Yoga & Pilates in modern day Sport
For many years, Yoga & Pilates has often been associated with females as a recreational activity. However, contemporary sports people (including both genders) have turned their focus to these exercises in attempt to improve and prolong their performance at the highest level. Indeed, some of the most famous athletes in their own sports have opted to take up Yoga & Pilates for a number of different reasons. For example, in the past the likes of Roy Keane, Lebron James, James Haskell, Shaquille O’Neill, the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team and many NFL teams, are all athletes that elected to take up the routines.This article will explain why athletes such as this partake in Yoga & Pilates. 
To begin with, it’s important to know the difference between Yoga and Pilates. Many of the exercises you’ll see in a Pilates workout are inspired by yoga, and the postures in yoga are incredibly similar to the shapes and positions used in Pilates exercises. At the same time, there are exercises that are completely unique to Pilates as well as those that are specific to yoga class alone. A major difference is that in yoga, one generally holds each pose for a longer period of time, while in Pilates, you move at a slightly faster pace. Rather than holding a pose longer the way you would in a typical yoga class, staying in one position and cajoling the body into stretching more deeply through the breath, in Pilates, the practitioner dynamically extends as far as possible within a limited amount of time using resistance, core awareness and breath.
Turing our attention to sport, we see why these exercises are becoming more commonplace amongst athletes. There are many reasons that appeal to athletes and regular people to take up these activities. Incorporating Yoga & Pilates into an athletic programme is an excellent performance and mobility enhancer, and can cause the following adaptations:
• Improves muscle tone, flexibility, strength, balance and stamina
• Reduces stress and tension
• Boosts self esteem
• Improves concentration and creativity
• Lowers fat
• Improves circulation
• Stimulates the immune system
• Creates sense of well-being and calm.
• Tone & build long, lean muscles without bulk.
• Restore postural alignment & create a stronger, more flexible spine.
• Promote recovery from strain or injury.
• Improve circulation & heighten neuromuscular coordination.
• Compliment sports training and develop functional fitness for daily life activity.
• Correct over-training of muscle groups which can lead to stress and injury
• Improve the way your body looks and feels
Because different sports place different demands on athletes, Yoga & Pilates is used for various reasons. For example, with Rugby demanding rapid directional changes often at near-maximum pace, an inflexible physique is unhelpful. Rugby forwards must also possess the ability to deliver controlled power from the unbalanced body positions adopted in the scrum. A Pilates & Yoga programme can greatly improve general mobility and enhance core strength while easing the stress placed on the neck and spine during intense scrummaging.
Whereas in Cricket, research has indicated that muscle Cricket injuries such as Hamstring Strains and Side Strains are the most common cricket injuries. These Cricket injuries are due to the functional demands of the sport where occasional sprinting and ball throwing may be repeated across a seven hour day. In addition, bowling can incur shoulder injuries and pulled muscles. Fielders, who often spend long periods of time standing still, may become injured when they are called to make sudden movements – Pilates and yoga can help prevent cricketing injuries by improving reflexes and strengthening the entire body. A strong, supple body is less likely to become injured especially using cricket Stretches.
Yoga & Pilates has had a positive effect on the “older” sports stars such as Ryan Giggs, Brad Friedel and Brian O’Driscoll. They claim their sporting careers have been prolonged by the using this activity, along with improving their performance.
Yoga & Pilates is a practice that requires dedication but reaps many benefits well into the future. With all the high profile sports stars and teams implementing Yoga & Pilates, it’s plain to see that it certainly isn’t just something for the girls to do!
About Metrifit
Metrifit is an athlete monitoring system that gathers subjective and objective information from both coaches and athletes in a simple but effective manner with intelligent visualization helping coaches and athletes to act on that data. Why not have a look at our Ready to Perform product and gain insight on the physical and mental state of your athletes through our daily wellbeing questionnaire? To find out more visit our Metrifit Product Overview page or get in touch for a free demo.
"I wanted to reach out to thank Metrifit for an extremely successful season. Our Regis University women’s side won the ultra-competitive RMAC with a 11-0-1 record. Our student-athletes reported in post-season interviews the positive use of Metrifit that enabled their own reflection about their bodies and also found value providing information to coaches for our strategic planning purposes. On more than one occasion, we recognized deviations from norms and were able to step-in with a quick chat to help a player get back on track or refer her to the proper support personnel for further assistance. Fantastic! "
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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J.B. Belzer
Head Coach, Women's Soccer at Regis University
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/jb-belzer/
"Metrifit has been a great asset in helping guide the numerous decisions we make on a daily basis, that have a direct impact on our athletes well-being and progress. The platform is extremely user friendly and the reports and analytics that reflect the data collected daily, can be catered to what you are most specifically curious to know about the athletes both individually and collectively"
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Aaron Mansfield
Head Coach, LMU Lions, Loyola Marymount University
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/aaron-mansfield/
"Metrifit has enabled us to bring to life the complexiities associated with managing the academic, pastoral and sporting demands of pupils aged 13 - 18 in a UK day and boarding school environment It has provided another bridge between coaches and sports pupis, giving pupils a space to provide honest self reflection on wellbeing and providing coaches a head start on appropriate freshness and fatigue balance across the school week."
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Graham Williams
Athletic Development Coach, MSc ASCC
Millfield School, UK
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/graham-williams-short/
"The visualisation of data allows for easy discussion between athletes, performance staff and medical teams and offers the potential to predict and avoid issues which could hamper performance. Over the year the data has proven instrumental in our critical decision making. Metrifit is a excellent monitoring tool however the unsung additional aspect is the fantastic and tireless customer support."
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Robert Walsh
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Nederlandse Ski Vereniging (Netherlands Ski/Snowboard Team)
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/robert-walsh-short-testimonial/
"While working with the Clare Senior Hurling team (2012-2014), Horse Sport Ireland (U25 European Eventing Champions) and currently with the Limerick Senior Hurling Team, Metrifit provides our team with critical information across a number of essential aspects of elite athletic performance. You don’t really know how your players are responding to training stimuli unless you have daily data and Metrifit provides and easy to use and highly effective means of finding this critical information."
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Joe O’Connor
NISUS Fitness, S&C Coach Clare Senior Hurling, Horse Sport Ireland and Limerick Senior Hurling
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/joe-oconnor/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Yvonne Treacy
Nutritionist, Wexford Camogie
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/yvonne-treacy-short/
"I've found Metrifit an invaluable resource. Not only to monitor daily wellness, readiness to train and training load within the squad, but also to monitor training load externally with additional external squads. Furthermore, Metrifit has acted as a key teaching tool, allowing young athletes associate good sleeping, eating and recovery habits to an improved sense of wellness and thus superior on-field performance."
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Tommy Mooney
Strength and Conditioning Coach at DCU Sport and with Dublin Minor GAA
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/tommy-mooney-short/
“Metrifit has allowed us to gain better insight on our athletes and their individual stress response to training and outside factors. This has helped us to make daily adjustments when necessary, to further enhance their development which has led to higher performance levels, faster recovery, and a reduction in injuries. The new lifestyle profiling survey has been an invaluable insight into the lifestyle habits of my athletes and has helped focus on key areas that can be improved, benefiting athletes on their performance journey.“
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Dan Rickaby
Assistant S&C Coach, Tulane University
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/dan-rickaby/
“I have been using Metrifit for the past number of years and I have found it to be an excellent piece of software. It is extremely easy to use and has proved very beneficial in preparing myself for competition. The ability to view my health and wellbeing stats everyday and see how this influences my performance in both practice and competition has been very helpful. I have been able to put more effort into key areas such as fluid intake, sleep and balanced golf practice and training. Having the ability to view my detailed stats helps me to understand exactly where I am and how I need to adjust my training or health choices. I have found using Metrifit this past year has been a crucial help for me to play well. As I now have turned 50 I am playing on The Champions tour in the USA and have played well during my first year. Metrifit has been as important as my golf equipment in achieving that success.”
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Robert Karlsson, Professional Golfer
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/robert-karlsson/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Jennifer McIntosh
Head Athletic Trainer, Colorado School of Mines
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/jennifer-mcintosh/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Jason McGahan
Sports Scientist, Kildare Football, PhD Sports Science Researcher
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/jason-mcgahan/
"Metrifit has been instrumental in helping our international Managers, Coaches and Medical teams to identify players who require modifications in training loads or who are struggling with some aspect of their preparation for, or recovery from, training and matches. One of the big strengths of this technology is that it allows our Managers and Medical teams to monitor players both during international competition and outside of these times."
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Dan Horan
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https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/dan-horan-short/
"Metrifit has been used to gain a more in-depth insight into our student-athlete’s progressive athletic development and balance relative to their particular sporting and training activities, academic studies and total load. Metrifit doesn’t just help with optimising our Sports Scholarship students’ athletic performance. It assists us in helping them get the balance right between their sporting activities and academic studies."
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Richard Deuchrass
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https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/richard-deuchrass/
"Metrifit provides immediate insight and feedback on the physical and mental states of the student-athletes. It allows us to adjust practices and training sessions to accurately meet needs. We have been able to identify potential injury concerns, track current injury status and monitor return to play progress."
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Kari Thompson
Head Volley Ball Coach, Southern Illinois University
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/kari-thompson/
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Brian Clarke
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https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/brian-clarke/
"Metrifit is an amazingly easy-to-use yet comprehensive monitoring tool for training and recovery! The elite athletes we work with are able track and monitor their situations and states daily, in order to maximize their performance loads and recovery practices. This also helps our coaches customize the training programs more effectively. I'd recommend this for any serious team / athlete or coach in wanting to bring out the very best in their long-term performances! "
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Founder and Chief Sport & Performance Psychologist, SportPsych Consulting (Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines)
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/edgar-k-tham-2/
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https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/emma-hawke/
"Metrifit has provided me with an opportunity to get to know and understand our players on a different level. I've found our conversations to be more intentional, which has been so important in developing deeper, more authentic relationships. Ultimately, understanding their needs has allowed me to push buttons that leads them to be better people and inspires them to be better athletes"
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Ryan Osborn
Head Basketball Coach, Carmel High School
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/ryan-osborn/
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Cian O’Neill
Kildare Senior Football Manager
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/cian-oneill-short/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Tino Fusco, B.Sc. ChPC
Head Coach, Women's Soccer, Mount Royal University (Canada)
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/tino-fusco-b-sc-chpc/
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Dave Passmore
Head Coach, Irish Hockey
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/dave-passmore-short/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Derek Bol
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https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/derek-bol/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Paul Cremin
Head Physiotherapist, Cornish Pirates Rugby Club
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/paul-cremin-short/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
2017-06-20T12:12:33+01:00
Kevin Schultz
Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Director of Olympic Strength & Conditioning
University of Wisconsin
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/kevin-schultz-full/
"Metrifit has been hugely beneficial in supporting our coaches and back room staff to track and monitor our players training loads, performance and readiness to train. Having a one-stop shop for collating all relevant information across a holistic picture of the player allows us to help prevent burnout, injury and provide timely feedback and communication to all."
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Eamonn Fitzmaurice
Kerry Senior Football, Manager
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/eamonn-fitzmaurice/
"We have found metrifit to be a great tool to ensure we can monitor and adapt our athletes training loads regularly. This programme has ensured our coaches and staff can maximize all training and recovery to each individual needs on a day to day basis. It is user friendly and provides excellent visual data that can be viewed by both practitioners and athletes. With the help of Metrifit support team, we have personalized it to suit our specific sport and training needs. It's a excellent athlete monitoring tool and is essential for assisting the team to perform at their best"
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Lee Stutely
Team Manager and Athlete Support Services Coordinator at Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/lee-stutely/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Dr. Dale Richardson
CEO Achieve Total Performance Pty Ltd
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/dale-richardson/
"Metrifit is an outstanding platform to track your athletes’ wellness. It’s simple to use, easy to implement and gives outstanding information on your athlete’s subjective wellness which can be used to assign training loads. I highly recommend Metrifit for any coach looking to begin implementing technology into their program"
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Brijesh Patel
Quinnipiac University, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/brijesh-patel/
"The ability to acutely monitor stress and recovery and make the correct adjustments was critical to our health and performance throughout the NCAA tournament. Metrifit has a very strong educational component. With the information we get, I am able to clearly understand the habits and behaviors of our athletes, and how they may be impacting performance."
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Erik Helland
Director of Strength & Conditioning and Head Strength Coach Men’s basketball, University of Wisconsin
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/erik-helland/
"The success of young athletes using Metrifit was an interesting challenge in the Elite Soccer space… After six months of learning, creating habit with teenagers the project is a huge success…. 90% completion rate has allowed us deal with all the key KPI’s that are needed in their development. In our space with developing athletes…Metrifit is a godsend and is the most important tool in this space."
Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Niall O’Driscoll
Academy Directory, SJ.B (St. Joseph’s Bray ) Academy
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/niall-odriscoll-short/
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Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System
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Michael Torres
CEO, Shift Performance, Miami
https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/michael-torres-short/
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