With Pilates a stronger core, back, and pelvis are the main rewards, as well as increased flexibility, strength, and range of movement. The emphasis is on defining and strengthening key muscle areas, and if you do it properly, you can really feel the burn.
An improved posture is often the result for people who do Pilates regularly, as it makes you aware of how you stand, walk, and sit, and a stronger core supports a straighter spine. All of these factors will reduce susceptibility to injury when the miles start to stack up.
In terms of your lower body, your knees take a hammering when you train regularly. But Pilates can help here by strengthening the quads and hip abductors, which support the knees and hips when you run. Anything that you can do to strengthen weak areas will help prevent injury and ultimately provide greater running power.
A lot of runners talk about greater flexibility in muscles and joints after they have regularly attended a Pilates class, and the fact that there can be a resistance element really helps toning and sculpting of certain areas, especially the abs.
You can clear your mind too, perhaps not in the same way as a yoga class, which tends to focus more on re-establishing your relationship with your spiritual core, but certainly enough to leave refreshed and reinvigorated. If you have been using it as an active recovery session, you will not be disappointed and your body will soon start to show the signs of a Pilates tone.
With our sports Pilates it goes even further we take the traditional Pilates moves, and with my experience with running and a PhD in movement mechanics I design exercises on your feet that use the muscles we have started to strengthen on the floor. This allows much greater transfer to your running. Allowing your joints to take less pressure and force will allow you to run more efficiently, thus reducing the energy required for each stride. This allows more energy to go to moving quicker with less injury risk.
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