Run like Ronaldo

The Cotswolds is great place for runners with Tripadvisor’s best rated runs in Lechlade, Charlbury and along The Honeybourne line; but running is one of the top sports for knee injuries even Ronaldo needs Pilates to prevent and rehab injuries.

Perhaps the best benefit of Pilates is alignment which enables better running technique; compare and contrast Ronaldo’s alignment with mine (before I discovered reformer Pilates). Ronaldo has legs like pistons with heel, knee and hips in-line. Compare this to my knock-kneed marathon finish with feet splayed out like Charlie Chaplin. Ronaldo uses strong glutes and abs to hold his pelvis vertical, this pelvic placement maintains the natural shock absorbing curve of his spine.

My weak glutes gave way to a forward pelvic tilt, this caused an exaggerated curve of the lumber which put pressure into my lower back. Ronaldo’s elbows are close to his body unlike my chicken wings which opened my shoulder blades and hunched my upper thorasic spine. Finally, Ronaldo has perfect head placement; his earlobes are in line with the tips of his shoulders; I had a classic ‘tech-neck’.

Ronaldo has for many years used gym-based reformer Pilates, just like the in The Cotswolds Garden Studio below. The reformer stretched my tight runner’s calf muscles which had caused the dull pain of runner’s knee and sharp pain under foot of planter fascilitis. The reformer also strengthened my weak glutes to correct the forward tilt of my pelvis and relieve my lower back pain. The pain in my neck went when my tech-neck was corrected and most of all the reformer makes me away of the on set and nagging little pains then react to them in a safe align.