Recovery is critical to staying active in the innumerable activities involved in athletics or any other form of sports. While there are various methods to help athletes recover from the injuries that occur, yoga and pilates have also been known to be included within this spectrum of recovery.
Herewith, this article attempts to discover and determine what role each of these plays in the stated context and conclude which of these two truly benefits athletes as far as their recovery and sustainability in athletics are concerned.
Yoga And Pilates – Their Role And Purpose In Athletics
From a broader sense, and specifically in terms of training programs, both yoga and pilates are considered vital to improving weight lifting, running, and boxing. This is so because each of these serves to train the supporting muscles, improving flexibility, range of motion, and balance in the process.
With restoration being what these two are aimed at, one can ascertain that athletes can very much benefit from integrating them into their training programs/sessions for improving their core muscle strength.
Of note, this can be done by improving their mobility, though taking ample care to stabilize their midline or waist in these efforts. Apart from these, yoga and pilates together serve a variety of purposes in the realm of athletics, some of which will be discussed in the upcoming sections of this article.
Comparing Yoga And Pilates To Other Training Modalities In Athletics
It would be noteworthy to mention here that both yoga and pilates can deliver so much, if this statement would not be an exaggeration, in terms of mobility, flexibility, and range of motion. This fact uniquely differentiates both these exercise patterns (taken together) from the other types of training programs that typically involve working on the same set of muscles, which as a result, lead to stronger muscles becoming stronger and the weaker ones, more weaker. This subsequently leads to muscular imbalance.
Since these training programs cause more harm than healing the weaker muscles due to the limited training ranges included, they often lead to movement pattern deficiency, further reducing an athlete’s ability to function at his/her peak.
Of note, it is such demerits of these training sessions that tend to cause pain and injury to the compromised muscles. Yet again, the above statements have reinforced the effectiveness of yoga and pilates in athletics, in turn, initiating the need to point out their key benefits.
Key Benefits Of Yoga And Pilates In Athletics
Though both yoga and pilates can be utilized together, there truly exists visible differences between them, especially the fact that they serve different purposes in the concerned area. This fact can be well illustrated by the individual benefits they provide to the athletes.
| Yoga | Pilates |
| Integrates physical movements with calm breathing techniques and meditation. | Consists of a series of repetitive body movements, where this is combined with breathing techniques to appropriately enhance movement and balance/coordination among the muscles. |
| When practiced regularly improves/enhances flexibility. | Regular practice results in improved muscle strength and balance. |
It is mandatory to add here that instructors involved in yoga and pilates sessions can conveniently change movements associated with each of these. This is done to suit athletes belonging to different age groups and fitness levels.
Effectiveness Of Yoga And Pilates In Athlete Recovery
- Being now recognized among the various existing training programs, yoga and Pilates do rank top in the list for also being identified as ones that uniquely help restore flexibility, mobility, and strength to the injured muscles.
- Muscular injury can be handled effectively in Pilates by having the athletes go through a range/series of repetitive movements. Of note, these sorts of training sessions can be well combined with yoga by integrating medication and breathing techniques. Doing so will not only enhance flexibility but will also improve muscular coordination.
- Stress relief is yet another benefit of both yoga and pilates and this feature adds to their effectiveness.
- Last, but not least, what makes them more striking is the kind of relaxation they provide which is unlike any other training programs, which otherwise prove strenuous and even more painful for the body. Since these two work mainly on restoring the body to its normal shape and function, the relative side effects are rare.
Read More:- The Science Of Stretching: Best Practices For Athletes
Conclusion
From all that has been discussed above, it could be discerned that the soothing and relaxing techniques involved in yoga and pilates are good enough to lead athletes to the path of full recovery.
The restorative exercises offered by each of them to return one’s body to the normal state of flexibility, strength, and mobility are what differentiate them from other pain and stress-causing training programs. It would be convenient enough to state here that a combination of yoga and Pilates is indeed required to produce that desired effect since these are complementary to each other.
