Twenty Reasons to Love Running …
… and Pilates!
Running and Pilates: what’s not to love? It’s a match made in heaven! That really is an awesome combination. Running provides the cardio and Pilates provides everything else: the strength, the coordination, the muscle balance. Pilates guards you against injury and it’s the best recovery workout bar none. In fact, that’s how I started on my Pilates journey all those years ago.
And now is the perfect time to start!
Believe it or not, late summer or the start of autumn is the best time to start running. The heat of the summer is over (if we had ay in the UK) but the chill of winter is not yet here. Get moving now and get some miles into your legs. Make running (or just jogging) a part of your routine, say four or five days a week and then when the winter does arrive, you’ll be able to accustomed to the run and you’ll be less likely to be put off by inclement weather.
1. Burn Fat!
This morning ran for 41 minutes and burned off just over 530 calories! Over a period of time you can condition your body to burn fat rather than sugar as well. Cycling burns off less at about 300 and tennis still less at about 270. Of course this all depends on intensity, but running is a great fat burner! You’ll blitz your belly fat 40% faster.
Pilates will help you stabilise your ankles and pelvis so that you suffer no injuries (especially in your knees) as you get started.
2. Strengthen Your Bones!
Fifteen minutes of light jogging three times a week is enough to reduce your risk of osteoporosis in later life by up to 40% according to the Osteoporosis Society.
Pilates applies controlled stress to bones and is a wonderful way of building bone strength or slowing down bone (and muscle) loss in later life.
3. Laugh at the Weather!
You generate heat whilst running, so running in the rain can be a beautiful and exhilarating experience. Cycling is miserable as the rain comes up at you from the ground as well and down at you from the sky! Running is perfect for the weather we have in the UK!
Whist still a child, Joe Pilates would exercise in the cold to toughen himself up. That was because he was a sickly child and bullied by other youngsters. Jean Claude Nelson has made a video of the Mat repertoire in the snow. I’m not suggesting that you go out into the snow and do Pilates, but never let bad weather put you off! Pilates warms you up, so if you’re feeling the cold, Pilates can help!
4. Blitz those Body Blemishes
Running tones the buttocks and thighs quicker than any other exercise!
Pilates will teach you how to activate those muscles so that you can get the most out of these vital muscles to feel better and look better in record time!
5. Lift your Mood
Mild to moderate exercise releases those natural feel good hormones. Endorphins help us feel better, combat stress and interact with others better.
Running combined with Pilates will serve to give you a double dose. People will be asking you how you’ve managed to change. Many people report a euphoric feeling after a session of PIlates whether on a mat or on apparatus.
6. Get that Early Morning Smugness
There’s nothing better than getting home after an early morning run to see people are still yawning and still getting up. Meanwhile, you burned off 500 calories and had the quiet streets to yourself. Feeling a city slowly wake up is a beautiful way to start the day!
Even better if you do some Pilates as a warm up! You’ll run better from the get go, needing less of a warm up and you’ll likely get injured less (many injuries occur due to insufficient warm up). I wouldn’t recommend Plates after a run as you’ll be tired and likely hungry, so concentration will be in short supply.
7. Sleep Better
Medicine researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine asked sedentary insomnia sufferers to jog just 20-30 minutes a day. The result? The time it took them to fall asleep was reduced by half. And they spent asleep was increased by a whole hour!
Ditto for Pilates: you’ll feel both euphoric but better able to sleep. I believe that this is because you’ll be using your body much more like it is designed to be used and so natural rest comes easier.
8. Guilt Free Snacking
Well, perhaps it is counter productive, but I’ve heard people say that they run so that they can drink! So, why not snacks?
If you are an accomplished runner, increasing your salt intake before a marathon can reduce the changes hyponatremia – low sodium that can cause cramping (and yes, even death, though this is ultra rare!).
Pilates can help keep your nutrition on track as you’ll be so much more aware of your body and how it looks.
9. Win some Medals
I’m not a competitive runner and have never been on the podium, but do have a collection of medals. They are the most wonderful souvenirs of the camaraderie that you can only find in running races – especially Ultra Marathon distances!
Do a training course in Pilates and get certificates! We do Michael King Pilates instructor training courses at the studio!
10. Get Regular!
Physical activity reduces that time that food sits around in our intestines! This is a perfect and natural solution to constipation. Combined with a better diet, and that often comes easily as you increase the amount of physical activity you do, you’ll be amazed at the changes!
Pilates also offer similar benefits as the deep core activation that we learn helps to put our internal organs in the places that they are supposed to be!
11. Keep the doctor at arm’s length
Moderate exercise makes immune cells more active meaning that we can fight those viruses and bacteria better than our sedentary counterparts. Volunteers who jogged for just 15 minutes a day five days a week took half as many sick days off as those that never made it out through the door!
Similarly, Pilates gets you moving and will increase your immunity. But it will also realign your body so that it works and moves much better!
12. See the World!
Why not travel to a foreign country to participate in an event? It’s an amazing reason to travel. It gives you purpose that a package tour never ever will. You’ll be a part of the local landscape and positively welcomed by the locals who will be thrilled that you have come to their town to urun!
13. Create More Time in Your day
Running will help you use your time more efficiently. This won’t happen overnight, but you will find that you automatically divide your days into running days (when you just get more done) and non running days, when you get less done!
Daily Pilates practice is a similar discipline in which you find that instead of having less time in a day, you have more!
14. Look after your Heart
It is believed that regular running can cut your risk of heart disease by 50%. The phrase “use it or lose it” has never been more true!
Pilates at the more challenging intermediate or advanced levels becomes much more aerobic in nature and endurance becomes a necessary quality that you will need to develop. Your heart will not ae like you can in a tempo run, but it is significantly raised making Pilates an aerobic discipline.
15. Become more Creative
Running is often used to help breakthrough metal block by writers, musicians and artists. Running is often thought to be the perfect sport for philosophers and creative types.
Pilates helps us to connect to our bodies in ever deeper and better ways. This gives us important insights about how our bodies work!
16. Be an All Rounder
Whether you want to be a fighter like Conor McGregor or an F1 ace like Jenson Button, running can help you get there.
The number of sports personalities that do Pilates is long: David Beckham, Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, Chris Fromme, Andy Murray, tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Camilo Villegas, Annika Sorenstam and Eddie Pepperell, Lebron James …
17. You don’t need an instructor
If you can walk, you can run, even if very slowly and for a short distance! Do you remember being a child? Perhaps running around came more naturally than walking!
You can start Pilates alone with our Online Foundations Course, but at some point you’ll probably find that a teacher in essential. That’s perfectly normal. All Pilates instructors have a teacher! Ask your teacher who teaches them!
18. The Hills are Your Friends!
Flat is not good. Find a decent hill and make it a part of your running programme. This will help you to burn more calories and get much stronger safely – running uphill puts much less strain on joint and connective tissue than flat or downhill running! Plus you’ll burn upto 40% more calories. A 11 stone runner will burn 1300 calories running a 10% incline compared to just 920 on the flat.
Pilates has hills too. Delving deeper into the repertoire reveals an ever increasing number of ever more challenges!
19. Boost your Sex Life!
According to a study from Cornell University in the US, male runners had the sexual prowess of men two to five years younger! God knows how they measured that! But women can delay menopause by a similar amount of time.
I won’t make any claims about Pilates! But, all physical exercise helps us stay sexually active, that’s not something that’s difficult to understand!
20. It can Displace Dependencies and Addictions
It’s how I stopped smoking! Replace a negative addiction with a positive one! You’ll find yourself a happier person by getting a fix that adds to rather than detracts from your quality of life!
Pilates is an activity that encourages us to turn our thoughts in towards ourselves and what we really want out of life!
21. Make friends
The running community can be competitive, but for he most part, camaraderie, friendship and mutual support is the order of the day. It doesn’t matter if you are an ager grouper or just starting off, you can be sure of a warm welcome to you local club and a smile and a wave from fellow participants in a race!
