The Pilates Advantage: How Pilates Supports Runners

This column was published in the April 2026 issue of Women's Fitness, as part of my regular Pilates Doctor feature.

Running is one of the most accessible and beneficial forms of exercise — but because it is repetitive and one-directional, it creates imbalances. The same muscles get loaded, the same joints take the strain, and over time that pattern leads to injury.

This is where Pilates earns its place in a runner's training plan. It is not about adding more intensity — it is about addressing what running misses. Foot and ankle stability, hip strength, spinal mobility, pelvic control. These are the foundations that determine whether you run efficiently or whether you compensate, overload and eventually break down.

In this feature I focus on when and how to bring Pilates into your running routine: as a warm-up, a cool-down, and as active recovery between runs. The four moves I share work across all three planes of motion — forwards and back, side to side, and rotational — because your body needs all three to move well, not just the sagittal plane that running dominates.

If you are dealing with a recurring injury, weak ankles, or just a sense that something is slightly off in how you move, these exercises are a good place to start. The goal is a body that is stronger, steadier and more resilient — not just faster.

The full feature is published in Women's Fitness, April 2026.