Guess Who's Doing Pilates at the Olympics?

Pilates is not an official Olympic sport (at least not yet), but there are plenty of method practitioners in London for the XXX Olympic Games at this very moment.  Sometimes, if you happen to catch it right, they will feature clips from the private lives of these athletes. It’s then that you discover that, whether they are doing gymnastics, swimming, beach volleyball, diving, cycling or track and field, some of them include Pilates as an integral part of their training. They credit it with making them faster, stronger and more flexible, as well as, helping to increase their body awareness and enhancing their overall performance. They also believe it will give them a competitive edge at landing a spot on the podium. Four of these athletes currently competing rely on Pilates as part of their regimen: Natalie Coughlin (swimming), Misty May-Treanor (beach volleyball), Ariana Kukors (swimming) and Nick McCrory (synchronized diving).  You can bet there are many more that we haven't heard about.

Let’s take a minute to focus on Natalie Coughlin – since she recently medaled last week, we know Pilates works!  Let’s not forget that she has racked up two gold, two silver and one bronze medal from the Athens 2004 Olympics and a record six wins in 2008 from Beijing. Natalie is the official spokesperson for Balanced Body’s Arc which acts as a classic spine corrector and wedge used on the Reformer to provide back support and stability.  BB realized she was an incredible athlete and great fitness role model. She was getting such great results from the Pilates Arc that they decided to approach her to see if she would promote the Arc.

Natalie has been practicing Pilates for 12 years (and it shows!).   She loves it so much that she converted an extra bedroom in her house into a Pilates studio, which she has equipped with a Reformer, Chair and CoreAlign.  She actually likes the Chair the most because she feels you get so much out of it – a full body workout – yet it takes up very little room.  Coughlin does a Pilates mat routine to warm up every morning at 5 a.m. before she gets in the pool. It is a hybrid of yoga and mat Pilates.  About eight years ago, she started seeing a private instructor, Tom McCook (at Center of Balance Studio in Mountain View, CA), one to two times a week.  Every one of her Pilates sessions is different -- Tom does a great job of showing her how to apply Pilates principles in the water.  Without her Pilates training, she might not have been so successful at the Beijing games. The Olympics are, without a doubt, extremely challenging -- they’re emotionally stressful and physically draining. When she first got to Beijing, she was about a week away from her first swim and she really wasn’t feeling great in the water. So Tom gave her a 20-minute series of breathing and relaxation exercises to get her aligned before bed every night.  Natalie feels that this nightly routine was one of the things that got her in the right mental, as well as, physical state for the Olympics and kept her on track.

Please join me in wishing all of our Olympic athletes a strong finish at the games – go USA!!!