It’s no secret that runners shouldn’t rely on running alone. To reduce the risk of injury and build strength, fitness and power in the process, runners should incorporate strength and conditioning work into their weekly training regime – and engaging in Pilates is a great way to tick that box.
Although it is often confused with yoga, which assists relaxation by opening up the body, Pilates helps to strengthen the body by lengthening the muscles and taking movements to their full extension. A low-intensity form of strength training, Pilates helps to bolster your core and – among other things – enhance your flexibility, posture, balance and body awareness, making it a fruitful form of cross training for runners.
V-up variations to build a strong core PLoS One, which examined 16 runners who followed a 12-week Pilates training programme and a further 16 runners who did not follow this programme, supports this. Here, researchers found that the runners who did the Pilates exercises strengthened their core muscles, increased their V02 max Lie on the floor on your back. Place your feet on the edge of a sofa, chair or step 5The best hamstring stretches to reduce tightness Lie on your back on the floor.
What everyone's reading
Here, physiotherapist Helen O’Leary, who is the Clinical Director at London-based Complete Pilates, shares her nine best Pilates moves for runners looking to maintain strength and suppleness without overdoing it.
When should runners do Pilates?
Although the Pilates movements detailed below can be done at any time of year, O’Leary says that they are particularly beneficial when you’re tapering for a big race like a marathon.
‘The taper period of your marathon preparation is focused on reducing the volume of your training,’ she says. ‘The purpose of your taper is to reduce fatigue and improve muscle recovery before your event, without losing the physiological adaptations that you have worked so hard to achieve.’
As O’Leary notes, a usual taper period for a marathon lasts for two to three weeks. During this time, your mileage should decrease but you should, ideally, maintain the intensity and frequency of your training sessions. It’s also important to stick to what’s familiar and not change your routine significantly during this pivotal pre-race window. ‘For example, at this time, you don’t want to start trying to make strength training gains with weights,’ she says. ‘Aim for gentle cross training in the first two weeks of your taper, then, in the final week, leave out everything apart from the most gentle stretching.’
Best Pilates exercises for runners
1. Dead Bugs
‘This is a classic core stability exercise, where the use of opposite arm to opposite leg mimics the reciprocal movements that you do in running, which means that you’re working on the same rotational stability,’ says O’Leary. If you’re doing this exercise during your marathon taper period, she recommends adding 1-2kg weights for the first two weeks, but dropping them for the final week.
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
1. The best knee-strengthening exercises for runners.
2. Bring both of your legs up into the ‘tabletop’ position, with your hips and knees at roughly 90 degrees and your shins parallel to the floor.
3. Float your arms overhead so that your hands are pointing to the ceiling and are slightly wider than your shoulders.
4. Take a breath in. Then, as you sigh your breath out, reach one arm overhead and move the opposite leg away.
5. Inhale to return to the start position.
6. Only go as far as you can while maintaining a small gap under your lower back. If your back starts to arch away from the floor, or you’re having to force your lower back into the floor, you have gone too far.
7. three-quarter side plank.
2. Side to side
‘This is another great exercise that focuses on working the obliques, which control the rotational movement of your body during running,’ says O’Leary. ‘If you do this exercise during the first two weeks of a marathon taper, work with the intermediate variation, where both of your legs are lifted. In the week before and the week after your marathon, keep your feet on the floor, as per the beginner variation, to use this movement more as a lower back mobility exercise.’
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
Beginner variation
1. Lie on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
2. Spread your arms wide on the floor to ground yourself.
3. Spread your arms wide on the floor.
4. Let your head gently roll away in the opposite direction.
5. Published: 22 April 2025.
6. Lower the knees to the opposite side.
7. Repeat five to 10 times each way.
Intermediate variation
1. Lie on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
2. Spread your arms wide on the floor.
3. Gently lift one and then both legs into the tabletop position.
4. Gently lower your knees to one side, keeping your shoulder blades heavy on the floor. This time, your knees and feet will not touch the floor.
5. Let your head gently roll away in the opposite direction.
6. Draw your knees back to the middle.
7. Gently lower your knees to the opposite side.
8. As O’Leary notes, a usual.
3. Bridge and marching
‘This variation on a bridge is great for keeping your hamstring muscles awake,’ says O’Leary. ‘Focus on a gentle rolling action up and down the spine to act as a back mobility exercise. If your hamstrings cramp during this exercise, you may find it more comfortable to do it with your feet on the ground.’ Work with the progression of this exercise during the first two weeks of a taper, lifting alternate legs. In the final week of a taper and the week after your race, work with the basic version, where your feet are in contact with the ground or on an elevated surface.
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
1. Lie on the floor on your back. Place your feet on the edge of a sofa, chair or step.
2. Lie on your back on the floor.
3. Hold for a moment, then lower your pelvis, folding in the front of your hip crease.
4. As you lower your hips, imagine your spine getting longer as you gently roll it back to the floor.
5. As you lift your hips, try not to arch your lower back – you want to keep the curve of your lower back soft. Thinking about keeping the front of your ribs soft can help. Soften your breastbone down away from your face.
6. Repeat 10 times.
7. To progress the exercise, alternate lifting one leg and then the other.
8. As you lift each leg in turn, try not to let the opposite side of your pelvis drop.
9. As O’Leary notes, a usual.
4. Side plank variations
According to O’Leary, this exercise is a great way to work on your lateral gluteal muscles and oblique strength, which are important for maintaining pelvic stability. This movement is particularly beneficial when done during the first two weeks of a marathon taper.
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
1. K finish times mat.
2. Draw your knees gently back to the middle.
3. Press yourself up into a side plank, then straighten your top leg.
4. Flex your foot so that your toes come toward your shin.
5. Lift and lower your top leg, leading through the heel.
6. To progress the exercise, alternate lifting one leg and then the other.
If you’re in your final week before a marathon, or in the week just after it, O’Leary suggests bringing down the intensity with a simple Prop yourself up onto your forearm.
1. Lie on your side on the floor.
2. Prop yourself up onto your forearm.
3. Bend your knees to 90 degrees. Make sure that your thighs are in line with your hips and shoulders. Your feet should be behind the line of your body.
4. Repeat 10 times, holding for up to 10 seconds each time.
5. Book openings
‘This exercise is great for alleviating the upper back stiffness that you can get from putting in the miles,’ says O’Leary. ‘We can hunch forward quite a bit as we fatigue when running, so this is a good stretch for opening out the chest. You can add light weights to feel a bit of work through the shoulders in the first two weeks of a marathon taper, but drop them out for the last week and then add them in as preferred after your race.’
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
1. Repeat five to 10 times.
2. Keeping your hips and knees together, reach one arm up and back so that you open your chest to the ceiling. You should aim to get rotation through your upper body.
3. Think of your top knee sliding slightly forward on top of the other one – this should stop you from just rolling onto your back and give you a greater stretch through the obliques.
4. Repeat 10 times, holding for up to 10 seconds each time.
5. To progress the exercise, alternate lifting one leg and then the other.
6. Thread the needle
Similar to book openings, this exercise also supports upper back mobility. ‘This one adds a combination of spinal rotation with flexion and extension, which works us in a more functional movement pattern,’ notes O’Leary.
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
1. Kneel on all fours, keeping a little bit more weight over your legs.
2. Reach one hand underneath you and feed it through to your opposite side, rotating through your upper back.
3. Next, pull that arm back through and reach toward the ceiling on the opposite side.
4. Keep your pelvis directly over your knees and try to minimise any shift from side to side.
5. As O’Leary notes, a usual.
6. To get a shoulder stretch, bend your supporting arm to allow your opposite shoulder to sink toward the floor and hold.
7. Cat-cow stretch
If the ‘thread the needle’ exercise feels a bit beyond your reach, O’Leary suggests trying the simpler cat-cow stretch, which is another beneficial movement for spinal mobility.
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
1. Kneel on all fours, keeping a little bit more weight over your legs.
2. Press your hands into the ground, as if you’re trying to push yourself away from it, without rounding into your spine. The aim is to avoid collapsing in between your shoulder blades.
3. Slowly start to tuck your tailbone under to round your lower back, then continue rounding up through to the upper back. Gently lower your head to look toward your knees.
4. Start to unfold your spine, starting at the tailbone and working your way up. Finally, lift your head to look toward the top of your exercise mat.
5. Keep the movement slow and deliberate, focusing on the sensations at each section of your spine as you sequentially work your way up and down.
6. Repeat five to 10 times.
8. Scooter
‘This standing exercise helps to keep your quads and gluteals active,’ says O’Leary. ‘It also helps you to work on your movement pattern, as it isolates the leg action from the lower back movement, which promotes efficient movement for running.’
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
1. Repeat 10 times.
2. Gently soften your knees and sit your hips back behind you.
3. Shift your weight slightly onto one leg and slide the toes of the other leg behind you until that leg is extended straight.
4. Lift and lower your top leg, leading through the heel.
5. As you move that leg, the shape of the rest of you should stay the same – so, your front knee should be slightly bent, you should be folded forward at the hips and your lower back should maintain a gentle inward curve.
6. three-quarter side plank.
9. Roll down
‘The roll down is a lovely finisher exercise for spinal mobility and a bit of gentle hamstring stretch,’ notes O’Leary. ‘Although you can do the exercise free-standing, this wall version provides sensory feedback to allow you to feel the movement of your spine moving sequentially.’
You can watch O’Leary demonstrate this exercise here.
1. Stand with your back in a relaxed position against a wall and your feet a couple of inches away from it.
2. Take a deep breath in and, as you sigh out, shift a little weight into the balls of your feet and allow your upper body to roll forward until you can’t go any further.
3. Press into your feet to roll yourself back up the wall, focusing on the sensations of where your back touches the wall.
4. Repeat the movement and see if you can get a little bit further.
5. To target your hamstrings, try the free-standing version and allow yourself to move until you feel a gentle stretch in the back of your hamstrings.
6. Repeat five times.
