- NFL Hall-of-Famer Cris Carter says his Pilates routine has helped him recover from injury and get fitter.
- The exercise – originally designed for veterans and athletes – also helped him lose weight during the pandemic.
- Carter says men would benefit from Pilates, and wants football players to try it.
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NFL players – and men in general – should stop sidelining Pilates as a women's workout if they want to improve their endurance and reduce their injury risk, according to one Hall-of-Famer.
Former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Cris Carter started doing Pilates before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but wished he'd found out about it earlier.
He says it has helped him improve his flexibility, lose weight, and treat lingering injuries from his playing career – and he believes it could help current players to be stronger, more flexible, and last longer.
"My wife got me involved right before the pandemic," Carter told Insider. "After I got through my first 50 or so workouts I could really start to see I was really enjoying it, and through the pandemic that was really the only safe place to go and work out. So I fell in love with it, I've taken close to 250 classes over the last two years."
Pilates has traditionally been associated with women's fitness – the most recent data by the Pilates Method Alliance found that 96% of Pilates clients were female – and Carter says men are missing a valuable trick.
"I wish more men would get involved with it," he said. "I believe it's a hidden gem that a lot of football players have not discovered. Whatever they think about pilates and whatever they think about the platform, pilates is completely different."
Pilates was designed as rehab for veterans and athletes
Pilates was originally purposed as a rehabilitation method for injured veterans and athletes when it was introduced by Joseph Pilates in the 1920s.
Pilates initially created the exercise to as a method to rehabilitate injured veterans and athletes.
The workout is designed to correct muscle imbalances to treat the rest of the body as it recovers from an injury while allowing the injured body part to heal, according to findings by the Institute of Physiotherapy.
After a few Pilates sessions, Carter could lift weights again
Carter suffered a broke collarbone in 1992, but didn't miss a game to injury again until his 16th and final season in 2002, when he was hospitalized with kidney function abnormalities.
Still, Carter deals with lingering general pain from his playing days. Gradually, it was getting harder to stay fit and lift weights.
He was shocked when, after a few Pilates sessions, he could get back to more strenuous exercises.
"I had a couple of football injuries that I was nursing and I could tell that they were getting better and that they were getting stronger, "Carter said.
Pilates strengthens the muscles players need to make explosive movements and powerful blocks
Pilates can build strength in the core, back, and hips. Athletes, and football players especially, depend on those muscles to make explosive movements on the field. Core and hip strength determines how quickly a player can change direction while they're sprinting.
Back muscles are particularly important for linemen - the bigger, heavier players that specialize in blocking and tackling. Back strength weighs into how much power a player delivers when they are striking an opponent with their hands and arms to block or tackle.
"Players are doing all different types of exercises," Carter said. "I just believe pilates could be more utilized, and you don't have to wait until you get older. It can be utilized as part of their training regimen while they're in the prime of their career, which will only enhance what they do."