Lorenzo Alexander Credits Pilates For Bering In The Best Shape Of His Life

Dave vs Dave: Pilates With Lorenzo Alexander: MyFoxDC.com

When healthy, Lorenzo Alexander is special teams ace and can play almost any position on defense. In recent years he has been slowed by hamstring injuries in two of the last three seasons.This off-season, however, he found a secret weapon to rehab his injury and kept him healthy this season: Pilates.  He liked it so much he bought himself a Pilates Studio.  In the below YouTube Video Lorenzo works out on the Pilates reformer.

”My core is tighter, my ligaments are stronger, and and have a better foundation"

“It’s probably the best thing I’ve done offseason wise, as far as training,” he said.  ”Every other day, I was doing something that would focus on hamstrings and glutes to get them strong.  This year, I feel like I’m healthy enough to sustain the grind of the season, and I haven’t had any problems with them.”I knocked on wood.  ”God willing,” Alexander responded.

Pilates is a fitness program that focuses on controlled movement and breathing in order to strengthen the support tissues around the dominant muscles.  This can improve strength and work to prevent injury, as it has for Alexander and many other world class athletes

“It allows me to be stronger than usual because it trains your core and ligaments before you work on the big muscles,” he said.  ”If that stuff isn’t strong enough, you’re not able to carry the weight and do the work, and be as explosive.”Alexander said that it was teammate Kedric Golston that got him involved with Pilates for the first time in February.Alexander’s only regret is that he hadn’t suppressed his pride and gotten involved sooner.“Once upon a time, I believed it was like yoga, and that’s for women.  That’s not for me,” he said with a smile.  ”But it’s not a feminine discipline, it can be very masculine, and you’ll feel better when you go to the gym.”How much better?

Alexander said that he feels better at this point in the season than he has his entire career, and his numbers support it.  Through 13 games this season, he leads the team with 15 special teams tackles, half again as much as his next teammate.“You may not think you’re doing a lot, but I’m a lot stronger now at 265 than I was at 300 pounds,” he said.

”My core is tighter, my ligaments are stronger, and  and have a better foundation to sustain a season.”During the offseason, Alexander and Golston teamed up to buy the local Castlerock Pilates Studio in Ashburn, and now run it as “The Studio M.B.S.” Mind, Body, and Soul.Not only is owning a Pilates Studio a good business opportunity for after their playing careers are over, it’s also a way to prolong their playing days, even if it has come with humbling moments.“When I work out, I’m in there with doctors and teachers,” he said. more Redskin Pilates