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As a Pilates teacher, I from time to time counsel runners NOT to do Pilates. For the casual runner or someone who does a lot of different forms of exercise, I see no problem. But for someone who is trying to improve their running in some way Pilates (as it is typically taught) is probably not a good match, for the reasons you’re alluding to here. My feeling is it comes down to specificity of training: if I’m not mistaken, there’s research suggesting that triathletes have trouble improving times in all three of their sports because of the degree to which different strengths or skills are needed for each. And swimming, cycling, and running have much more in common than any of them does with Pilates, in my opinion. On the other hand, if you do gymnastics, certain kinds of dance, or certain martial arts, Pilates might be a great fit and help you improve tremendously. And if you’re someone who enjoys Pilates as a full-body system of exercise and wants to make it the cornerstone of your fitness regimen, wonderful!
Thanks for these great posts, Jae! Keep them coming!
ReplyThanks very much for your comments, Jeremy. I once had a long conversation with the strength and conditioning coach for the Mammoth Track Club under Terrence Mahon, and he expressed a similar view, that spending much time on core strengthing was time taken away from more productive training. If a person is running a lot and running properly, their core will alread be very strong from that!
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