Client of the Month - January 2013

This is my first repeat client of the month. I am so excited to announce that one of my clients, the Cathedral High School Football team, who I have been training for the last 3 years, have again (for the third year in a row) won the State (4A) Championship for Football!  I’m not going to say Pilates is the reason they have won all three years, but I’m not NOT going to say it either. Check out their winning photo on the Cathedral website. They look so pumped up!

But seriously, I am so proud of these boys—it has been fun seeing them all grow and change the last few years.  I am also proud to say that they have really come around to the importance of Pilates (we also do some yoga as well) in their football training regimen.  Their form has gotten so much better and so has their behavior and enthusiasm for Pilates.  When I first started training them, there was a lot of snickering during our sessions, but now they know many of the exercises very well and understand how much they help them.  I guess they have also figured out I’m not going anywhere so they may as well buckle down!

The boys tell me how much they like the training now—they say it feels physically really good and that it realigns them.  Our workouts usually occur on Saturdays after they have played a game the night before. Sometimes it is hard for these guys to work out certain parts of their bodies, and after a game, their muscles are often tight and sore.  Pilates gives them the right amount of stretching and flexibility training to activate their hips and inner thighs and prevent hip injuries on the field.  In fact, I have been training a retired NFL player for several months as well who tells me how much he loves Pilates because it challenges him in ways he hasn’t been challenged.  Now you know these guys work out a ton, so to challenge someone in new ways that played football for many years is a testament to the diversity of training you can get with Pilates!

As I mentioned, we also do a bit of yoga in most of my sessions together with the team. One of the moments that warmed my heart from this past season was when I told the boys we were going to end with Shavasana (which is the relaxation part of yoga that normally comes at the end of the workout) and one of the boys said, “oh good! I have been waiting for this all week!”  I think our workouts have opened their minds to new ways to train and respect their bodies.  I also loved when they made requests for certain Pilates exercises—like recently several players asked for “side series” (a grouping of exercises done while laying on your side) because they just really like the way it feels.

I am just so pleased with these boys, their dedication to the workout, and their successes on the field.  And hey, if it works for a bunch of football players, you know we can help your strength and flexibility too. No guy can ever tell me again that Pilates is for girls when I am training an entire football team AND a retired NFL player.

Congratulations Cathedral Football!