Pilates to aid Malaysian athletes in sports rehabilitation

Some 30 ISN’s staffs, including coaches, sports medicine specialists, physiotherapists, sports masseurs, nurses and athletes recently completed a 4-day workshop on “Pilates for Injury Prevention”

The intermediate workshop organized by the national sports institute, Institut Sukan Negara (ISN), in collaboration with Pilates studio Ambasadors of Love (AOLove) focused and incorporating Pilates in the treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of sports related injuries.

Pilates is a form of workout that focuses controlled movements to improve posture, balance, strength, mobility and flexibility.

ISN chief executive officer Ahmad Faezal Ramly commended AOLove for the excellent workshop program and expressed an interest in continuing the program for other departments at ISN.

“I believe this is moving forward for us, as we need to be relevant, to be trusted and also to be the leading excellence centre in sports medicine in the country,” Ahmad said at the program’s closing ceremony before presenting certificates to the participants.

Former national bowler Shalin Zulkifli who is currently the head of career branch at Malaysian Athlete Career and Education (MACE) also attended the program.

Shalin who announced her retirement in January 2021 due to constant injuries throughout her career had recommended the Pilates program by AELove to ISN after attending and benefiting from it herself.

According to AOLove Pilates studio founder, managing director and principal instructor Elaine Tan Yee Lin said “Movement heals, only when we do it right.”.

Elaine said in her speech that ISN’s physiotherapist Thomas who had been trained by her, applied Pilates principles to national diver Dato’ Pandelela Rinong and had managed to drastically reduce her back pain in one session without any physiotherapy manipulation.

She added the scientific approach of movement healing can correct back pain in 20 minutes and knee pain in two minutes after correction from the roots.

This method gave hope to her clients to move again instead of relying on surgery or pain killers which would have costed them around RM7K to RM8K.

“If your treat the roots, everything will fall in place. These are all helpful to quicken injury recovery of national athletes and improve their performance, and help them win medals for the country,” Elaine added.

Elaine, who has a Masters (MSc) First Class Honours Degree in Sports Science is a fully certified Stott Pilates instructor with more than 10 years of experience.

She added that it is important that Pilates routines are applied by certified instructors with the right knowledge as improper techniques or over-exercising may cause injuries to other parts of the body such as the neck and back.