulder
• Learn movement protocols for getting started with clients in pain