Pilates Works for Pro Athletes

By blinktech

If you’re a sports fan, you’ve probably heard of beach volleyball’s Olympic power-duo Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. And if you’ve seen them play, you’ve no doubt marveled at their grace and power on the sand. Both athletes embody the combination of strength, balance, and endurance it takes to be a world-class competitor. What you might not have guessed is that both May-Treanor and Walsh include Pilates as part of their training routines.

When The New York Times asked May-Treanor how her workouts differ from, say, yours or mine, her answer: “You’d be surprised. I think people think we do a tremendous amount of exercises that are completely different from what the general population can do. It’s not true. I think athletes in general have to be a little more disciplined and get our work in.”

So, if you’re asking why an athlete — someone in prime physical condition already — needs to add Pilates to his or her routine, it’s because athletes don’t just saunter onto the golf course or jump into the pool. There are hours and hours of behind-the-scenes workouts involved in high-level athletics. There is discipline.

A growing number of disciplined athletes, from LeBron James to Olympic diver David Boudia, are taking what they learn in the Pilates studio into their sport. Here’s what a Pilates workout, tailored to each individual athlete, can accomplish:

  • Build core strength from shoulders to knees to propel the body with fluid, controlled motion. Think about a swimmer’s ability to cut through water with as little splash as possible. This comes from a stable core.
  • Align the spine, enhancing balance and stability. Joseph Pilates said that a young spine equals a young person. Spine health is integral to proper sports techniques. Runners need to be as upright as possible to achieve maximum results. Balance is key. A tennis player must be able to teeter on tiptoe while returning a shot.
  • Prevent injuries. Tight, short muscles are more prone to injury. Pilates lengthens muscles and strengthens tendons and ligaments. Those explosive drives to the basket that LeBron is so famous for? If his muscles weren’t long and lean, he’d tear something new every week.
  • Rehabilitate injuries with workout modifications, depending on type and severity of injury. Many injuries are caused by misalignment. Baseball players, for instance, always hit and throw on one side, leaving the other side of the body to compensate in potentially damaging ways. Pilates can rebalance those issues by using controlled movement in exercises that accommodate, not exacerbate, an injury.
  • Integrate. Joseph Pilates said that Contrology (his own term for his exercise method) was the complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit. If you are an athlete, you know that sports are more than simply physical. The mental and emotional fortitude an athlete must develop can actually be cultivated in the Pilates studio through concentration and controlled movement.

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Cost-Benefit of One-on-One Sessions In the business world it's called a cost-benefit analysis: before paying for a product or service, you want to make certain there is a quantifiable benefit to shelling out all those dollars. If the benefits outweigh the costs, you're making a good investment.Here at Dynamic Fitness, we believe the health of our bodies is one of the best investments a person can make, but even more importantly, one-on-one instruction from a qualified Pilates teacher guarantees that the benefits of your workout will outweigh its costs.We've said it before, and we'll say it again. Pilates is all about targeted precision, quality versus quantity of movement. You'd be amazed how your body can change and strengthen by performing the right exercise in the right way! Pilates consists of over 500 controlled movements based on founder Joseph Pilates' six principles: :: Centering :: Control :: Concentration :: Flow :: Breath :: PrecisionIn essence, Pilates is a teaching tool using our mind-body connections to achieve optimal whole-body muscle balance for efficient, graceful movement. That's a lot to remember! One-on-one sessions with a properly trained instructor will actually allow you to incorporate each of these principles into your workouts more effectively-and with less injury risk. Here's why:Instructors trained to teach the classical method, the way Joseph Pilates intended, receive over 600 hours of training, from apprenticeship to written and practical exams, before they can become certified. This certification process prepares the apprentice to understand the Pilates system and teach a classically-based, integrated workout that utilizes both the mat exercises and the full range of advanced apparatuses. What does all that training amount to? Pilates instructors understand the subtleties of the human body and how the Pilates system can benefit and challenge each individual. Instructors actually learn how to modify workouts to individuals through working closely with them. From pregnancy to post-physical therapy to routine workouts, clients only benefit from knowledgeable one-on-one instruction.Another reason targeted, one-on-one Pilates instruction is important to the Pilates practitioner is our specialized equipment. When you walk into a full Pilates studio, you'll see the classical equipment integral to our workouts. Proper equipment training is essential to the Pilates experience. Using correct spring resistance to safely stretch and engage different muscles, the apparatuses Joe Pilates created achieve amazing results–when used correctly–and can actually train your muscles to react more effectively during mat workouts. For clients with experience in the method, who would like to incorporate group classes into their fitness regime, the benefits of these types of workouts will also be challenging and rewarding.So, in the end, sessions tailor-made to the individual maximize effort and reduce injury risk, thereby enhancing, teaching, and reminding students about how to properly execute each targeted Pilates exercise, in order to get the most out of the workouts–and the most out of our bodies! With all of these factors in mind, the benefits of one-on-one sessions far outweigh the relative costs and have lasting positive effects.
Cost-Benefit of One-on-One Sessionshealth
Pilates Reps -- Why So Few? Remember back in high school when your trigonometry teacher asked you a question after lecturing for an hour on the applications of the Pythagorean theorem? That familiar dread as you admitted to the whole class that you weren't paying attention? The knowledge that, even if you liked the subject, its delivery had been repetitious, boring, and ineffective, leaving you completely ignorant of the beauty of a simple equation? It might help to think of your normal gym workout as a boring math teacher. We've all experienced the dread of the gym -- not because we don't enjoy physical fitness, but because we become bored, under-stimulated, and unmotivated by our repetitious workouts. Oftentimes we include so many repetitions of that same bicep curl or lunge that we become dreamy and unfocused, our muscles sore and tired, our bodies out of alignment rather than invigorated and centered.A sloppy or forced workout creates a barrier between the mind-body connection, rendering the results of a workout less effective as we go about our daily lives. Nobody wants to be sore in the checkout line of the grocery store or too muscle-fatigued to grab a late meal with friends. Rather, we want to feel strong, able to shine in every activity we undertake. Here's where Pilates comes in. Because Pilates relies on the balance and focus of fewer repetitions to achieve overall fitness, you'll feel a whole-body integration throughout your day.Joseph Pilates wrote, "Contrology [his original name for Pilates] is not a fatiguing system of dull, boring, abhorred exercises repeated daily ad-nauseam." You won't catch yourself yawning or tearing muscles during a Pilates routine, because Pilates uses a variety of exercises (around 20-25 for beginners) that build on and flow into each other with fewer repetitions (an average of 5-10 reps). Based on the six major Pilates principles, these targeted movements with low repetitions can only be beneficial.Precision. Joseph Pilates said to "honor every movement," meaning that every single movement within an exercise requires integrity of purpose.Concentration. Bringing one's entire attention to each exercise exponentially raises the benefit of the exercise because it keeps the whole person engaged in the activity at hand.Breath. Proper breathing actually enhances each movement by oxygenating the blood, thereby increasing circulation and flexibility in the body. Proper breathing, then, requires fewer reps.Control. Control is about the awareness we feel in connecting our minds (concentration) to our bodies (movement). Control utilizes mental fortitude and bodily awareness, which reduces the risk of injury because you know what your body is experiencing.Centering. Pilates concentrates on proper alignment and core strength that radiates to our peripheral muscles. People with injuries on one side of the body can benefit from centering because healthy benefits radiate from the core and have a positive effect on both healthy and injured sides of the body.Flow. Each movement should be fluid, almost like a dance. Exercises are woven together with seamless transitions. Variety in a Pilates workout maintains overall symmetry and grace.In his book, Pilates, Rael Isacowitz writes, "Pilates encapsulates the concept of 'less is more' (quality versus quantity), which holds the key to deeper work and enhanced performance." Active people can't afford to be laid up with the soreness, stiffness, and muscle fatigue of an unbalanced workout. Nobody wants to ignore overall fitness because of injuries. Certainly nobody wants to be bored at the gym! Pilates' low repetition/high awareness system ensures success on every level.
Pilates Reps — Why So Few?health