Pilates for Runners: Quick Start

With 13 years of running under my fuel belt, it’s really easy to skip over the important FOUNDATIONAL components of training.

But if you aren’t willing to spend just 20 minutes a few times a week on base building work, it’s going to make reaching your goals much harder. Next week I’ll be providing some example plans for winter maintenance which is when you can really work on all the components that help you create a foundation which will lead to injury prevention and the speed you so desire!

The cure for the wrong kind of core movement isn’t to stop all movement, it’s to learn the right kind of movement.

Base building includes things like:

• Doing running drills
• Running hills (parking garage)
• Serious foam rolling and stretching
• Consistent full core workouts
• Serious attention to fueling properly

Today we’re focusing on one of those areas…CORE. Which as you know from this post is about so much more than just getting a six pack.
Why Pilates?
Great question, I am so very glad you asked! My friend Jessica over at Pace of Me actually became a Pilates teacher after seeing the massive benefits it brought about in her training. Her words say it so well:

Because it has made me more self aware and stronger from the inside out.  Because dedicating myself to Pilates has allowed me to run with more efficiency, more comfort, more strength and more confidence.

I wanted to be more fit and strong and I loved to run, but I found that when I would run long distances and get further into my training, my body would tire and my form would collapse resulting in injury and chronic pain. 

My core was not strong enough and as I got tired it all just felt apart.
I would slump over and my back and shoulders would ache.  With my shoulders hunched and my chest caved in, my breathing was then compromised and everything felt like such hard work.  

My pace would slow often to a walk and I just felt like giving up and often did.  It was not fun.  Something had to change if I wanted to keep running and if I wanted to improve as a runner.  I needed to commit myself to having a stronger core, to being more self aware.

What is Pilates?
As described by For Dummies: Pilates (pronounced puh-lah-teez and not pie-lates) is similar to yoga but emphasizes your body’s core — the abdomen, obliques, lower back, inner and outer thigh, butt, and so on.

For this reason, Pilates develops much of what exercisers need — strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, coordination, balance, and good posture — with a much lower chance of injury than with other forms of exercise. The discipline emphasizes correct form instead of going for the burn. With so many exercise variations and progressions, you may have a hard time getting bored with Pilates.

A #Pilates inspired core workout to make you a better runner! Click To Tweet

Ready to go?
Here is an easy at home workout you can try, to get familiar with out these moves are going to force you to think about your core and posture. If you LOVE this, good news, I anticipate more!

Have you ever tried Pilates?

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