This morning, I got on the ice and for the first time in months I felt amazingly agile and nimble. CT scans show mild degenerative arthritis, but more significant are two torn labrums, a detached gluteus minimus and chronic bursitis. It makes coaching on cold mornings hard, to the extent that sometimes I feel unstable on the ice. But today, my hips were unlocked and I felt great.

What was the difference? Yesterday, I did an hour of Pilates. For those of you unfamiliar with Pilates, it’s a series of exercises that focus on what makes up our “core:” Abdominals, hips and upper thighs. Unlike yoga, which stretches your muscles (and always leaves me sore), pilates serves to strengthen and balance the most important muscles in your body.

Yoga and Hockey

Around 15 years ago, the yoga trend hit the hockey world. Decades of playing left many pros inflexible, with tight hip flexors and other ailments related to poor symmetry and little attention to hip mobility. Many of those players who found benefit and relief in yoga gravitated to hot yoga, and the trend has continued. Just about every summer program includes yoga in an attempt to counter the intense work in the gym.

Now, I’m not going to criticize those who like yoga, or say it’s a bad thing to do. But what I do want to address are some things that we have learned in the past few years that make prevention and maintenance much easier, eliminating the need for “treatment” for issues leading to decreased flexibility and mobility with activities such as yoga.

The premise behind yoga is primarily strengthening through stretching your muscles, tendons and ligaments. Attempting to re-lengthen these soft tissues can lead to increased mobility, and add the element of heat and you can push those limits. Many people feel refreshed, revived and sleep well after yoga. However, there are some key things we have learned in the past 20 years that prove there are better methods.

As mentioned above, prevention is huge. I often do hip mobility warm-up exercises with my skaters. Not surprisingly, despite how much they may say they are immobile, I’ve yet to come across anyone under the age of 18 who actually has immobility from asymmetry or overuse. This is largely due to not only just a few years, as opposed to decades, of muscular imbalances but mostly because so many kids are getting in the gym at earlier ages with certified strength and conditioning coaches who understand the importance of posterior chain development in hockey players, and discourage activities that can be hard on the hips, such as running,

Still, we often can’t help the tight hips we get from sitting in cars, airplanes and at school all day, and the unpreventable injuries that occur in a game. Think about it. When we experience an injury that requires physical therapy, whether its an acute or overuse injury, it is almost always treated with strengthening of supporting or synergistic muscles. Thus, we can both prevent AND treat these core issues with one simple activity: Pilates.

Pilates for Hockey

For short-track speed skaters, core is everything. We often do grueling hour long, weight bearing dry-land sessions with non-stop core work. The majority of our power comes from the stability and strength of our core, and we have to supplement on-ice and gym work with endurance-strengthening of our core muscles.

Since I’m retired from competitive speed skating, I choose not to torture myself with those workouts, but I am sold on Pilates. Whereas yoga attempts to lengthen and stretch muscles (which will usually return to their normal anatomical position after a stretching), Pilates strengthens the primary muscles, as well as the synergistic and supporting muscles of the core. This not only helps prevent injuries, but help build the necessary strength and mobility to be stronger, faster and more agile on the ice.

How does this work? First, permanent changes in the length and size of your muscle fibers can be attained from regular pilates. This means your muscles become stronger as they experience hypertrophy, a fancy, scientific term meaning growth. Stronger muscles are less prone to stiffness and tightening due to other actives, such as sitting. Second, these muscles are all critical functional muscles needed for every day mobility. The stronger your core, the easier it is to more your body efficiently. Finally, in order to strengthen, most pilates exercises incorporate a stretch of synergistic muscles as the primary muscles are being worked to maintain symmetry.

On the ice, this translates to a wider range of mobility, less fatigue and greater strength. Additionally, several studies have shown that the stronger the athlete’s core, the fewer injuries of appendages (legs, arms, wrists, ankles, etc.)

But that’s not all. Pilates also targets postural muscles. That means abdominal, back and pelvic muscles. As you strengthen those muscles, you are able to hold a better frame, which again, places your body in a more functional position not only on the ice, but off-ice, making form much easier to attain in your strength exercises in the gym.

So, what Pilates exercises are best?

Start googling Pilates and you’ll see there are both mat and reformers. I prefer mat for two reasons – first, reformer classes usually cost more. But more importantly, being able to sit on the floor on a mat is more stabilizing, and really lets you focus on each movement without too much extraneous movement and fatigue. Unlike yoga, which challenges your balance in many poses, Pilates focuses on easily controlled, targeted exercises for maximum strength benefit.

As far as finding a Pilates workout, I recommend looking at classes at your local gym. Most have mat pilates, and having an instructor in-person who can help you learn the correct technique is huge. There are many on-line workouts as well if you’re motivated. Personally, I find it much easier in a room with others to watch to make sure I have the exercises correct, since you get the most benefit by performing the exercises with precise positions.

Do I have to give up yoga?

Of course not. It’s not one or the other. If you have time and like both, by all means do both! If you can only chose one, Pilates are more functional. However, if you prefer yoga for recovery, that’s fine too.

Helpful Hints for Yoga

Hydrate. Especially if you do hot yoga. You might be surprised that hot yoga’s origins are controversial and even scandalous. The hot temperatures can be very dehydrating for professional athletes, so you’ll want to avoid doing it the day before a big game or workout.

Don’t stretch too much. High level athletes are notorious for pushing as far and hard as they can. If you do this in yoga, you will end up with sore muscles, tendons and ligaments, so you’ll want to resist the temptation to give it too much when the instructor tells you to stretch even further.

Questions about core functionality? Ask any CSCS certified strength coach such as Andy or Joel at Denver Human Performance. As a former CSCS working with hockey players, I’m also willing to talk functionality and strength training.