It’s exciting to see an increasing number of pro-athletes adding Pilates to their training programs, and appreciating the results.
So why is Pilates proving so popular, and what are these athletes gaining from their Pilates workouts? Here are my thoughts on what the real benefits are, and why this is important for all athletes to know, not just the professionals.
Benefit #1: Pilates improves and controls your mobility and flexibility
Any trainer or coach will tell you that flexibility and mobility both play a huge role in how your body moves, and ultimately performs. It’s important to highlight that being too flexible and mobile (hyper-mobile or double-jointed) can be as detrimental to your performance as having limited flexibility and mobility. Either way it’s your range of motion that’s affected, we need our movements to be as fluid and efficient as possible. Pilates incorporates dynamic stretches and elongated poses, resulting in lengthened and limber muscles. When dealing with hyper-mobility Pilates teaches control (when to reign in your stretch). The springs built into the Pilates equipment, ensures you’re staying in control of your movements. In Pilates mat work, this can be harder to feel, props like the Pilates ring/circle or ball (as demonstrated by Cristiano Ronaldo) are great to use, as these give you the feedback you need.
Benefit #2: Pilates improves muscular imbalances
For athletes that focus on one sport, repetitive movements and overuse of particular muscle groups can lead to what’s known as ‘muscular imbalance’. This is when muscles on one side of a joint or the body are stronger than those on the other side. This results in your movements being irregular, putting too much stress on your dominant side, and can result in an injury. For example, a runner or cyclist might develop strong quadriceps but have weaker hamstrings. Quarter backs, soccer and tennis players rely heavily on their dominant arm or leg, which inevitably becomes stronger than the other.
The Pilates ‘full-body’ approach means that during your workout you are taking your body through every movement pattern: bend (hinge), squat, lunge, push, pull, twist, and gait (walking), ensuring that no muscle group is forgotten and any imbalances can be spotted easily. Starting your Pilates training with a one-one session allows your teacher to assess your individual movements, find any imbalances, and develop a personalized program to help improve and correct them.
Benefit #3: Pilates focuses on functional fitness
Pilates doesn’t just train your muscles; it trains your movements. This defines functional fitness. This type of training suits everybody because it ensures your body is primed for everyday activities, not just your sport. How does this translate for athletes? If you train the specific movements that your sport demands, you will improve how your body performs those movements, and become less prone to injury. Your body learns and adapts to those movement patterns, allowing you to move more cohesively and efficiently.
A great example of this is shown here by Novak Djokovic. He is known for his slide and reach technique to hit a return shot. He is training this movement on the Pilates reformer with resistance, the outcome is that his body is more used to this movement, enabling him to handle the stress it’s put under to reach for those shots, meaning he is less likely to suffer a strain.
Benefit #4: Pilates helps to reduce overtraining
There is a fine line between rigorous training and overtraining. Whether you’re a professional, elite or everyday athlete, research highlights that cross-training allows recovery, keeps you mentally engaged, and could even reduce your risk of injury. For all these reasons and more, Pilates is a great cross training option, as it offers a challenging but safe alternative to your normal program. For longevity and health, it’s important to train smart, not just hard. Pilates focuses on the quality of movement over lots of repetition, which allows you to maximize the benefits without unnecessary wear and tear.
Benefit #5: Pilates helps to build a strong ‘core’
This is the most common phrase I hear when people talk about Pilates, so what does it actually mean and why does it matter? Forget about ‘six-pack abs’ for a moment, and go a little deeper. Your ‘core’ is made up of the muscles in your abdomen, lower back, hips, and pelvis, which includes your diaphragm. Your core is the foundation, and control centre of your body, it’s responsible for stabilizing your spine, pelvis, and ribcage during everyday movements. When you continually fail to engage your core in movement, you begin to overcompensate in other areas, such as your back, increasing your likelihood of injury.
In sport, having strength in your core, enhances your ability to generate power, transfer force between different body parts, and helps maintain optimal form.
How does Pilates training specifically help with this?
- Almost every Pilates movement engages your core in some way, from exercises that work those specific muscles, to more dynamic movements that utilize multiple muscle groups at once.
- Using equipment (the reformer), or props (ring/circle), challenges your core stability and balance whilst you’re doing an exercise. This means that while you might be focusing on one area of your body, your core muscles are in fact switched on and engaged.
- You’ll discover muscles you never knew you had. Holding certain positions during Pilates routines helps to engage deeper, smaller muscle groups you might not normally train, leading to a more comprehensive workout.
- Pilates promotes a mind-body connection. This is one of the fundamentals of Pilates, founded by Joseph Pilates himself. Developing a strong mind-body connection is crucial for effective core training. In other words, it takes focus to think about and use your core muscles consciously during exercise, ensuring proper activation.
With these benefits it’s no wonder that NFL, NBA, NHL, Rugby, Soccer and Tennis players, plus Olympians are embracing Pilates training, and have been for years already.
If you think you will benefit from adding Pilates to your training program, take advantage of our ‘Intro to Pilates’ package of 3 x 50min 1:1 sessions from our clinic in downtown Canmore, Alberta.
Click here to book your first one-one Pilates session with Claire
Useful links and references:
Getting to the core of why NFL players love Pilates – https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/
LeBron James Pilates workout – https://youtu.be/
Jaelan Phillips of the Miami Dolphins Pilates workout – https://www.instagram.com/reel
Cross-Training is effective for all Athletes – https://www.healthline.com/
Pilates” how does it work and who needs it?’ – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
The Pilates Circle https://amzn.to/40tjfrc
The Pilates Ball https://amzn.to/40wsYgq
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