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Pilates Exercises For Runners | How Pilates Complements Running

Pilates complements running by helping to reduce the risk of injury and improve performance potential. For decades runners have only trained by running but it takes more than just strong legs and lungs to train safely and run effectively. Pilates focuses on strengthening the core muscles, improving flexibility, creating good alignment and balance, as well as breathing correctly and ultimately improving endurance.

CORE STRENGTH

One of the key principles of Pilates is core abdominal strength or your 'powerhouse' as Joseph Pilates liked to call it. The theory is that having a strong core allows the periphery of the body to move more freely. A runner endures constant impact while running, with the force of each step travelling up through the legs to the pelvis, lower back and rib cage. The core strength gained through Pilates not only makes those areas better able to deal with the impact, it also improves body alignment and balance. This helps the runner distribute the force of running throughout the body more efficiently; as a result, the body has greater endurance, avoids potential injuries and reduces post-exercise muscle soreness.

A STRONGER AND MORE STABLE CORE WILL HELP YOU TO:

  • Run more efficiently with stability and balance

  • Experience less tightening and tension around the neck, head and shoulders

  • Increase oxygenation and stamina with a diaphragm that is able to fully expand

  • Focus on correct movement with better awareness

  • Decrease fatigue because of less strain on the body

STRETCHING

Runners know that they should stretch before and after a run, but some runners’ training programs don’t focus enough on stretching. Strength and endurance training alone won’t provide the progressive stretching that regular Pilates workouts will.

Each Pilates exercise has focus on building both strength and flexibility in the bodies' muscles. There are common imbalances for runners such as tight quadriceps and hip flexors; there are specific Pilates exercises and stretches that can address these imbalances. Insufficiently stretched muscles can cause many problems for a runner, affecting performance and slowing them down, or leading to a serious injury.

COMMON PROBLEMS/IMBALANCES FOR RUNNERS:

  • Weak glutes or hamstrings

  • Overactive quadriceps and hip flexors

  • Tightness in the illiotibial band (ITB) (down the outside of the leg and into the side of the knee)

  • Feet imbalance (collapsed arches or sickling out), ankle problems due to imbalance or tight calves

Many runners run from their quads and don’t have power in their glutes or hamstrings. Not using the back of the legs efficiently results in the quads and hip flexors getting tight and overused and the hamstrings and glutes becoming weak. Using the glutes and hamstrings more efficiently creates balance and the body is equal and not just front-focused.

ITB syndrome is quite common in runners and can affect the alignment of the kneecap. Tightness in the quads at the front and ITB at the side can lead to painful misalignment in the kneecap and cause potential knee injuries when running due to the knee being under high impact.

AREAS OF YOUR BODY THAT NEED ATTENTION THROUGH PILATES:

  • Balance in the pelvis and hips: finding neutral pelvic placement, stretching the quads and hip flexors; strengthening the glutes and hamstrings

  • Posture: Opening the chest and shoulders, lengthening the spine and allowing more space for the ribs/increasing deep breathing

  • Knee alignment and stability: stretching out ITB and knee strengthening/alignment exercises

  • Ankles and feet: working on neutral ankle alignment and arch strength, calf stretches

  • Core strength and breathing techniques

Looking for some training tips and advice? Then head over to our Training category where our athletes and experts explain everything you need to know.

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