Pilates Conditioning for Athletes An Integrated Approach to Performance and Recovery

265 Pages·2019·17.18 MB·English

by  Amy Lademann

Pilates
and
Conditioning
Athletes
for
An Integrated Approach
to Performance and Recovery
Amy Lademann
Rick Lademann
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lademann, Amy, 1972- author. | Lademann, Rick, 1974- author.
Title: Pilates and conditioning for athletes : an integrated approach to
performance and recovery / Amy Lademann and Rick Lademann.
Description: Champaign, IL : Human Kinetics, [2019]
Identifiers: LCCN 2018031207 (print) | LCCN 2018036361 (ebook) | ISBN
9781492557678 (ebook) | ISBN 9781492557661 (print)
Subjects: LCSH: Pilates method. | Athletes--Training of.
Classification: LCC RA781.4 (ebook) | LCC RA781.4 .L33 2019 (print) | DDC
613.7/192--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018031207
ISBN: 978-1-4925-5766-1 (print)
Copyright © 2019 by Amy Lademann and Rick Lademann
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E7146
Pilates
and
Conditioning
Athletes
for
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vi
Introduction vii
PART I PILATES CONDITIONING
FOR YOUR BODY
1
Functional Philosophy 3
Pillars of performance frame the way to think about your training.
2
Goal Setting, Primary Assessment, and Visualization 17
Map out a plan for your ideal conditioning program.
3
Daily Movements That Enhance Performance 31
Learn how to fine-tune your movements for optimal performance.
4
Movement Prep: Dynamic Warm-up 73
Great workouts are built upon solid warm-up routines.
PART II CONDITIONING EXERCISES
5
Pilates Exercises 97
Pilates exercises build the endurance and strength needed in all
sports and every athletic discipline.
6
Training With Medicine Balls and Resistance Bands 155
Versatility is the hallmark of these overlooked fitness tools.
7
Fundamental Strength Exercises 195
Use barbells and dumbbells to push yourself to new levels.
iv
PART III THE WORKOUTS
8
Foundational Workouts 217
Structurally sound conditioning programs start with strong
foundational workouts.
9
Intermediate, Advanced, and Sport-Specific
Workouts 231
Progress your training based on your goals, sport, and level of
conditioning.
Glossary 249
About the Authors 251
Earn Continuing Education Credits/Units 254
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is possible because of the amazing mentors and teachers we have
had along the way. Without your ongoing encouragement and support we
would not be where we are today.
Rick
Thank you, Al Vermeil, for taking me under your wing and teaching me a
craft that I love. I am forever grateful. Thank you, Tim Adams, for always
being a great friend and mentor in this field we love. Last, and definitely
not least, thank you, Mom and Dad. You supported me from the beginning,
always encouraging me throughout my journey while I was traveling around
the country learning from the best of the best. Without you two none of
this is possible.
Amy
I’d like to thank my family and friends for always encouraging me to do
and be more. Thank you, Carmen Marshall, for reminding me anything and
everything is possible. To all of our clients throughout the years, it’s because
of you that we strive to be the very best at what we do. And to Rick, you
are always my inspiration. You have an amazing gift and to watch you
coach, whether you’re on the field or in the weight-room, is amazing. You
have changed the lives of thousands of people and have inspired another
generation of strength coaches. I love you!
Thank you to our Beyond Motion family for helping us with this project
and constantly encouraging us when we were too tired to write another
sentence. And to Heather for always checking in to make sure we had time
to write. Wibs, Jamie, Kelly, Dom, and Carl, thank you for being such great
models, you made it all so easy. 
vi
INTRODUCTION
P ilates and Conditioning for Athletes was written for you, the serious or
elite athlete, or a coach working with high-level athletes. You will gain
valuable insights and tips for training and recovery that will improve your
level of play. We will provide you with pregame and postgame exercises to
help you create a more functional system so that you will be able to better
adapt to the demands placed on your body and perform at a higher level.
As you read and use the assessment tests and training programs, you will
follow programs similar to those that we use with the elite and professional
athletes that train at our facility. Regardless of whether you are a 50-year-old
triathlete, college athlete, professional athlete, or even a weekend warrior,
this book has something for everyone.
We encourage you to follow the program completely, starting with your
personal assessment tests. Once you have gone through each chapter, you
will be able to select the individual workout at the end of the book based on
your assessment, current needs, and goals. This is more than a book that
you will read once and put on a shelf; Pilates and Conditioning for Athletes
should be used as your training partner and coach. You will use this book
whether you’re working out at home, the gym, or on the road. As your results
improve, refer back to the programs for inspiration and new workouts. You
will be able to challenge yourself with a new workout every few months
based on your performance level and needs at that time. Remember to log
your progress and set your goals. Successful athletes never leave training to
chance. They don’t wander through their workout wondering, “What should
I do next?” Every workout is planned. Every exercise is done for a specific
reason, and each movement and program builds on the next.
This book is a culmination of more than two decades of inspiring work,
research, and studying the training of professional and high-level athletes.
Throughout the process we have learned that although each body is unique,
every athlete requires the same fundamental strengths to perform at their
highest level. The best athletes are strong, fast, reactive, and cognitively
aware. To prepare you for competition, we have designed complete and bal-
anced programs that tap into each of the key factors you need for success.
How did we go about doing this? Our philosophy is founded on a science-
based approach, literally working with your body from the ground up, helping
you to develop a more productive system both neurologically and in the mus-
culature. This multidimensional training system, known as the seven pillars,
will help you become a stronger, faster, healthier, and better-equipped athlete.
vii
viii Introduction
You will learn the benefits and basic techniques for the following:
• Breathing exercises for increased lung capacity, stress reduction, and
breath control
• Stretching routines to open and lengthen your hips, hamstrings, and
back
• Joint articulation to improve your range of motion and balance
• Ways to activate and strengthen your glutes
• A dynamic warm-up series to begin each session
• Myofascial release work to prepare your body for each program
• Pilates to strengthen your core, improve your posture, develop uniform
strength, and increase flexibility
• Resistance training for strength and power exercises
• Medicine ball training for working in diagonal and transverse planes
Movement and Your Body
The fitness and conditioning community has seen lots of fads. One minute
something is hot and considered to be “the best training method ever,” and
the next minute people are condemning the same program they once loved.
There is a tendency to try to make things fancy and complicated, when in
reality, all we need to do is return to the foundation of what makes an ath-
lete faster and stronger. Every athlete has a weakness, and it is up to us as
coaches to isolate those weaknesses and turn those areas into a strength.
Having trained athletes for about two decades, we have heard the same
comments and questions time and again:
• “How do I know which exercises are best for me right now?”
• “My coach has been giving me the same workout for a long time.
How do I know it’s time to change?”
• “My body doesn’t bounce back as quickly after workouts; what can
I do?”
• “I stretch and I’m still so tight. What can I do?”
• “I’m injured . . . again. How do I prevent future injuries?”
• “What should I be doing in the off-season?”
• “I have heard that Pilates is a great workout, but how do I do it and
when should I incorporate it?”
We are here to answer your questions. But first we need to explain what
you will not see in this book. This book will not offer you a quick fix. It will
not provide you with workout programs that are complicated and extreme.
It will not push you past your breaking point and then criticize you for not
pushing yourself hard enough.
Introduction ix
What this book will do is coach you, guide you, and offer you opportuni-
ties to improve your athletic performance.
Debunk the Myths
This is the first book of its kind—one that not only dispels training myths
and identifies inconsistencies in the world of athletic conditioning but also
teaches you how to challenge your body in an entirely new way. Our method
of overall conditioning for athletes is a multifaceted, tiered approach and
works to help you create a strong, flexible base so that you can begin build-
ing on that foundation.
So what exactly will we teach you throughout this book? Well, the training
for every athlete, no matter their sport or age, needs to use the same key
components in order to be successful. These are our seven pillars of training:
strength, flexibility, mobility, stability, power, speed, and agility.
Think about it. If you want to improve your speed, what factors do you
need to address? Do you have a good strength base? Are you flexible? How
is your mobility? How stable are you? Do you have good breath control and
lung capacity? Without addressing these key factors, your ability to become
faster is limited. Weak, inflexible athletes are not efficient movers. Our goal
is to make sure your movement is efficient and effective, helping you reach
your full athletic potential.
At our facility, an athlete’s initial evaluation is the key to creating the ideal
blueprint for his or her personalized training program. Once an evaluation
is completed, we have a baseline to work from in order to create the initial
training programs.
Our evaluation process places each athlete in a variety of situations that
test their movement patterns, range of motion, strength base, flexibility, and
core strength. At the end of the evaluation, we discuss the identified defi-
ciencies and, more importantly, explain how we will address these factors
one by one. Again, our goal is to turn these weaknesses into strengths, to
keep our athletes on the field or court and off the bench.
Knowing that not everyone has the ability to train at our facility, we want
to provide you with a way to become your own coach. We want to make
sure you have the correct information and a simple format to use so that
you are prepared to begin this phase of your training.
So where do you begin? How do you know which exercises are best
suited for you to start with? This book provides step-by-step instructions
for assessing your body so you can choose the best program to start with
from the programs outlined at the back of the book. And then you’ll reas-
sess your body and program after 90 days. We will take the confusion out
of conditioning and provide you with your own KISS (keep it super simple)
method. You will learn our methodology of pre- and posttraining mechan-
ics, Pilates, and overall conditioning so that no matter where you are, your
program is available to you at all times. This is more than a what-to-do book.