Pilates for Athletes

Athletes in particular reap extraordinary benefits from regular Pilates, and tend to notice measureable improvement after only a few Pilates sessions. Their technique and performance becomes more controlled and precise as they become stronger and are physically reacquainted with their bodies and it’s movement.

The Pilates exercises work towards strengthening the core muscles of the body, as well as the supporting muscle groups. This is in contrast to focusing on solely the major muscles, as is the tendency of many popular exercise regimes. It’s common for people who have athletic lifestyles or who participate in sports (especially competitively) to focus on only the major or ‘obvious’ muscles groups while training. Oftentimes repeating the same training rituals over and over again in order to perfect their goals, important supporting muscles are neglected, and core strength training is commonly ignored. This results in a weak body as a whole with lots of ‘compensating’. This means less than optimum athletic performance and to make matters worse, will often lead to injury at some point.

An experienced Pilates teacher will identify weakness in the body and areas where the body is compensating or lacking in stability, and will tailor excercises to build strength in these areas and restabilize and re-align the body. The result is greater total body strength and body ‘awareness’, and in turn – a stronger golf swing, a more powerful breast stroke, or more purposeful and controlled running, walking, or jumping. When the body works as a whole, it works smarter, not harder, and performs better!

For Golfers: Pilates can help you greatly improve your golf game. Perfect your set up, swing, hit, follow through, down swing and back swing! Pilates can build shoulder girdle stability, pelvic stability, and strong spinal rotation. Strengthen your body for a better game now while also reducing the likelihood of a future sports related injury.

For Tennis Enthusiasts: Pilates can help you improve your lobbing and back hand by working on your rotator cuff stability and flexibility and your scapulae stability. Strengthen your body for a better game now while also reducing the likelihood of future sports related injuries.