Older Adults as we know in today’s society are living longer and it’s vital that they stay as active and healthy as they can. Karen see lots of people with age related conditions such as Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, with these conditions movement and mobility as well as strengthening muscles around the joints is crucial. There are many people who develop early onset Osteoarthritis so for them keeping muscles strong around the affected joint is important. Adapting and teaching programmes which provide suitable and effective Pilates sessions for these types of conditions feature heavily in her teaching, which is aimed at helping to reduce the acceleration of joint degeneration and the results are exceptional. Pilates is an excellent way of continuing to improve mobility and strength in people who have had hip replacements as well as those who are on a waiting list for a replacement hip, although Karen admits that where possible she likes to try and remind people that one of their main goals should be to stay off these waiting lists all together!

Steve Law

As someone with arthritis who is planning on a fairly major sporting event next year, I realised I was going to have to improve my core muscle strength in order to train properly. This has already started to happen due to Karen’s expert tuition.

The difference between doing a pilates movement correctly and doing it wrong is very subtle. The small group sizes and Karen’s expert knowledge makes it much easier to learn the correct movements and retain the information to do your own additional sessions at home.

Another very important factor is targeting specific movements to the individual. Small adjustments in the general pilates exercises are sometimes necessary and Karen makes sure the movement is the correct one for you.