The second reason is that I warm up prior to class starting. Even though the teacher goes through 5 or 10 minutes of warming up before hand and then usually does anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes of Sun Salutations or other flows to start the class, I have a general sequence of warm ups that I do before hand. Much of what I do focuses on the Psoas muscle getting warmed up. I have a set 10 minute series that I do before hand that just focuses on stretching my lower back. I also do a 10 to 15 minute core workout as well. This focuses on strengthening my lower back and abdominal muscles. Both warming (and stretching ) the back and then working on strengthening what with weakness causes back injuries, I am working on the physical weaknesses that I have. I do this both at a home practice and in the studio. As we get older our bodies take longer to stretch and prepare for vigorous exercise. By coming earlier I know I start the class warmed up already. Also, the core workout,while short, is really beneficial.
There is a great book called "Back RX" that I got from the library. One of my instructors mentioned it to me and the flow that it provides is really great and pretty simple (though some exercises were very tough when I started).
http://www.amazon.com/Back-RX-15-Minute-Day-Pilates-Based/dp/1592400450
I highly recommend reading the book. I tend to supplement this with some additional positions (mainly Navasana or Boat and some additional crunches) as part of my warm up. Navasana is below. I get no where near this high. It really taxes your full body and it is very hard to hold for more than 5 long breaths.
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