Whilst football may not be your main job, you are still passionate about playing, and you will want to do your very best every time you pull on your team's shirt. You do not have to be a professional to take training seriously. Incorporating Pilates in your training regime will improve your ability to play the beautiful game, reduce your risk of injury, and improve your general health and enjoyment of life.

What is Pilates?

Pilates is a full body conditioning program developed in the 1920's by Joseph Pilates. His revolutionary program focuses on training the mind and body to work together more effectively and efficiently. Pilates dramatically transforms the way the body looks, feels, and performs by incorporating modern exercise science and rehabilitation principles, eliminating contraindicated movements while emphasising neutral alignment, core stability and peripheral mobility. It builds strength without excess bulk, creating a sleek, toned body and a flat abdomen. It teaches body awareness, good posture and easy, graceful movement whilst improving flexibility, agility and economy of motion.

Pilates exercises train several muscle groups at once in smooth, continuous movements. By developing proper technique, footballers can re-train their body to move in safer, more efficient patterns of motion - invaluable for optimal performance during a game, and for injury recovery, good posture and optimal health. Pilates builds a foundation of strength and flexibility that creates a better balanced body.
The core is central to all movements that the body makes, so a strong developed core is essential to achieve maximum performance. The flexibility and strengthening exercises that Pilates teaches will build overall fitness and endurance.

Pilates will make you move flexible and more mobile. It will improve your endurance and general fitness, and by strengthening your core, you will be more balanced and feel stronger from within.

But Pilates is just for girls, right? Not quite.... It was developed by a man initially for boxers ! And if it's good enough for the All Blacks, for several Premier League football teams, and for Tiger Woods, then it should be good enough for anyone who is serious about taking their game onto another level. You'll know some of the exercises, like the plank, press-ups and curls, but they are done the Pilates way, which makes them much more effective, and much harder. Even the fittest athlete would struggle to perform all the exercises at the highest levels. We have found that one session with one of our trainers is more than enough to dispel any concerns people may have that Pilates is too easy.

A Football Core Strength program will target all the muscles used by footballers, as well as strengthening the body as a whole. You'll notice a difference within a few weeks, and after a few months, you will be hooked, and you'll wish you had started sooner.

Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation

Pilates will prevent many of the common injuries suffered by footballers, such as groin injuries, hamstring strains, cruciate ligament injuries, ankle injuries, trauma injuries from tackles, and back problems. A lot of problems arise out of muscle imbalance as footballers will typically have strong, over-worked quadriceps and tight hamstrings, shortened anterior ankle muscles, tight calf and hip flexor muscles, overworked back extensors, weak gluteals, multifidus and transversus abdominal muscles.

This all leads to poor pelvic and trunk stability, and poor flexibility. The obvious imbalances caused by favouring one foot will also have a major impact. Pilates can deal with and rectify all of these issues

Pilates works with the body to help it recover from injury. It will strengthen the area around the injury before working the injury site itself, providing the movement necessary to get the blood to flow, and focusing on proper alignment and attention to range of movement.

Warming up and Cooling Down

Pilates is also an invaluable for warming-up and cooling-down, as it is a low-intensity aerobic exercise that reverses gravity and releases tension in the joints. It improves blood circulation, and provides a quick and efficient recovery of stiff, shortened muscles. It is also invaluable for concentrating the mind on the game ahead. Because all Pilates exercises must be executed with control and concentration, players will become more aware of how their mind controls the body's movements.

Why use Football Core Strength?

We offer tailor-made training by fully qualified instructors in either one-on-one or team sessions. We can work alongside existing training and rehabilitation methods to enhance your team's current systems.

To talk about your requirements, please contact us.