5 Reasons you need to try Sports Pilates

1. Reduce Injury Risk

Consistency in training is massive. Keeping your body healthy so that you can consistently train is the key to improving your times.

Running economy is generally accepted as one of three major factors in running performance. VO2max and a good lactate threshold being the other two. Running economy simply means how efficiently you can run at a given intensity.

Using a car analogy, running economy is how much fuel does it take to go at a certain speed. You could have a great engine that is efficient but if the tires are not pumped up it will burn a lot more fuel.

It is the same with our bodies.

If we leak energy, through a weak core that does not keep us in the ideal posture, inadequate leg strength that doesn’t allow us to push off the ground correctly, or tightness in our joints that makes it harder to move smoothly and efficiently then we will not get the most out of our performances. Doing our Free Trial of Sports Pilates can show you the moves that you should be practicing.

Having a strong core allows us to move forward as efficiently as possible. The first picture shows me running with poor core and hip strength.

My joints are twisted and my body is nearly fighting itself so I am losing forward momentum (I also got a hip injury from running this way but its fixed now). The second photo I am more inline and all effort and energy is going where it should.

The second element to running economy is good mobility in the joints. If you are very stiff then it is harder to move your joints thus taking more energy. Think about a rusty chain on a bike, it is harder to cycle. Just running can cause us to tighten so it’s important to do some exercises each week (my goal is 45 minutes per week) to help you move smoother. This is the goal with Sports Pilates to get you stronger and moving better so it helps with your running. We also have foam rolling, mobility and massage ball routines as bonuses to keep you loosey goosey!

3. Greater Overall Health

As we touched on in the first two points, running on its own doesn’t necessarily improve overall health.

It is great for cardiovascular fitness, burning calories and psychological wellbeing. However, the repetitive actions can cause us to tighten and stiffen our joints. Sports Pilates works on getting you moving better and stronger. This counteracts any negative effects of running. So, you get the great CV fitness of running and the muscular strength and joint mobility of our Free Trial of Sports Pilates.

Not all Pilates is the same. Sports Pilates is designed for runners. This means we learn how to activate and work muscles on the ground but then transition to your feet. I design and perform all our Sports Pilates classes. I have a PhD in Human Movement, I am a chartered physiotherapist and I am a multiple Irish international (sub 4 min miler, sub 14 min 5k and sub 30 min 10k) and Over 35 3K European Champion.

I use all my experience with running and my profession to design the Pilates most needed for runners to avoid injury and stay healthy. We change the focus every week. There are so many different areas that need to be worked on. Each week in our 8 week course is different with a different focus. This way we build overall strength and become fully functional.