At Stretch, we will design a programme to suit you. When designing your tailored programme, we take into account your goals, current fitness level, overall health and wellbeing and any injuries that you have. Pilates has a number of benefits, including: reducing back pain, improving flexibility, function and sporting performance. The exercises focus on movement quality rather than quantity, building your strength and improving your posture through a series of low repetition, low impact stretching and conditioning exercises. The exercises used during your sessions are gradually progressed, increasing your confidence to move, help you to get fit and achieve your goals.

We believe that the best way to try Pilates is to have one-to-one sessions. Personal training sessions ensure that our focus is you. Our teachers are specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapists, who undertook post graduate training in Pilates. Our team includes the first fully qualified physiotherapist and Pilates instructor in Chelmsford!

During your first session, we will ask you about any pain or problems you wish to address. We will also ask you about your health, lifestyle and goals. We will assess your postural type and look at how you move, examining any functional problems you may be having. Our therapists will then design a programme of sessions for you, based on our examination and what you’ve told us about yourself. Your programme will adapt to your changing needs and progress on a session-by-session basis. Your sessions will be kept fun, interesting and relevant. We will make sure that you benefit from relaxation and time to yourself, as well as your specific exercises.

We have fully equipped studios, including a state-of-the-art Reformer and Cadillac. You may use our equipment to add graded resistance to your workout. Our Cadillac and Reformer machines enable us to make your exercises more functional and challenging. Our specialist equipment is particularly useful for those with back pain and who need a graded programme of strengthening exercises. This equipment helps to encourage those using it to work gradually into more functional positions. At the other end of the spectrum, the Reformer and Cadillac can be used to help rehabilitate athletes, working to get back to high level sport. Eccentric and plyometric exercises can be designed using the Pilates equipment, in progressively more challenging, sport specific positions. We find that progressively increasing the challenge of your exercises is key to successful rehabilitation.

Small group Pilates, yoga and meditation classes are available at www.hummingbirdpilates.co.uk . Hummingbird is our affiliated sister site which is also run by Ellie Searle, Clinical Specialist Physio. Hummingbird Pilates & Yoga provides a attractive space for you to exercise safely, long term, keeping you fit and healthy and enabling you to maintain the progress made in clinic.

Classes at Hummingbird have a maximum of 10 participants per class in order to provide you with plenty of focused individual attention. For details of the Hummingbird class schedule visit www.hummingbirdpilates.co.uk and click book now.

If you have any long term health conditions or musculoskeletal problems, we recommend that you first have a one-to-one session with Ellie or Erica. Ellie is also one of the Partners of Hummingbird Pilates & Yoga.

At Stretch Physio, we teach modified Pilates (where appropriate) to those with back pain and following spinal surgery. Early research suggested that retraining the deep abdominal and spinal muscles such as Transversus Abdiominis and Lumbar Multifidus, can reduce the recurrence of lower back pain. However, we believe that it is improving your postural awareness in ever more functional positions and increasing your confidence to move normally that makes it effective.

Modified Pilates is a programme of mat-based exercises designed by the Australian Institute of Physiotherapy & Pilates (APPI) to rehabilitate people with back pain and other injuries. Modified Pilates works on neutral lumbo-pelvic alignment, activation of the key lumbo pelvic muscles, correct ribcage and thoracic alignment, scapulo thoracic re-education and deep neck flexor retraining. Spinal mobility, postural awareness and flexibility of the trunk and lower limb muscle groups can be improved through the use of modified Pilates. We have helped many of our clients recover from back injuries and spinal surgery using this safe and fun method of exercise. We are passionate about the benefits of Modified Pilates and furthermore believe its only side-effects are a toned body, enhanced confidence, relaxation and better posture!

Research has shown that gentle exercises help to control and support hypermobile joints by building up the muscle strength around the joints. Modified Pilates is perfect for those with hypermobility. It was designed by Physiotherapists to increase postural awareness and gently strengthen key muscle groups in progressively more functional positions. We can use modified Pilates, following your initial assessment, to help you to address incorrect muscle balance, reduce pain and improve function. We believe that the key to the successful management of hypermobility-related joint problems is to help you to understand your condition. Our aim is to evaluate and address any postural habits and unhelpful muscle recruitment strategies which might be contributing to your problem. We will help you to get stronger and fitter, reducing the risk of chronic pain and ongoing functional problems. Our therapists will also help to allay any fears you might have regarding ongoing pain, fear of movement, or recurrent dislocation. We aim to help you to achieve your goals and prevent recurrent problems.

Ellie, our Clinical Director, has specialist knowledge of the management of hypermobility syndrome. She regularly uses Pilates principles and exercises to help people manage their joint problems. Ellie will keep your programme motivating and enjoyable, using a range of mat-based equipment in addition to functional exercises to progressively increase the difficulty of your exercise programme. Her innovative approach has helped many of our clients manage their joint problems caused by hypermobility syndrome.

Let us help you to achieve your goals today; simply contact us to discuss your needs and we’ll be happy to arrange an appointment.

Pilates sessions can help to prevent and rehabilitate sports injuries. You can use our exercises as part of your overall training programme to improve sporting performance. At Stretch Physio, we use Pilates exercises to help our clients to prevent or recover from sports injuries. We have extensive knowledge and experience in sport-specific rehabilitation and can design a programme to meet your individual needs.

Our studio houses state-of-the-art equipment, which enables us to prepare you for the challenges of competition. This can help you confidently return to the sport that you enjoy. We can also use these exercises to help you improve your sporting performance. We can achieve this goal using a range of mat, ball, Reformer, Cadillac and small equipment exercises.

Whatever your sport, age or ability we can design a programme of sessions to help you to improve your technique and achieve noticeably better results. We have helped many of Essex’s elite horse riders, golfers, swimmers, triathletes and dancers to prepare for their competitions, many of them have achieved personal best performances.