The benefits of Pilates as a mind & body workout for athletes is becoming more apparent as more and more top golfers, runners, triathletes and rugby players are seeing improvements in their game or event. No longer is Pilates just a ‘dancer’s’ or ‘woman’s’ exercise. The vast potential for Pilates training as part of an athletic workout is finally being realized just as Joseph Pilates envisaged in the 1930’s.
Many pro-athletes are incorporating Pilates into their regular training. This is because it enables them to strengthen muscles from the inside, developing the core strength to complement the often rigorously trained superficial muscles through sports related training and strength conditioning.
Athletes start subconsciously thinking about their ‘centre’ or ‘core’ and find they have more power as a result. Generally sports people are good at their chosen sport, but Pilates offer a new challenge to their pre-conditioned bodies forcing them to think about what they are doing physically and mentally.
The result is improved kinesthetic awareness of the body as a chain of functional units and an overall improved balance throughout the body. By drawing awareness to postural alignment while performing movements it has the knock-on effect of enhancing technique and reducing unwanted stress and strain on the muscles and joints, thus preventing injury or aiding recovery from injury. The benefits are progressive and long-lasting into the season- increased power, strength and mobility.
Benefits for Athletes
• Self awareness- knowing how the body moves and responds to its need to move
• Breathing- Control of breath during stressful, high tension situations, improved lung capacity for going the extra mile
• Improved focus – to allow for optimal athletic performance and improve that golf swing!
• Improved balance and co-ordination
Pilates can be tailored to your needs as a sports person, be it high level or leisure, golf or adventure racing. For instance with golfers, when you’re swinging, because Pilates emphasizes initiating from the core through the peripheral limbs, power is generated from the ground up, which will lead to an increase in club head speed. In golf, players compete against gravity in a three-dimensional, unstable environment. The exercises in a well-designed Pilates programme directly enhance the golfers’ ability to keep their center of gravity (upper body) aligned over their base of support (feet and legs).
A common problem with both runners and cyclists is biomechanics- or in other words the way their body interacts with their environment- mainly hips, knees and feet. Pilates targets the gluteus maximus and medius muscles which, ironically are often weakened through the nature of the demands of these sports, yet they are essential in the prevention of so many injuries from the low back down to the achilles.
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| Don't forget to bring your own Pilates/Yoga mat and wear loose fitting clothing that are comfortable to exercise in. |
