Jeanique Yoga and Pilates Boutique offers relief for runners

Kara Martin 13:11 03/12/2015
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  • Pilates is all about gaining better awareness and control of your body.

    Now we’re into running season, the pressure is on for competitive striders in the UAE to go the distance as well as keep injury-free race by race.

    It’s not enough just to get the miles in on foot, and if your goal is to run faster, further and painfree, a wise decision would be to complement one’s road time with time spent in the Pilates studio, says Jeanique L. Kalodjera, who has launched a Pilates for Runners class in Dubai.

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    There are so many reasons Pilates and running go hand in hand to help each other. Pilates is all about gaining better awareness and control of your body to then move more efficiently, and if you can achieve that you can shave seconds off your personal best on race day.

    Just a couple of classes a week will help to elongate and align the spine to improve stability and posture for more efficient running, as well as increase your range of motion, your flexibility, strength and balance so you can recover faster… and run faster.

    “To improve, you cannot just run more, overwork the same mechanics, you have to think outside the box,” explains Jeanique, of JLT’s Jeanique Yoga and Pilates.

    “Runners tend to have a bad running posture that closes off their breathing. Through many of the Pilates exercises you learn how to lift yourself out of the hip. After 10K, you get tired and start maybe slouching a little, and in here we work to strengthen the core (the powerhouse) to pull you up, which in turn frees the lungs and allows you to breathe more deeply and efficiently (another important part of running).”

    She adds: “If your legs are dead, and you’re wondering how you’re going to keep going, just pull up and breathe. That gives a runner a little bit more endurance.”

    Pilates can certainly keep the doctor away this race season too.

    “One of my clients, Aline Raywood, who is a marathon runner, Ironman and triathlete, she came in with a torn hamstring injury and when we started Pilates, the aim was to make sure she would be able to load her leg again while running, but to also know how to integrate the muscle into her hip,” says Jeanique.

    “While yoga can help a lot with stretching it, integrating it is something different. It involves getting the core and the whole leg muscle to work as one rather than individuals.

    “We’ve worked to improve that and get the power and strength of the hip and core involved, and now she’s number one in all her categories.”

    Jeanique adds: “With Pilates, the strength comes from a deeper place so even though you’re loading certain joints and muscles running, it’s not going to over-stress the joint as much as before, and I’ve seen a lot more people after Aline who have managed to stay injuryfree.”

    Raywood, herself says: “Jeanique has an incredible awareness and knowledge of the human body and this has proved highly useful to me as an athlete. Not only have I improved my overall fitness, but also my understanding of the sports I have been practising for years.

    “I was originally complementing my training with weight training, which I completely gave up to experience the benefit of Pilates (to which Jeanique introduced me to about four years ago). As any athlete, I was back then regularly subjected to injuries. Pilates has allowed me to manage and cope with injuries, heal them and understand how to avoid repeat injury.”

    We can see how Pilates can open a runner’s stride and free their bodies from stiffness. In the class, using the Tower/Pole System – a type of bed integrated with bars and springs used on arms and legs – you learn about full body integration and how to open up the hips, taking the legs in all directions (rather than just forward and back the way runners move). 

    The studio is based in Jumeirah Lakes Towers.

    We also did moves that promote chest expansion, and that engage and challenge the core, and quickly learned of the existence of some deeper muscles in the body that clearly need more attention.

    The good thing is Jeanique knows how to find and fix them. Another success story is Savio Schmitz, who picked up long distance running in his late 30s and enjoyed it so much that within three years he had participated in 10 marathons, including ultra-marathons like the 89km Comrades Race through the hills of KwaZuluNatal, South Africa.

    At the end of the third running season, he was suffering from third degree Achilles tendinitis, and injections and shockwave therapy did little to heal it. Following that, after picking up duathlon and triathlon, a hamstring injury intervened, and desperate and discouraged, he booked a Pilates session at Jeanique Yoga and Pilates.

    “Jeanique quickly understood my injuries, their origin and interrelation, and how to approach them mindfully and effectively step-by-step. Since then, Pilates has become a constituent part of my weekly exercise regime, and has got me back to podium positions,” says Schmitz.

    Jeanique says: “If you want a running technique that allows for a bigger stride (to go further faster), you need to be free and fluid in your movements, you need a supple body, and that’s the point with Pilates. We’re not just stretching the body here, we’re aiming for resilience so that it works better organically.”

    Pilates for Runners takes place on Saturdays at 3pm and costs Dh85, with very limited spaces available per session. Advanced booking is recommended.

    What: Jeanique Yoga and Pilates Boutique

    Where: 510, Platinum Tower, Cluster I, Jumeirah Lake Towers

    Contact: 055 306 5110 | 04 453 3654 | www.jeaniqueyogaandpilates.com

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