Pilates For Runners in Marbella Spain

Marbella has some of the best places imaginable to go for a run, whether its along the beach in San Pedro, the trails in the hills of Benahavis or along the Paseo Maritimo in Marbella (like David Beckham), below are some of the great benefits Pilates give to jogging enthusiasts

What is Pilates?

Pilates is often compared to yoga, but they actually have very different backgrounds. While yoga is a centuries-old practice with close links to spirituality, Pilates is a mind and body conditioning technique developed by Joseph Pilates in the 1920s. Classes feature exercises to improve core stability and encourage healthy posture. Various pieces of equipment such as stability balls, resistance bands, foam rollers and Pilates studio equipment, like Reformers, may be used.

Pilates has 2 Fundamentals

- One is correcting the alignment of the body

- Working on your breathing and centering, which is our core stability.

Why should runners do Pilates?

In a recent study trained runners who took part in a 12-week course of Pilates

(two one-hour sessions each week) significantly improved their 5K time, VO2 max and the metabolic cost of running.

What's more, more stability is essential for good running technique and to help avoid injury.

What’s the difference between mat-work Pilates and Reformer Pilates?

Both classes work the same muscles in the same way, but just with different challenges. Mat-work takes place on the floor and can be done without any equipment or with small items to make it more challenging (such as balls, bands and rollers). Reformer classes use Universal Reformers. These are frame structures with springs and pulleys that provide resistance as exercises are carried out, and give a symmetrical grid to work in. Absolute Pilates Marbella are specialists in Mat-Work & Reformer Pilates in Marbella, Spain

What are the benefits of each kind?

With Reformers, the closed chain environment provides a particularly effective workout. We can really work on correcting hip, knee and ankle alignment, and improving the tracking of the knee.

Particularly useful for runners with knee problems, we can focus on the vastus medialis obliquus, one of your quadriceps. Even though runners often get strong quads, this stabilising muscle can be weak.

In terms of mat-work, the main benefit is you can do mat-work anywhere, in particular before and after your run and we offer Mat-work Pilates throughout the week in our San Pedro studio or can teach it to our clients privately in their own homes.

So if you are a keen runner come join us for a class and begin to enjoy the benefits.

Tracy x