Professional athletes are always looking for that extra special boost in their personal workout regimens in order to improve their performance and endurance. Many athletes turn to Pilates to gain the upper hand in competition and to stay healthy through long competitive seasons.
Pilates is an ideal choice for all athletes, but especially those that are competing at the elite level. Joseph Pilates called his regimen Contrology and designed his exercises in order that his students acquired “complete physical control of the body via the mind”. Athletes train their bodies tirelessly on a daily basis. Adding in a Pilates session unlocks a deeper control and understanding of the power of the mind on physical movement.
At Endurance, we work with many professional hockey players during their summer breaks and provide them with regimens to “take home” with them during their seasons. One example of a muscle group that can benefit from a strong Classical Pilates practice are the inner thighs. Typically a hockey player has focused his or her entire life on the large muscles in the legs, front, back and outsides, including the glutes. In comparison, the muscles on the inside of the legs tend to be less developed. Inner thighs are crucial stability muscles for the trunk and in stride-returning an externally rotated and extended hip from a pushed off position back to the midline.
We train the inner thighs and the muscles of the core to participate and be active in all phases of an athlete’s movement pattern. This ensures protection from fatigue and improper muscle patterning. We utilize specific Endurance teaching exercises to educate our athlete’s muscles and minds in a basic warmup, then employ a workout phase using the Classical Authentic Pilates Mat or Pilates Reformer. We then extend our session with exercises on all of the Pilates Apparatus to address strength discrepancies, areas of weakness and layering of challenges to areas of strength. Many athletes find that Classical Authentic Pilates is the hardest workout they do.
We are able to challenge and benefit these movement professionals with a basic and controlled workout!
