How safe are Roman Chair exercises for a person with swayback posture?
I have a client who is kyphotic as well as slightly swayback whose physical therapist has prescribed roman chair back extensions. Personally, I think those exercises are for advanced exercisers and as a pilates instructor as well as personal trainer, I’m sure my client is more likely to end up with low back pain. Any comments?
When I was a novice trainer and did not know any better, I had a client who claimed that many low back exercises bothered her. In my desperation, I went to the Roman Chair, and, after the first few back extensions there, her face lit up and she proclaimed it to be the best lower back exercise she ever did. It never presented a problem. Would I do the same thing today? Probably not.
Is there a chance that you can talk to the physical therapist and ask for a clarification? Surely you can find some wording in the PT prescription for which you need extra information 😉 Has the client done those exercise under the PT supervision? There are different angles of Roman Chairs; which one?