Using Pilates as cross-training for sports – How it compliments other workouts and helps your performance.

Pilates is of course a fantastic form of exercise and way to keep us fit and healthy in its own right. However, it can also be a brilliant way to cross-train if you are into sports or other forms of fitness. Whether you are a professional sportsperson or love to participate in sports for fun, adding a Pilates session into your training will always help to improve your performance.

Cross-training is where you add a different type of workout into your normal focused training, for a specific reason – this could be for variety, to achieve a certain goal, when injured or on recovery, or for enhancing a particular area of fitness.

For example, if you were a football player, you wouldn’t just train by playing football all the time, you might add some speed work, strength training, or a ball skills workshop.

You could also add some Pilates. There always seems to be a misconception that Pilates is dainty and feminine – a topic for another time – but both male and female footballers or even rugby players would find huge benefits from adding Pilates to their training, for recovery, flexibility and mobility, coordination, mental focus and obviously core strength.

Equestrian sports require a lot of core strength, balance and control, and Pilates is excellent for providing this, so that when riders are actually training with the horse things become much easier.

You may wish to improve your skiing with a stronger core, leaner and stronger muscles, stable joints, focus and perception.

I could go on to list almost every sport or physical activity and the benefits Pilates would provide for it. Instead – my aim is to help you realise and understand all the general reasons why you should cross-train with Pilates…

It's affordable and can be done almost anywhere. Minimal equipment is needed, just a mat. All you need is enough space to perform the movements safely. You may want to complete a whole hour-long class, a 20minute routine, or just spend 5-10 minutes working on a couple of specific exercises that will help you reach your goal. You could use it as a cooldown and stretch too. Pilates is so adaptable and can be suited to whatever your needs are.

Pilates aims to produce relaxation and release tension from the body. By reducing this tension, a form of stress, the body will be able to perform more effectively. You will find that movement becomes easier, and risk of injury is greatly reduced when working with relaxed muscles and joints. The long, lean, toned, strong muscle that Pilates produces is much healthier and well suited to sports and fitness, and because of this there is an increased prevention of injury. Muscles are more capable of withstanding stretches, twists, pulls, jolts, etc. Joints are stronger and much more stable, but also having increased mobility and flexibility.

Besides a prevention aspect, if you do happen to unfortunately pick up an injury or have an accident, Pilates can also improve your recovery rate. Due to the same reasons given above in prevention – these traits will also set you up for speedy rehab. As the muscles and joints were healthier to begin with, they will mend faster. You can continue to train many Pilates exercises during your rehab, as Physios will use very similar movements in their treatments. Most Pilates exercise can be adapted to suit individuals needs and be built up and progressed as recovery proceeds. And whilst you may be unable to take part in your actual sport-based training you can keep up your fitness through Pilates workouts.

Pilates focuses on perfect posture and alignment, one of the reasons why your joints will be so healthy. Stability is born out of training the muscles, ligaments, tendons and fascia deep inside the body to work optimally, holding everything strongly and securely in place whilst allowing for maximal flexibility and mobility. Using precise actions during each exercise the body learns and improves its natural correct alignment. This helps to encourage correct posture too. As a sportsperson you will understand the importance of having the body being able to perform at its peak and work optimally.

Over time Pilates helps to compensate and correct any imbalances the body has – an incredibly useful benefit for those who play sports such as golf, snooker, tennis, cricket, etc, where you are using one side of your body more than the other, using one arm more than the other, swinging, twisting, standing on one leg or leaning one way more than the other. These actions quickly pull the body out of alignment, and it will try to compensate by doing other movements incorrectly, because it comes under stress when it feels 'lop-sided'. Pilates addresses the need to balance out the body and works it evenly. Removing imbalances will help to reduce unwanted aches and pains, making you feel better in your normal training and top performances.

Balance and coordination are two other benefits gained from Pilates workouts. Equestrians and cyclists will notice the difference they feel from not only achieving a much stronger core but also naturally being able to find their balance in many positions. Everything comes from the core in Pilates – the powerhouse of all energy - and this transfers through the body to enable accurate control and placement when making movements and adjustments of position. The stronger your core the better your balance will be. Coordination comes from the precise movement performed during each Pilates exercise, and you will be able to transfer this precision into your sport.

Flexibility and mobility are a couple of the more obvious benefits, but you gain strength with them. Every Pilates exercise encourages the lengthening of the muscles, but there are also exercises that focus of areas of flexibility or mobility specifically.

Imagine a more powerful drive on the golf range due to improved shoulder and hip mobility, steady balance and smooth controlled energy radiating from the core; or how much further and accurately you could kick the rugby or football if your hips had better mobility and your hamstrings and hip flexors weren't so tight, your balance on one leg was greater and the energy and power from the core provided amazing flow.

Pilates is all about concentration and could help to improve your mental focus too. A whole round, game, run or match keeping focus on what you and your body should be doing is essential if you want to be at the top of your game/sport. Pilates can teach you how to keep your mind trained on what you're doing during competition, but also comes back to positivity in recovery, knowing that it's possible to get the body working at its best no matter where it starts from. The perfection of the mind-body connection in Pilates is essential – there's no time to think about the shopping, what's for dinner, what the audience is doing, or anything you've been worried or stressed about – you have to focus, and this is just how you want your mind and body to work together during your performance, to be focused on the task in hand. Take the same approach with the sport.

Finally, Pilates has the added benefits of boosting energy levels and improving sleep. Sleep especially is important for letting the body recover. If we don't get enough good quality deep sleep the body can't recover from its last training or performance. It's during this part of our sleep that the body releases proteins and chemicals to repair muscles. Also, if we've been training new moves, tactics or techniques, sleep is essential in consolidating the memory, so we remember how to do these again next time.

So hopefully you will agree that there are many benefits to adding Pilates to your training regime – it's always worth a try to see what a difference it can make.

If you'd like ideas on which Pilates exercises would suit your sport or activities best, get in touch and I'd be happy to help you integrate some Pilates into your training or work with you (and/or your team), to get all the benefits possible to enhance your performance.