Modern Cyclist Magazine Issue 3, November 2014 | Page 41

not the 86 year old who whipped you at
tying his shoe laces.
My biggest gripe with the community of
Pilates, especially in cyclists, is that we
end up at a generic gym doing a generic
Pilates class that caters for everyone. This
class is fantastic in terms of starting to get
people moving, meeting new people and
if you find the good instructors the class
can be gold. But you are not the average
‘racing snake’ and you spend more than
2 hours on your bike at a time and use
that hip flexion to the max. So, standing in
a Pilates class doing hip flexor exercises,
although great, are not helpful to your
already strong hip flexors.
Your first Pilates class may be deceiving
as you may struggle initially to complete
a set of ‘good-form’ hip flexors. No, this is
not because you have weak hip flexors, its

more than likely that you are fatigued from
you morning Strava racing rides. So rest and
stretching are what your hip flexors need.
Specific one-on-one Pilates classes will
expose the fact that you have weak
glutes (BUMs), hamstrings and maybe ego.
Keep it specific, keep your classes cyclin