Fancy your chances at winning a gold medal for diving, sailing or the 100m sprint?
A recent Government survey found that one in four Brits believe they could qualify for the 2028 Olympics in LA if they begin training right now! And, amazingly, 15 per cent of the over-65s feel they’d reach Olympic level in four years.
The reality is that it takes years of hard and dedicated conditioning, strength training and pushing your limits to be an Olympic athlete … Yet it’s not just gruelling workouts and endless practice that helps top sports people achieve their peak – many also use Pilates to gain a competitive edge: Victoria Pendleton, Venus Williams and Lebron James, to name but a few.
It's hardly surprising, though: Joseph Pilates, who created Pilates, was also a boxer and gymnast!
Pilates focuses on the controlled movement of muscles rather than on bulking up muscles, which helps athletes remain fast and light but still strong. Pilates is also extremely beneficial for preventing injury and even recovering from it: Andy Murray turned to Pilates after back surgery to help regain fitness and build his core, so much so that he even took his Pilates instructor with him to tournaments abroad.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Jamaican sprinter, eased back into shape after her unexpected C-section thanks to a post-delivery training schedule that included Pilates.
She returned to competing less than a year later and then, in the 2019 World Championships, went on to win gold in the 100 metres. Laura Gallagher, a British Gymnastics trampolinist at Tokyo also used Pilates as part of her elite training programme following her C-section in 2023.
It’s not just athletes who recognise the benefits of Pilates; physios advocate the use too. Olympic diving physio, Gareth Ziyambi, worked with Tom Daley and Matty Lee during lockdown and included Pilates to increase their strength, flexibility and core stability, declaring “As a sport, I must say we emerged from lockdown fitter and stronger than may have been the case in a normal season.” Chris Gordon, another sports physio-therapist who’s worked with Olympic sailors including Sir Ben Ainslie and who introduced Pilates into the British Sailing Team training centre, maintains, “It supports our physio treatments and really helps build the sailors awareness of their posture, alignment and muscular imbalances. Plus, injury prevention for professional sailors is essential.”
(Speaking of physios, Sam, at Arch Health and Fitness in Kew where I teach Pilates on Tuesdays, had an amazing time at the Paris Olympics while treating the GB tennis players and staying in the Olympic Village with all the other teams.
Some athletes are so taken with the benefits of Pilates that they themselves have turned to becoming Pilates instructors after retiring, such as Ellie Downie, the British gymnast who made her Olympic debut at Rio 2016.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of Pilates, check out Come On, Barbie (And Ken), Let's Go Pilates. Whatever your age or level of sporting ability, Pilates is essential for everyone to strengthen the core and keep it pliable, and feel healthier – and become fitter.
Au revoir, Paris. LA – here we come …?!
