TAHOE Calif. — Ladies, have you ever asked your guy to go to Pilates with you? What was his response? “Do I need a tutu…Pilates is for girls.” “Pilates is easy.” “Where are the weights?” “What the heck is Pilates anyway?”
Today, professional athletes who use Pilates to improve and maintain their game include: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Jason Kidd of the NBA; Curt Schiling of MLB; Gary Brackett of the NFL; and golfers Phil Mickelson and Rocco Mediate.
Many sports franchises have Pilates equipment on site and shipped to their players on the road. Locally, athletes at the High Fives Foundation not only practice Pilates but also house a Pilates facility, open to the public, at their C.R. Johnson Healing Center in Truckee. Skiiers, boarders, mountain bikers, climbers, road cyclists, golfers, and tennis players all turn to Pilates.
LeBron James led his team to the 2012 NBA champion and was voted MVP. He delivered when so many questioned if he ever would. Or could. What gave him the extra edge to get the results he was after?
LeBron James averaged 43.4 minutes per game during the playoffs…How does he have the stamina? Like so many of the best athletes in the world, James gives credit to a combination of swimming, yoga and Pilates for his stamina. “Does it work for everybody? I don’t know,” James said Friday. “I’m not a guru about how to be in the best condition — don’t let me sit here and tell you that. But it works for me.” Why do so many of the rich and famous incorporate pilates into their workout? Because they get the results they are looking for.
His team mate NBA All-Star Dwayne Wade – said I have tight hips and I felt I needed to loosen up and be more flexible as I got older,” . He started taking private yoga lessons. “Just basic yoga—I wasnt ready for the hot stuff,” he said. “Yoga is a totally different way of stretching and really challenging.” Mr. Wade says he persuaded his teammate, LeBron James, to join him.
“He’s stiffer than me,” he joked. James, in turn, persuaded Wade to try machine-based Pilates that included the Pilates Reformer, Pilates Cadillac, Pilates Chair, Pilates Barrel, and Magic Circle. Each Pilates Machine is engineered to lengthen muscles and strengthen the core muscles while being in perfect balance & alignment. “I really felt the Pilates loosen up my muscles,” said Wade.
The attention to strengthening, lengthening and balance, paid off during the season. “I recall one time making a move, and the basketball ended up under my foot and I almost did a split on the ball.” Normally, that’s a groin pull, but because of of the Pilates and yoga he bounced right back.”
Former Calgary coach Darryl Sutter who has Kings primed for 2012 Stanley Cup glory had Davis has worked with many Calgary-based hockey players such Martin Gelinas.
Cassie Campbell-Pascall former Canadian female ice hockey player who captained Team Canada to the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics in Turin states.
Cassie Campbell captained Team Canada to the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.
“One of the best moves I made after retiring was to start doing Pilates. I wish I had learned earlier about the benefit Pilates would have on my body.”
I started working out regularly with Stephanie Davis, who works out of the Calalta Figure Skating Club in Calgary. I realized as soon as I started working with her how us hockey players tend to be deficient in so many areas.
A large part of that is due to the nature of our sport in how we balance speed and power with physical contact. I was lucky throughout my career when it came to injuries. I mostly dealt with the common hockey issues (back and shoulders) and I was out for seven months with a pretty severe neck injury, but the common groin stuff never really factored into my career.
Taking Pilates plunge
Devan Dubnyk - Edmointon Oilers
With so many injuries occurring throughout this NHL season I thought I would parlay Davis’ views on why hockey players suffer so many groin injuries. She quickly pointed out to me during our discussion that she’s no doctor and recommends the collaboration of all people when dealing with training a high performance athlete. Well said!
Former Calgary coach Darryl Sutter who has the NHL Kings primed for 2012 Stanley Cup glory had Davis has worked with many Calgary-based hockey players such Martin Gelinas, Rhett Warrener, Braydon Coburn, Devan Dubnyk and Jason LaBarbera. Most recently she helped Theoren Fleury attempt his comeback to the NHL. She is a former figure skater and competed at Canadian nationals, so she is in tune with the athletic body. Testimonials
Davis has worked with many hockey players such Devan Dubnyk, Jason LaBarbera, Martin Gelinas, Rhett Warrener, and Braydon Coburn . She is a former figure skater and competed at Canadian nationals, so she is in tune with the athletic body.
Here are some of her theories on why hockey players suffer groin injuries. Just for your information!
1. We have weak feet: Due to the stiff hockey skates we wear, there is no need for our feet to be strong. However, without strong feet we do not have a proper balance point. This in turn makes everything unbalanced from the bottom up. I found this evident when I first tried speed skates. With no support I really felt that I was going to break my ankles! I did one loop and that was that!
2. We have a weaker lower core: We have weak stabilizing muscles near the pelvis area. This is almost like comparing our body to a car that has a loose wheel. If one wheel is loose then the others can’t do their job. If the core is not doing its job, other parts will over work, like our hip flexors, or groin.
3. We lack flexibility: The reason why more players have started taking up Pilates and yoga is because they realize the need to have more balance when it comes to overall strength and flexibility. Stretching the myofascial (which is painful to me) is like giving the joints WD40 so they are free to move. One side might not have the same range as the other, but balancing this out is the key. When the leg goes out in a hockey stride, it might not move as freely as it should or it will with strain due to lack of flexibility. Over time, this general hockey movement becomes strenuous because the leg doesn’t come back to the centre of the body. This causes an imbalance just from skating and adds more load to different areas, like the groin. In order to optimize power, an athlete not only needs to build strength by lifting weights, but they need to have a better balance between strength and flexibility
4. Our quads are too strong: Every motion we do is based on quad strength. However, there needs to be a balance. All the anterior leg muscles (i.e. quad, hip flexors) tend to be stronger then the posterior muscles (hamstring, glutes) causing a very big imbalance.
Balance between strength, flexibility and stability
We can also look at other factors that impact why hockey players get groin injuries – the poor quality of ice or the increased stiffness that hockey skates are made with year after year – but in essence, I think there’s often too much emphasis on building strength and power and not enough on flexibility. Is it the chicken before the egg or the egg before the chicken? Each athlete has to find balance between strength, flexibility and stability when training.
I am no doctor, but it kind of irks me how so many players struggle with groin injuries in the NHL. It’s not something that’s as serious as head injuries, obviously, but the prevalence of groin injuries has to be a concern for all NHL teams and their trainers.
Redskins RT Jammal Brown has incorporated yoga and Pilates into his workout regime to prevent injury. He said he took it as a challenge when coach Mike Shanahan told him after the season he needed to stay healthy.
He has incorporated yoga and Pilates into his workout regime. “I mean, anytime the boss man wants to talk to you and he sees something he wants you to work at, you take that full force. Thats why he incorporated a hybrid Mind Body workout during the whole offseason to show the coach that he took what he said serious.”
Brown said it was tough performing yoga in 105-degree rooms. But he said he’s noticed greater flexibility. “I feel I can bend better,” he said. “I can play with a better base. I can play with a stronger base. Those are the most important things for an offensive lineman. … [Last year] I couldn’t put as much power on it as I want or move exactly the way I wanted.”
HE’S Victoria’s own Olympic hard man, our great hope for white water gold. He has rugged looks and steely determination. However, when it comes to the winning edge, slalom canoeist Warwick Draper shows a softer side.
He credits Pilates for keeping him at his peak and says everything simply slows down when he finds himself barrelling down a raging torrent of water.”It’s moving meditation, if you get it right,” he said.”Part of what keeps me in the sport is chasing down the runs where you are absolutely on song, focused and everything is in slow motion. That’s the best feeling you can have, when you get your best performance.
“Draper, 35, flies out today to begin preparations for his third Olympic Games.This time he plans to bring back a medal.He was fifth in the K1 final in Beijing and said that result only cemented his resolve to continue with the sport he discovered while at high school.”The result was disappointing but I wouldn’t say it devastated me, more that it motivated me,” he said.”A lot of the time athletes don’t get the results they want. But you have to aim for what’s possible. You have to aim for gold. And I certainly will be doing that in London.”If I come away with a good performance and it’s not a gold medal, then I will be happy with that.
“The Victorian Institute of Sport athlete has a gruelling training regimen that includes being in the gym three times a week and on the water sometimes twice a day.After he contracted glandular fever in 2009, Pilates proved a secret weapon.”It’s a big part of my training and one of the reasons I’ve been able to do it for so long. I think it is something that has improved me incredibly.”Draper said he was confident of making his mark against fierce competition, mostly from Europe.”I seem to be at my best in the Olympic years so hopefully it will all come together in London.”
WHEN Julia Gillard the Prime Minister of Australia asked Bob Carr to join her Cabinet she could expect a respected statesman to take charge of the nation’s foreign affairs.
She probably didn’t realise she was also getting Australia’s closest thing to Barack Obama: a politician who goes home from a long day straight to a brutal, torso-shredding Pilates work-outs.
Senator Carr has boasted on twitter he was ripping up his “abs of steel” with a two-hour Pilates class.
At 6.38pm yesterday he tweeted: “A few very crowded days and now the perfect antidote: nearly two hours of Pilates. Go for it folks – abs of steel!”
Senator Carr joins an esteemed list of global leaders and their spouses who work hard on their appearance. Tony Abbott, Gordon Brown, Obama’s…
But who could blame the minister for engaging his core like never before. Core and Cardio exercises are an important part of a well-rounded fitness program.
He plays the Incredible Hulk in his new film, Avengers Assemble, and Mark Ruffalo incorporates Pilates into his superhero workout like so many other superhero’s
The 43-year-old did a combination of Pilates, taekwondo and gymnastics to get into what he calls ‘superhero shape’.
Super sexer Gwyneth Paltrow underwent a spectacular physical transformation for her super hero role, helped by daily Pilates sessions with trainer Tracy Anderson, who was recommended to Gwyn by pal Madonna.
Paltrow claimed that her previously rigorous yoga regimen “ruined” her body for a period of time. I somehow lost my waist because of intense yoga training.
The exercise diminished her curves, and her physique looked “boxy but with stretching and Pilates exercises I hit form again”.
Gwyneth’s Pool Side Gym features a Pilates Cadillac Convertible.
Mind Bodies: Yoga, Pilates, pedicures. They don’t sound like the workout routine of a pro-basketball player. But Dwyane Wade, the superstar shooting guard with the Miami Heat, has embraced them.
During last year’s lockout, players couldn’t get access to NBA team facilities or trainers. “The lockout meant I was working out with a different trainer,” says Mr. Wade, “and he introduced me to different types of workouts that I didn’t even know my body needed, like yoga.”
Mr. Wade, who turned 30 in January, could be considered old by NBA standards. He says a large part of his preseason training was focused on keeping his body healthy and injury-free through the season. Nevertheless, he has struggled with injuries, including a strained calf and sprained right ankle.
In addition to his time on the court and in the gym, Mr. Wade, who stands 6 feet 4 inches and weighs 220 pounds, puts in time on the massage table. “I’m huge on massage work,” he says. “I’ve done more stretching this season than ever before. My therapist’s hands get tired from working on me.”
The most successful player in British history, Ryan Giggs, credits the extension of his career to Pilates. He claimes Pilates is the reason he’s still playing at 38 and “I’m enjoying life working for Sportsmail and Sky”Manchester United’s amazing winger is the most successful player in British history and is estimated to be worth £24 million. Yet despite his nearly twenty years in the football limelight we barely know anything about Ryan Giggs the man. One thig we do know he loves Pilates.
There was a time when the ‘magic sponge’ man splashed cold water on your face, regardless of the injury you had. Now football has highly-trained and very skilled medical and technical teams responsible for a multi- million-pound industry.
Manchester City have recently taken Tottenham’s head of fitness, Sam Erith. It used to be about poaching a rival centre forward, now it’s the technical staff. Everyone is looking to gain an advantage; the fine details learned practicing Pilates difference and gives him the edge he needs.
Despite all his accolades and silverware, Giggs’ greatest achievement has been his ability to cope with the distractions and temptations available to the modern day footballer. He has refrained from a life of excess, he conducts himself impeccably at all times and his hunger for the game has not been filled by the money he has acquired along the way.
He plays football solely for a love of the game and a desire to succeed fo nearly 20 years. Pilates has helped him extend his carrier, stay injury free, and play long and strong.
Why do the rich and famous choose Pilates? It works!
Giants Aubrey Huff reports his body is “ripped” and Pilates will be a key to his 2012 revival
In late August 2010 San Francisco Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff was mired in a slump at the plate and his team was trailing the San Diego Padres for the National League West crown.
Huff’s solution to his problems? Wearing a red, rhinestone-studded thong of course. Huff credits Pilates his thong, and his mother for his key role in the Giants first World Series championship since moving to the Bay Area over 50 years ago.
During the Giants championship parade in San Francisco, Aubrey Huff showed all his lucky charm while speaking in front of the city’s Civic Center and Town Hall…:-)
Huff’s wife is a Pilates instructor. Before his 2010 World Championship Huff did Pilates three times a week. His muscles felt better, his back didn’t hurt as much and his general sense of well-being was enhanced. Then….during the 2011 season , “for some stupid reason, I didn’t do Pilates.” He proceed to have an awful 2011 season and was called out for poor conditioning by the franchise and probably his wife.
“I think I’m preparing a lot better this off season as far as Pilates,” Huff said “I’m feeling physically better this year. I know I’m making a lot of money to go out and get it done.
“I want to go out this year and do the best I can . All I can do is what I’m doing this off-season (Pilates+) and let the chips fall where they may.” “My body is ripped.”
Why do the rich and famous choose Pilates to enhance their performance? … It works!
HE’S Victoria’s own Olympic hard man, our great hope for white water gold. He has rugged looks and steely determination. However, when it comes to the winning edge, slalom canoeist Warwick Draper shows a softer side.
But you have to aim for what’s possible. You have to aim for gold. And I certainly will be doing that in London.”If I come away with a good performance and it’s not a gold medal, then I will be happy with that.
WHEN Julia Gillard the 
But who could blame the minister for 
Manchester City have recently taken Tottenham’s head of fitness, Sam Erith. It used to be about poaching a rival centre forward, now it’s the technical staff. Everyone is looking to gain an advantage; the fine details learned practicing Pilates difference and gives him the edge he needs.