Pilates for Athletes

Are you an athlete? Do you challenge your body with new demands every day? If so, this article is for you!

Athletes usually specialize in one sport – be it marathon, cross-fit, MMA, tennis, basketball, boxing, or anything else.

If someone is a tennis player, they won't go to football practice. Similarly, they won't prepare for a marathon by enrolling in a boxing course. We focus on what we want to be best at and what our passion is, and rarely engage in other forms of movement. And while there's nothing wrong with dedication, it's important to mention what happens when we constantly perform the same set of exercises:

• We overload the targeted muscle group.
• We don't use other muscles, so they cannot develop.
• Sometimes we only focus on our right or left side.
• We increase the risk of injuries.

Pilates provides answers to these and many other questions.

Dedicated athletes already spend their entire day training, so it's natural that they don't want to add another form of movement to their already packed training schedule. However, Pilates is worth making time for. More and more athletes are discovering the beneficial effects of Pilates, and this trend is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.

Joseph Pilates was also an athlete. In his youth, he was an exceptionally talented boxer and gymnast. Thanks to these two sports, he realized what was truly necessary to become successful athletes. Through his experience in sports, he easily understood that the body should not only be prepared for a specific sport. More elements are needed to achieve maximum performance. As a result of much thought and experimentation, the movement form we know today as the Pilates method (and which Pilates called Contrology) was created.

The body needs balance and harmony, but even elite athletes tend to forget about this. However, if we neglect to maintain balance for too long, it almost always leads to injuries. Many world-famous athletes protect themselves from injuries precisely with the help of Pilates.

In a perfect world, athletes would always have half an hour for Pilates. However, reality is quite different – athletes already spend several hours a day training, and there simply isn't an opportunity to squeeze Pilates into their schedule. That's why it's important for every athlete to learn how to integrate Pilates into their existing daily routine. If we're not sure if it's worth it, just think about how many careers ended prematurely due to an insidious (and easily avoidable) injury?

How can we achieve this?

If time is tight and we absolutely cannot enroll in a course, we don't have to give up on Pilates. We need to pay attention to three things, and all three can be easily incorporated into our existing training program.

One such thing is the feet. Athletes are on their feet 99 percent of the time during training. That's why Pilates developed a special routine that focuses exclusively on the feet. It consists of stretches and strengthening exercises that can be performed even during breaks between other exercises.

The other important thing is torso movement. The torso holds the body together, and from it comes stability, strength, and control. If our torso is not strong enough, the risk of injuries is much higher, especially during hard workouts. Pilates teaches us how to move the torso correctly, and we can feel its effects after just a few exercises.

The last, but perhaps most important thing, is breathing. Breathing supplies our body with oxygen, which allows us to perform well. Most often, however, one lung works harder than the other. This is especially common in sports where one side of our body is used more than the other. Tennis is an example of this. This leads to oxygen deficiency, which in turn reduces circulation and mobility. Therefore, every athlete must learn proper breathing techniques. One of the fundamental principles of Pilates is breathing, specifically deep inhalation and powerful, slow exhalation.

It would be a shame not to perform at our best and expose ourselves to unnecessary injuries, especially since all our problems can be remedied with something as simple as Pilates. Let's try to incorporate Pilates into our daily routine, and then all we have to do is enjoy its positive effects!