Athletes of all disciplines can enjoy a myriad of great benefits with Pilates workouts. Whether you play team sports like rugby or football or individual sports like swimming, golf or tennis, Pilates has a world of benefits to offer you, some of which we’ll look at here.
Moreover, while the benefits that we’ll look at here will interest professional athletes, amateur and recreational athletes, and indeed everyone, will also benefit from Pilates exercises as it has so much to offer, including enhanced core strength and stability, improved flexibility and better joint movement, the opportunity to burn fat and develop muscle tone and so much more.
Reduced Injury Severity and Frequency
One of the most notable benefits of Pilates for athletes is that it can help to reduce the severity of injuries and the frequency with which they occur. It does this in two main ways, firstly by improving flexibility and joint mobility, which is naturally very important because the more flexible an athlete is the less chance of injuring themselves, and secondly, by improving posture, which is inherently beneficial to everyone.
Both benefits are important to people who play sports regularly, as athletes need to be as flexible and as limber as possible, regardless of what sport one engages in, and they also need to have good posture, as posture related problems account for a much higher percentage of all sports injuries than most people are aware of. With regard to posture-related issues, the main areas affected are the lower back (lumbar region) and hips, which are areas that all athletes can see the benefits to strengthening.
Increased Body Control
Because the very popular Baldivis Pilates classes use bodyweight and equipment that provides either resistance or support (depending on what the aim of the exercise is), it helps athletes to develop better body control by increasing their awareness of their body and the movements that they are performing. This helps them to improve movement and stability, which not only helps to reduce the frequency and severity of injuries, but also enables them to deliver a better overall performance.
Improved Body Power Output
One of the main benefits to Pilates is increased core strength and stability which enables athletes to deliver greater power output when playing sports. As it’s difficult to generate powerful movements if the core is unstable, Pilates enables athletes to overcome this and generate more power when moving, enabling them to deliver a greater performance.
What’s more, as many Pilates movements are unilateral, it helps athletes to improve their weak side (most of us have a weak side as we favour the side of our bodies that’s strongest), they’re able to further reduce the severity and frequency of injuries and give a better overall physical performance.
In conclusion, Pilates is excellent for athletes and sports players, regardless of what they play. The most notable benefits, as discussed here, are reduced injury frequency and severity, increased body control and improved power output. Whether you play sports professionally, at an amateur level or recreationally, Pilates has plenty to offer you.
