{"id":240249,"date":"2025-07-05T13:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T13:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/240249\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T13:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T13:58:12","slug":"a-72-year-old-shares-how-pilates-helped-him-run-a-half-marathon-injury-free-and-the-one-move-that-helped-him-the-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/240249\/","title":{"rendered":"A 72-year-old shares how Pilates helped him run a half-marathon injury-free, and the one move that helped him the most"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pilates has never been more popular and it\u2019s not hard to see why. It can help you build strength, while also developing your posture, mobility and coordination.<\/p>\n

It can also be incredibly effective at helping injury-prone runners to run pain-free<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is what 72-year-old Frank discovered earlier this year, when he started attending his daughter Kamille McCollum\u2019s reformer Pilates studio to prepare for a half marathon.<\/p>\n

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Doing reformer Pilates just once a week for a few months was a game-changer for Frank. It was the first time he\u2019d trained for a race without getting injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt always felt like everyone in my family thought, \u2018Oh Dad\u2019s injured again!\u2019\u201d Frank tells Fit&Well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think of any other training I\u2019ve done where I didn\u2019t end up hurting myself and losing time because of a muscle injury. This was the first time where it didn\u2019t happen\u2014and I\u2019ve gotten older!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kamille, who\u2019s the co-founder of the BODYBAR<\/a> brand, tells me Pilates is one of the best styles of movement for people in their 60s and 70s. \u201cAs you get older, the stronger you can keep your core, the more endurance and balance you\u2019re going to have, especially for running but also for playing with your grandkids and day-to-day things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Frank used the Pilates reformer, a piece of equipment that uses a sliding platform called a carriage, as well as springs which can be hooked onto the platform to add resistance. \u201cReformer Pilates focuses on the stabilisation muscles, core and posture, which is key to good running form,\u201d says Kamille.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

(Image credit: BODYBAR)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started doing Pilates, it felt like muscles I\u2019d never targeted before were getting toned,\u201d says Frank.<\/p>\n

But you can easily recreate the benefits of reformer Pilates without any equipment. And Frank says there\u2019s one exercise that he thinks was most beneficial to his training, and which you don\u2019t need a reformer to do\u2014the side lunge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do a lot of single-leg, single-arm and core work,\u201d says Kamille. \u201cEveryone has a dominant side of the body, so doing things that challenge your balance on one leg ensures you’re strengthening both sides of the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

For this reason, Frank did a lot of side lunges which strengthens and mobilizes the lower body. \u201cYou\u2019re working through the back of the legs, the quads and working on your balance,\u201d says Kamille. \u201cYou\u2019re also getting a stretch into your inner thigh, which means you\u2019re strengthening one leg while improving your flexibility in the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat side lunge exercise really worked me out\u2014and I often didn’t realize how much until I could feel it afterwards,\u201d says Frank.<\/p>\n

How to do a side lunge<\/p>\n

In BODYBAR classes, people do a side lunge on the reformer, using the resistance of the platform to challenge the muscles responsible for hip stabilization, but Kamille says you can recreate this aspect at home by wearing socks on a hard floor, to make the surface unstable.<\/p>\n

You could also try Pilates sliders<\/a>, which are a great way to replicate the benefits of the reformer.<\/p>\n