Asha-Lee Pilates

One of the biggest misconceptions in rehabilitation is that if an exercise is technically “correct,” it should automatically be effective.

But pain changes motor control.

Research has consistently shown that pain can inhibit the activation of some muscles while increasing activity in others, creating compensatory movement strategies. These adaptations can persist long after the original injury and may become the body’s default way of moving.

This is why simply cueing someone into “better posture,” “neutral spine,” or “correct alignment” isn’t always enough.

If the nervous system doesn’t feel safe or the task exceeds the capacity of the inhibited muscles, the body will simply return to its familiar strategy.

For many people with long-standing dysfunction, the missing piece is finding an exercise variation that’s supported enough to reduce unnecessary muscular guarding while allowing the intended muscles to initiate the movement.

Sometimes the greatest progress comes from going back to a simpler version of the exercise—not because you’re weak, but because you’re rebuilding a motor pattern that’s been overridden for years.

Rehabilitation isn’t always about making exercises harder.
Sometimes it’s about making them smarter.

• Hodges & Tucker (2011) – Pain alters motor control and movement strategies.
• Hodges & Moseley (2003) – Pain inhibits muscle recruitment and changes lumbopelvic control.
• van Dieën et al. (2019) – Personalised motor control rehabilitation in low back pain.

Here I am 🤗 incase anyones wondering x

Welcome to my garage

🩷🤍

There's actually nothing like a good hands on assist 😆

Sometimes the best apparatus is a humble little ball

Our bodies keep score, sometimes the best thing to do is pause 🩷 (speaking out loud, to myself, online)

Spoiler: there will be Moby on the playlist this week (and Justin)