Pilates guide
Badminton is a game of lunges, quick first steps and jumping smashes, and most injuries are in the legs: ankle sprains, knee and tendon pain and, in recreational players in their mid-30s, Achilles ruptures. Half of players have had pain in the hitting shoulder. Pilates for badminton can train what those injuries point to, at low load: the calves, the hips and a steady single leg for the lunge, the trunk turning both ways, and the shoulder blades on both arms. The Pilates trials in badminton players are small, and they measured fitness tests, not play or injuries.
So Pilates sits beside your coach, on-court footwork, strength training, the PreventiBad warm-up and a gradual build-up after breaks, never in place of them, and it doesn't replace eye protection or rehabilitation of an injury. We're not connected with any badminton body, club or brand.
This guide covers the lunge and the knees, the Achilles and ankles, the hitting shoulder, balance and footwork, the back, what the evidence shows, a 25-minute class and the warning signs.
One small Indian trial reported better jump, shuttle-run, balance and coordination tests after 5 weeks of added Pilates, but we could read only its abstract, in a journal not indexed in PubMed. In a 2025 randomised trial, mat Pilates did no better than plank exercises. The rest are tiny or uncontrolled.
Most studies counted 1 to 4 injuries per 1,000 hours, mostly in the lower body, and the risk rose with level of play and a previous injury. Outer ankle sprains led one French hospital's acute leg injuries.
In 31 Swedish players with an Achilles rupture, the average age was 36 and nearly all were recreational players or beginners. No trial has tested a way to prevent ruptures; warming up, building up after a break and calf strength are the sensible steps.
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Balance training cut ankle sprains in other sports, and in one small youth trial, the PreventiBad warm-up, with one-leg balance, planks and side planks, went with about 70% fewer injuries per hour.
About half of world-class and recreational players had had pain in the hitting shoulder. No shoulder prevention programme has been proven in overhead athletes; Pilates can work the shoulder blades and rotator cuff at low load on both arms.
Before play, use the PreventiBad warm-up. Do Pilates once or twice a week on non-match days or after play.
Each figure keeps its own group and measure. Our badminton guide has the training, footwork and injuries in full.
The Compendium of Physical Activities gives social badminton 5.5 METs (multiples of resting energy use), competitive play 7.0 and match play 9.0, against 2.8 for Pilates in general. Rallies are short and fast, with split steps, lunges to the net and sides, jumping smashes with one-leg landings and overhead shots.
In 52 players, a maximal lunge to the net loaded the front leg with about 2.0 to 2.95 times body weight, and less skilled players braked with more force and larger knee loads. Lunges made up about 15% of movements in singles in one small video study, and a step-in lunge took less push-off force than a kick lunge. Across 20 lab studies, elite players absorbed impact better. Lunge technique and footwork belong to your coach.
Across 19 studies, most counted 1 to 4 injuries per 1,000 hours, with 41% to 92% in the lower body and most mild or moderate; the risk rose with level of play and a previous injury. In Danish players, 74% of injuries were from overuse and "92% of the injured were playing with their injury"; in 20 French internationals the rate was 3.4 per 1,000 hours, 11.6 in matches, with lunges and smashes the main causes; in 44 Hong Kong elite players it was 5.04, and half were recurrences. Across 28 studies of 2,435 adults, 52% of injuries were in the leg, the ankle most. In a French hospital's 140 acute injuries, outer ankle sprains made up 43.4% of leg injuries, Achilles ruptures 13.9% and calf tears 8.5%, and in Umeå, 90.7% of players treated in the emergency department were recreational players or beginners. 48% of 164 world elite juniors had had an injury lasting 30 days or more, mostly knee, ankle and lower back, and the patellar tendon was the commonest injury in elite Malaysian records.
Pilates can train calf and soleus endurance, hip strength and one-leg control for the lunge and landing, trunk endurance and rotation both ways, and the shoulder blades and rotator cuff on both arms, at low load (our reading). It can't replace on-court footwork and jump training, strength training, the PreventiBad warm-up, a gradual build-up after breaks, eye protection or rehabilitation of an injury.
The badminton Pilates trials are tiny, mostly in journals outside PubMed, and measured fitness tests. Balance and core training have more evidence, mostly from other sports or young players.
In India, 40 young men were randomised to Pilates added to their training, twice a week for 5 weeks, or training alone, and the Pilates group's jump, 10 m shuttle-run, balance and hand-eye coordination tests improved more. We could read only the abstract, which doesn't report the exercises, blinding or dropouts, in a journal not indexed in PubMed; a 2025 review's balance result for Pilates rests on this one trial. In Pakistan, 28 recreational players did mat Pilates or plank exercises for 6 weeks: both improved core strength and agility, and "No significant between-group differences were observed." (abstract only; registered with no results posted). The rest are smaller: 20 young Slovenian players doing Pilates before training with no comparison group, 30 Indian college players in whom Pilates and neuromuscular training both improved balance and agility, neuromuscular training more, and two small studies in low-tier journals. Our searches found no badminton Pilates trial in PubMed, and none that counted injuries or measured match play.
Across 18 small trials in tennis, badminton and table tennis players, core training improved agility and balance tests, but "only one study implemented blinding of participants or therapists, and no studies blinded outcome assessors". In young badminton players, 13 studies at high risk of bias reported better skill scores. In 20 adolescents, 6 weeks of core training improved balance and core endurance but not agility. Jump training improved agility and balance in 11 trials, at low or very low certainty, balance training sped up young players' push-off by 19% to 36% in 8 weeks, and balance with jump training beat jumps alone on two agility tests.
In 273 French players aged about 14, an 8-week warm-up programme after a long break went with 1.23 injuries per 1,000 hours against 4.07 (a rate ratio of 0.30, so about 70% fewer), but there were only 20 injuries. It includes the plank, side plank, one-leg balance and band shoulder work, the parts a Pilates class shares (our reading). It hasn't been tested in adults. Our badminton guide has it as the badminton injury prevention warm-up.
In 765 high school football and basketball players, balance training cut ankle sprains (1.13 against 1.87 per 1,000 exposures). In 522 athletes after a sprain, an 8-week home programme cut repeat sprains from 33% to 22%. Reviews agree, with the biggest effect after a previous sprain. These trials weren't in badminton players.
"Definitive evidence demonstrating an association between core instability and injury is lacking". Across 25 trials, strength training cut sports injuries to about a third and balance training to about half, and stretching made no difference.
In 14 elite players, the kneecap tendons already showed raised blood flow on ultrasound at the start of a season, rising after matches. Elite men with patellar tendinopathy had smaller tendons, players with chronic knee pain lunged with less knee and trunk movement and more back muscle activity, and players with knee pain had different trunk muscle sizes, all in snapshots that can't show cause. In prospective studies, knee loading in lunges and knees moving in on landing went with injuries.
No trial has tested lunge technique, thigh or hip training for knee pain in badminton. Pilates can strengthen the hips and train one-leg control (our reading); lunge technique is your coach's job, and a painful kneecap tendon needs our jumper's knee guide and its staged plan. Use the knee pain rule in the warning signs.
In 31 Swedish players with a ruptured Achilles, the average age was 36, 27 were men, 97% were recreational players or beginners, 94% ruptured it in the middle or at the end of a game, and 5 had noticed symptoms first. Danish players ruptured it at the back of the court in a sudden forward movement "despite limbering up". Badminton caused 27% of sport-related ruptures in a Shanghai series, where ruptures in the first 10 minutes were commoner in people who hadn't warmed up (a link, not proof), and badminton, floorball and football caused more than half of sport ruptures in Stockholm. In US emergency data, ruptures rose most at ages 40 to 59, and the evidence on risk factors is weak.
In a lab study, landing a jump smash with the foot turned out cut the force on the Achilles by about 25%. It hasn't been tested as a way to prevent ruptures.
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Ankle sprains lead acute leg injuries in badminton, and balance training after a sprain cut repeat sprains in other sports. Our Pilates after an ankle sprain class has the ankle work.
Calf and soleus strength, and one-leg balance, on non-match days (our reading). Warm up every time, keep sessions shorter when you start or come back after a break, and follow our Achilles tendinopathy guide's pain rule if your Achilles aches, as our badminton guide says.
52% of 188 world-class players and 52% of 99 recreational players had had pain in the hitting shoulder, ongoing in 20% and 16%. In 45 Spanish players under 17, 47.4% developed shoulder pain within a year, and inward rotation of 55° or less predicted it. In 611 Japanese children, playing more than 2.5 hours a day went with shoulder pain.
Across 7 prevention studies in overhead athletes, only 3 were favourable and one was at low risk of bias: "no conclusions can be made". The evidence on risk factors is limited too, and there is no badminton shoulder trial.
Shoulder-blade and outward-rotation work on both arms, at low load: band turn-outs, Y-T-W raises and scapular push-ups (our reading). A gentle cross-body stretch is only for a clear loss of inward turning on the hitting side, and not for a shoulder that feels loose. A shoulder that hurts after play needs our rotator cuff and shoulder impingement guides.
Balance training sped up young players' push-off and cut ankle sprains in other sports. Make one-leg work harder over time: eyes closed, a softer surface, or catching a shuttle a partner throws, as the PreventiBad warm-up does.
Footwork, jumps and lunges are trained on court and in our badminton strength and footwork workout. Pilates adds hip control and a steadier single leg (our reading).
70% of 23 German elite players had low back pain in the past year, no more than active students. The lower back was the commonest current complaint in world elite juniors and the back the commonest site of new injuries in Hong Kong elite players.
Badminton turns the trunk hard one way, so turn both ways equally in Pilates (our reading, as on our tennis page). For back pain in general, Pilates helps about as much as other exercise, and trunk training improves trunk endurance most.
The PreventiBad warm-up before every session, the strength and footwork workout twice a week off-season, and a Pilates class once or twice a week on non-match days (our suggestion, from our badminton guide's plan). Count a hard reformer class as training (our reading of the International Olympic Committee's consensus on load).
Long static holds just before activity cost a little performance (3.7% on average), so keep Pilates for after play or another day.
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The shuttle causes 85% of badminton eye injuries, many in doubles from your own partner. Pilates has nothing to add here: the American Academy of Ophthalmology advises polycarbonate sports eyewear for racket sports, and our badminton guide covers it.
Lateral breathing, 5 to 8 breaths at the start of every session (the move page's dose); thoracic rotation, 6 rotations per side, moving with the breath (the move page's dose); side-lying open book, 8 to 10 slow openings each side, pausing 2 seconds at the end (the move page's dose); spine twist, 3 to 4 each side (the move page's dose). Turn both ways the same number of times, whichever hand you play with.
Slow calf raise, 2 sets of 10 to 12, holding a counter, up for 2 and down for 3 (our Pilates for pickleball players class); seated bent-knee calf raise, 3 sets of 15 (our badminton strength and footwork workout), for the deeper calf muscle (soleus); single-leg calf raise from a step, 3 sets of 10 to 15 each leg (our badminton strength and footwork workout), once two-leg raises are easy, with a hand on a rail.
Single-leg stand, 2 sets of 30 s each leg (our badminton injury prevention warm-up); single-leg reach matrix, 2 sets of 3 reaches each direction, each leg (our badminton strength and footwork workout), like lunges to the corners of the court; hip airplane, 5 slow turns each leg, holding a counter (our Pilates for tennis players class); Cossack squat, 6 slow shifts per side, hold the last one (the move page's dose), the side lunge, staying higher if your kneecap hurts, as its page says.
Shoulder bridge, 3 to 5 kicks each leg (the move page's dose); side kick, 8 to 10 each side (the move page's dose); clamshell, 10 each side (our Pilates for tennis players class).
Side plank, 2 sets of 20 to 30 s each side (our badminton injury prevention warm-up), from your knees to start; forearm plank, 2 sets of 20 to 30 s (our badminton injury prevention warm-up); dead bug, 6 each side (our Pilates for tennis players class); criss-cross, 6 each side, slowly (the move page's dose).
Outward rotation with a band, 10 each arm (our badminton injury prevention warm-up), a stronger band as the next level; Y-T-W raises, 5 of each shape (our Pilates for tennis players class), forehead on a folded towel; scapular push-up, 2 sets of 10 (our Pilates for tennis players class), on a wall if your shoulder or wrist is sore; cross-body shoulder stretch, 30 s each side, gently (our back workout at home), only for a clear loss of inward turning on the hitting side, and skipped if your shoulder feels loose or has dislocated, as its page says.
No heel drops below the step while it's painful: the step calf raise's page says to get a painful Achilles assessed before loading it below step level. Follow our Achilles tendinopathy and Achilles rupture guides for the stages.
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Keep the Cossack squat high, as its page says, use the knee pain rule in the warning signs, and see our Pilates for patellar tendinopathy class.
Do balance work beside a counter and keep the reaches small: the reach matrix's page says to ease off the deep reaches in the first weeks after an ankle sprain. Our Pilates after an ankle sprain class has the stages.
Do the scapular push-ups against a wall, keep the Y-T-W lifts small, and skip the cross-body stretch if the shoulder feels loose or the pain is on the very top of the shoulder, as its page says.
Keep back extensions small, or use the bird dog, as the swan and swimming pages say. A teenager's back pain that's worse arching back and lasts more than a couple of weeks needs checking by a GP or sports physiotherapist.
No long holds and no Pilates class in place of the warm-up: use the PreventiBad warm-up.
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Keep breathing in planks and side planks. With heart disease, ask your cardiac team before long holds, as the plank pages say, and use the PAR-Q+ first.
Our 25-minute off-court class covers the calves and Achilles, one-leg balance and the side lunge, the hips, the trunk both ways and the hitting shoulder on both arms. Before you play, use the badminton injury prevention warm-up; the strength and footwork workout is your off-season training. The tennis class is the nearest Pilates class without the calf and lunge work, and the ankle sprain, Achilles and kneecap tendon classes are for those injuries.
A 25-minute Pilates class for badminton players: calves and Achilles, one-leg balance, the side lunge, hips, the trunk both ways and the hitting shoulder.
25 minBeginner17 movesWall, bench or boxA 20-minute badminton warm-up built on PreventiBad: runs and partner footwork, planks, Nordics, band shoulder work, balance, squats, jumps and court moves.
20 minBeginner14 movesCardio machine, wallA 45-minute badminton session: side bounds, split jumps and hop-and-stick, squats, lunges, side lunges, hinges and Nordics, calf raises and shoulder work.
45 minIntermediate17 movesDumbbell, anchor pointA 12-minute warm-up for tennis, padel, squash or badminton: skipping, leg swings, trunk turns, band shoulder work, forearm circles, shuttles and landings.
12 minBeginner10 movesWall, bandA 25-minute Pilates class for tennis and padel players: trunk endurance, rotation both ways, shoulder blades, hips and single-leg balance, on a mat.
25 minBeginner19 movesBand, anchor pointA 25-minute Pilates class for pickleball players: balance and stepping at a counter, calves, hips, a head-down trunk, and the shoulder and forearm on both arms.
25 minBeginner18 movesWall, bench or boxA 25-minute Pilates class for the weeks after a sprained ankle: footwork on a wall, band work in every direction, side-lying hip work and a balance progression.
25 minBeginner18 movesBench or box, wallA 25-minute Pilates class for Achilles tendonitis: holds on tiptoe and slow heel raises first, then mat Pilates that's light on the tendon. Heels level, no jumps.
25 minBeginner13 movesWall, bench or boxA 25-minute Pilates class for jumper's knee: the loading plan's first-stage hold, hip, trunk and calf work, no kneeling, shallow knee bends and no jumping.
25 minBeginner13 movesWallBalance practice in 10 minutes: tandem stance, single-leg stands, marches, heel walks, tree pose and floor transfers.
10 minBeginner7 movesWall, bench or boxThe beginner Pilates plan builds the basics over 4 weeks, 3 days a week; fit it around your badminton, on non-match days.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999, and use your doctor's urgent line or urgent care for NHS 111.
Call 999 if:
Get help from NHS 111: pain or tightness in your chest, neck, shoulders, jaw or arms that comes and goes, often brought on by exercise, stress, emotion or cold and easing after a few minutes' rest. It can be angina, a sign of a heart problem. If you've been diagnosed with angina, get help from NHS 111 too if it feels worse than before, is happening more often, lasts longer or happens when you're resting.
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The PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) asks about a heart condition or high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or losing consciousness, other long-term conditions and their medicines, a bone or joint problem that activity could make worse, and being told to exercise only under supervision. If you answer yes to any, check with your GP or a qualified exercise professional first. If you're over 45 and not used to hard exercise, ask a qualified exercise professional before the hardest sessions, and delay if you're ill.
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Contact NHS 111 if you heard a snap, grinding or popping noise at the time of the injury, can't walk on tiptoe or up stairs, or have swelling and bruising in your calf and ankle. Our Achilles rupture guide says to get it checked the same day, at A&E (accident and emergency) or a minor injuries unit, or through NHS 111.
Same day: a sudden snap or pop at the back of the heel or calf, or a feeling of being kicked there, then walking flat-footed and being unable to push off, stand on tiptoe or climb stairs. It could be an Achilles tendon rupture or a broken heel bone. Go to A&E or a minor injuries unit, or contact NHS 111.
5 of 31 players who ruptured an Achilles had noticed symptoms first. Follow our Achilles tendinopathy guide's calf loading and pain rule before full play, rather than playing through it.
Ruptures cluster in recreational players in their mid-30s. Warm up every time, keep sessions shorter at first, and strengthen your calves on other days (our suggestion).
Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, the joint has changed shape or is pointing at an odd angle, it's numb, tingling or has pins and needles, or the skin has changed colour or is cold. Get help from NHS 111 if it's very painful, badly swollen, or you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps, and for a knee that locks, gives way or painfully clicks.
Call 999 or go to A&E: after an injury, you heard a crack, the foot or ankle has changed shape or points at an odd angle, a bone is sticking out, there is a bad cut over it, you're in severe pain, or the toes look blue or white, feel numb or are cold to touch. These can mean a broken bone. Don't drive yourself.
Same day (NHS 111 or an urgent treatment centre): after an injury, you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps, the pain is very bad or getting worse, there is a lot of swelling or bruising or it is getting worse, it feels very stiff, or it's not feeling any better after treating it yourself. Get the same help if you also have a very high temperature, or feel hot, cold or shivery: this could be an infection. If you think it's broken, don't treat it yourself.
Go to A&E (accident and emergency) if you've injured your knee and it has changed shape, it becomes very swollen very quickly, you felt a pop or snap, you can see bone sticking out, or it's bleeding heavily. Don't drive yourself: ask someone to take you, or call 999 if the pain means you can't move your leg to get there.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: you cannot move the knee or put any weight on it, or it is very painful, badly swollen or has changed shape, or it locks, gives way or clicks painfully. A pop, quick swelling and a knee that gives way point to an ACL injury: our ACL injury guide says what to do.
Repeat sprains are common. Our ankle sprain guide: balance training 3 times a week for 8 weeks once you're back on court, and a brace for sport.
See a doctor or physiotherapist if:
Our knee guides use this rule: rate your knee pain from 0 to 10 during and after exercise; 0 to 2 counts as safe, up to 5 as acceptable and above 5 as too much, and your knee should be back to its usual level by the next morning.
Go to A&E or call 999 if something hit your eye at high speed, your sight has changed, you have severe pain in the eye, a headache or sensitivity to light, you feel or are sick, you can't move your eye or keep it open, or blood or pus is coming from it. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or contact NHS 111 if it isn't getting better after 24 hours. Raised eye pressure can follow years later, so keep any follow-up appointments (our suggestion).
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or contact NHS 111 for sudden or very bad shoulder pain, an arm you can't move, a shoulder that has changed shape or is badly swollen, pins and needles that don't go away, or pain that started after a fall.
Same day (GP or NHS 111): sudden weakness lifting the arm after an injury or fall. A rotator cuff tear caused by an injury needs urgent referral to a shoulder specialist. After a dislocation in anyone over 40, the rotator cuff should be checked: about 40% have a tear.
See a GP or physiotherapist if:
Heat exhaustion should improve within 30 minutes of resting somewhere cool, cooling down and drinking. Call 999 if it doesn't, or for a very high temperature, hot skin that isn't sweating, a fast heartbeat, fast breathing, confusion, a fit or loss of consciousness.
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The NHS says it's usually fine to keep doing the activities you already do, but advises against sports with a risk of falling or bumping your tummy, and against starting a new vigorous activity. Talk to your midwife or GP; if you already play, gentle social doubles may suit (our suggestion).
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Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
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Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
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A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans).
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You feel any pain or become unwell, as the NHS advises for its Pilates videos, and especially for chest pain or pressure, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting. If you have a health problem, an injury or any symptoms, get advice from a healthcare professional, such as a GP, before you start.
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The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
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One small trial, read only as an abstract, reported better shuttle-run and jump tests after 5 weeks, but mat Pilates did no better than planks in another, and no trial measured match play. Jump and balance training have more evidence for footwork tests.
"Definitive evidence demonstrating an association between core instability and injury is lacking". The badminton warm-up that went with fewer injuries combined strength, balance and jumps, and strength and balance training are what prevent injuries across sports.
Danish players ruptured their Achilles "despite limbering up", stretching hasn't prevented injuries in other sports, and long holds just before play cost a little performance. Warm up with the PreventiBad warm-up instead.
97% of 31 Swedish players with a rupture were recreational players or beginners, at an average age of 36.
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A review of 119 papers describes Pilates as "a mind-body exercise that focuses on strength, core stability, flexibility, muscle control, posture and breathing". For badminton, the useful parts are calf, hip, trunk and shoulder strength and one-leg balance (our reading).
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Competitive play is 7.0 to 9.0 METs, a lunge loads the front leg with 2 to 3 times body weight, and injuries rise with level of play.
The badminton Pilates trials used mat work, and in young footballers the reformer did only a little better than the mat on a few tests.
It can train the trunk, hips, calves, one-leg balance and the shoulder blades at low load, which match where players get hurt. The badminton Pilates trials are small and measured fitness tests, not play or injuries, so use it beside your training, not instead of it. Our yoga for badminton players guide covers yoga.
Maybe a little on tests: one small trial found better shuttle-run and jump scores after 5 weeks, but another found mat Pilates no better than planks. Footwork, jump and balance training have more evidence.
No study shows it. Ruptures cluster in recreational players around 36, often late in a game, so warm up every time, build back up gradually after a break, and strengthen your calves, as our badminton guide says.
It can strengthen the hips and train one-leg control, which suits lunging. No trial has tested any knee programme in badminton players, and a painful kneecap tendon needs our jumper's knee guide.
Half of players have had pain in it. Shoulder-blade and outward-rotation work on both arms is sensible, though no shoulder programme has been proven in overhead athletes, and a shoulder that hurts after play needs our shoulder guides.
No: use the PreventiBad warm-up, which went with fewer injuries in a youth trial. Long static holds just before play cost a little performance, so do Pilates on non-match days or after play.
Once or twice a week on non-match days, beside the strength and footwork workout twice a week off-season. That's our suggestion, from our badminton guide's plan.
Badminton is much harder on the heart and lungs: 5.5 to 9.0 METs against about 2.8 for Pilates. Pilates adds strength, control and balance, so they suit each other.
Balance training cut repeat ankle sprains in other sports, and Pilates one-leg work counts if you make it harder over time. Our Pilates after an ankle sprain class has the ankle work.
The springs add adjustable resistance, but the badminton Pilates trials used mat work. In young footballers, the reformer was only slightly better than the mat on a few tests, so use whichever you can get to.
It suits them for balance and strength, but use the PAR-Q+ first, as competitive badminton is vigorous. Chest pain, fainting or palpitations during play need 999, as the warning signs say.
For back pain in general, Pilates helps about as much as other exercise. Back pain is common in elite players; pain with leg symptoms or numbness needs the warning signs.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
