There are many benefits to be had by introducing Pilates into your daily routine, benefits such as giving you a more toned and shapely body. Did you realise though that Pilates can also assist in reducing back aches and pains?

Dealing with back problems on a daily basis can really make life difficult and downright unenjoyable and if you’ve tried to exercise in the more traditional ways you’ve no doubt discovered that a sore back will ineed do poorly if you are not careful with your chosen routines.  Well now there is a way to help you improve you back and even how to stop further back injury and pain. Here are some free Pilates exercises and how they can help you.

Pilates helps correct alignment of your spinal cord which can reduce the aches and pains common when alignment is out. Another great added benefit of using free Pilates exercise is that you strengthen the postural muscles in your back and learn the proper posture for both resting and exercising. Pilates focus on the proper posture during workouts to prevent back pain. This is also great for alleviating that annoying lower back pain that can drive us crazy.

Through free Pilates exercise you can learn what NOT to do. You will become aware of movements or positions that may stress your spine and cause back pain. You will see things that you may have been doing all along that have contributed to back pain. You will discover how to move properly so that this does not happen anymore. Here is a great free Pilates exercise designed for people with back pain. You will need ‘the magic circle’ for Pilates for this exercise.

The magic circle is a prop that is used to do some Pilates exercises and you can benefit greatly from using it. You can find it to the left in the menu under ‘Circle Pilates.’

1. Stand with your knees a shoulder length apart, and your head straight. Keep your shoulders dropped. Breathe slowly and deeply.

2. Grab the magic circle with both hands behind your back. Your arms should be parallel, with your elbows bent. Keep the circle low, just above your butt.

3. With a pulsing motion, squeeze in on the circle and back out. Control the push and the pull.

4. Do this five times, and repeat the whole exercise five times. You should be able to feel the muscles working in your upper back.

5. As you master this workout, you can slowly move the ring up further, and increase your exercises to 8 pushes and pulls 10 times.

Here’s another great free Pilates exercise for the back.

1. Sit on the floor with your feet spread apart about half a yard, and your feet pointing up toward the ceiling.

2. Extend your arms out in front of you, fingers pointing, and breathe slowly.

3. On the exhale, allow your body to move forward as if your body were curving to make a C.

4. Pull your abdomen in, flexing the muscles, and continue in the C curve.

5. When you are fully extended, inhale, and allow that inhale to raise your body back up, slowly.

These are just a few of the really great Pilates exercises that you can use to strengthen your back and get rid of your back pain.