Best Pilates exercises to relieve sore muscles, or DOMS

Fit young woman doing thread the needle yoga pose at park. Caucasian female in sports clothing doing yoga on fitness mat in morning outdoors. — Credit: Getty Images

During intense periods of training or following an injury or illness break, it can be easy to overdo a training session which can lead to muscle soreness and stiffness the next day.

This is a normal reaction to an increased training load and is a common complaint amongst triathletes. To alleviate the risk of delayed muscles soreness (DOMS), it is important to gradually build up your training and factor in rest days. Another way you can reduce the chance of DOMS is by doing Pilates exercises to aid recovery.

What is DOMS?

DOMS can make muscles feel sore after a strenuous workout/Credit: Getty Images

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common experience after increasing workout intensity or trying new activities. Symptoms such as strength loss, pain, muscle tenderness, stiffness, and swelling typically peak at different times after exercise.

To alleviate DOMS, engaging in light exercise like Pilates or Yoga can enhance blood flow and oxygen delivery to the muscles, aiding recovery. Adequate sleep is crucial for muscle recovery, as it facilitates the release of human growth hormone (HGH) necessary for protein synthesis.

Recovery Pilates exercises to help with muscle soreness

1. Thread the Needle

The thread the needle exercise is the perfect start for your recovery. It allows you to mobilise, stretch and open out the shoulders, chest, neck and upper back while allowing for a gentle twist of the spine – all helpful for triathletes. Start this exercise in a reduced range and build to a greater stretch feeling as the body allows.

2. Pilates Mermaid

The Pilates Mermaid will help you alleviate soreness and improve your feeling of mobility in the mid and lower back, as well as the side of your body and hips. If being on the floor is difficult, you can start with a version seated on a chair.

3. Pilates Hip Stretch

The Pilates hip stretch will help you stretch and relieve soreness at the front of your thigh, an area of the body that is often sore following running or lower leg gym exercises.

4. Pilates Roll Down

The Pilates roll down will help you gently stretch and mobilise your whole posterior chain – that includes your neck, upper back, lower back, hamstrings and calves. If you’re feeling really tight and sore in these areas, you can start off with a small roll down and gradually build your range as the tension starts to relieve.

5. Shoulder Extension

This seated shoulder extension stretch is great if you’re feeling soreness in your shoulders, arms and chest. This video shows the movement in sitting, but you can also do it in standing to get more movement through the hips and lower back.

If you’re looking for a full recovery exercise flow session to follow along with, give our 25 minute stretch and mobility class a go:

When our bodies feel stiff after strenuous exercise, we know that we’ll feel better after taking a warm bath, going for a massage or spending some time in the sauna. These activities increase the blood supply to our muscles which ‘rinses’ away some of the chemicals contributing to the soreness.

The same happens when we use our muscles at a lower intensity, like when doing Pilates. With gentle movement and loading of sore muscles, the circulation to these muscles improves and we leave the session feeling less stiff than when we started.

Can Triathletes do Pilates on rest days?

Pilates is a great form of exercise to do in between more vigorous training days such as weight training or cardiovascular training.

Pilates focuses on breathing and control which helps with circulation and muscle recovery, as well as allowing you to participate in more mindful movement and restoration of your mental energy as well as your physical energy. Equipment and mat-based Pilates are typically low-resistance exercises which won’t put further strain on your muscles, allowing them to recover while you gently move.

Is Pilates ‘active recovery?’

Active recovery exercise involves low-impact movements, typically of the whole body, where the heart rate is kept around 50% of your maximum effort.

Pilates exercise classes always incorporate movements of all muscle groups of the body including the upper and lower limbs and the spine. The movements are often performed in a series or flow which encourages constant circulation of the blood and lymph systems.

About

Helen O’Leary is a chartered physiotherapist who graduated from Birmingham University and went straight into professional sports. Her first job was with the men’s team at London Wasps Rugby Club where she worked within a world-class multidisciplinary team and where her love of Pilates and movement was born. In 2010 she completed her Polestar Pilates Comprehensive Rehabilitation course and began to teach both mat and equipment clinical Pilates. Working with the athletes in rugby showed her the huge benefits and potential strength gains Pilates could achieve. After spending three years in elite rugby, Helen took up a position with Cirque Du Soleil. As one of only two physiotherapists on the show, she taught Pilates as part of the performer’s ongoing maintenance treatment, to prevent injuries and as part of active rehabilitation. In 2015, Helen settled back in London and started Complete Pilates. Her aim is to help people take more responsibility for their rehab and give people the confidence to move even when they're injured or ill. Complete Pilates now has three studios across London, an online rehab service and an on-demand platform.