How Pilates Helps Athletes Train
In our last post, we interviewed Paige, an Olympic Weightlifter who has seen dramatic improvement through her Pilates practice over the past few months! If you missed that post, read it here. Today we want to dive a little deeper into how Pilates can be an effective training method for all different types of athletes, from weight lifters, to dancers, to soccer players!
Pilates is often thought of as being a slow, low impact workout- and it is! But the slow and controlled nature of Pilates movements does not mean they are not challenging. We focus on all muscle groups, including the deep stabilizers that conventional workouts often miss. These stabilizing muscles of the core and trunk are vital to sports performance and preventing injuries. How else can Pilates help athletes?
Core Training
The core is central to every movement our bodies make, including breathing! Whether running, throwing, catching, or anything in between: the core is vital in any sport or athletic activity. Pilates treats the core as the foundation of the entire body, not just an isolated muscle group. This helps athletes to integrate and engage their core with all of their muscle groups! Working and strengthening muscles not directly related to an athlete’s regular training helps to develop stability in the body.
Balances Muscles
Athletes, regardless of sport, typically have to repeat the same motion over and over, and they get REALLY good at it! Oftentimes, the body becomes strong on one plane of movement, such as running straight forward, but is weak in things like twisting, bending, or moving backward. Without the tools to train other parts of their body, athletes can develop muscular imbalance, which makes them much more susceptible to injury. Pilates integrates movement on all planes and in multiple directions, helping to balance muscle groups and create a holistically strong athlete.
Coordination
Coordination is an important part of any sport, from golf, to tennis, to gymnastics. The ability for multiple parts of the body to work together is essential for any athlete’s improvement and success! Pilates is a training method that engages the mind and body, and the exercises often include using the arms, legs, and core at the same time. The slow and controlled nature of Pilates increases an athlete’s awareness of how their mind is controlling their body’s movements. This helps to heighten hand-eye coordination and overall body awareness, which directly translates to sports performance.
Injury Prevention & Recovery
Most athletes will experience at least a few injuries over the course of their time in sports. As we mentioned before, developing muscular balance can help to prevent injuries by strengthening all planes of movement and both sides of the body. Low-impact training also helps muscles from becoming tight and rigid, therefore decreasing the risk of injury as well.
When injuries do occur, Pilates is a great option to help recover and build back strength from those injuries. There are many studies noting the effectiveness of Pilates as a form of physical therapy. It can be modified for any needs and is slow, controlled, and low-impact. Focusing on balance, circulation, and breathing helps the body as a whole recover excellently from injuries.
“Pilates is accessible for everyone and challenging for everyone.”
-Empowerhouse Pilates
As we continue this blog series, we will look at how Pilates can benefit different types of people and how it has been helpful in individual’s lives. If you have a story to share, email us at pellapilates@gmail.com!
If you are interested in learning more about Pella Pilates or joining a class, fill out the New Client Inquiry Form.
Sources:
https://www.empowerhousepilates.com/post/benefits-of-pilates-for-athletes
https://complete-pilates.co.uk/pilates-improves-sports-performance/
The Pilates Edge by Karrie Adamany and Daniel Loigerot
