{"id":997,"date":"2025-07-01T12:47:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T12:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/balako.digital\/balakoqa\/?p=997"},"modified":"2026-05-20T13:43:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T16:43:48","slug":"how-pilates-reduces-injuries-in-footballers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/2025\/07\/01\/how-pilates-reduces-injuries-in-footballers\/","title":{"rendered":"How Pilates reduces injuries in footballers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"997\" class=\"elementor elementor-997\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-38d0e6d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"38d0e6d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b120a28 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b120a28\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;wdt_animation_effect&quot;:&quot;none&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"pnf-article-page\"><!-- ===== HERO ===== --><header class=\"pnf-article-hero\"><span class=\"pnf-article-category\">Injury Prevention<\/span>\n<h1 class=\"pnf-article-title\">How Pilates reduces injuries in footballers<\/h1>\n<p class=\"pnf-article-intro\">Ankle sprains, knee pain, lower back stiffness, groin pain. If you play football regularly, you\u2019ve probably experienced at least one of these. Find out, in simple terms, how core stability and movement control can eliminate these problems from your game \u2014 before they take you off the pitch.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pnf-article-meta\">By Helena Machado | 23 April 2025 | Reading time: 5 mins<\/div>\n<\/header><!-- ===== CORPO ===== -->\n<div class=\"pnf-article-body\">\n<p>Football is one of the sports with the highest injury rates in the world. It\u2019s no surprise: the body is subjected to explosive acceleration, sudden stops, physical collisions and rapid changes of direction for 90 minutes straight. The physical strain is very real. But many of these injuries are not inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>What the science of movement shows is that most of the most common injuries in football stem from a similar problem: <strong>lack of stability and muscle control<\/strong>. And that is exactly what Pilates focuses on.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pnf-callout\">\u201cMost injuries in amateur football are not caused by contact. They happen because the body was not prepared to cope with the movement.\u201d<\/div>\n<!-- Tornozelo -->\n<h2>Ankle sprain: the most common injury that nobody takes seriously<\/h2>\n<p>The ankle is the joint most prone to injury in football, across all age groups. A misstep on an uneven ball, a misjudged dribble, or running onto a slippery patch. The problem is that, when it happens for the second or third time, the ligament becomes permanently looser.<\/p>\n<p>In Pilates, we work on the stabilising muscles around the ankle and improve proprioception, which is your nervous system\u2019s ability to sense where your body is in space. As a result, the ankle reacts more quickly to a misstep, preventing a sprain before it happens.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strengthening the peroneal muscles (the muscles on the outside of the shin) that stabilise the ankle<\/li>\n<li>Single-leg balance training to simulate on-pitch situations<\/li>\n<li>Advanced proprioception for faster nervous system responses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<!-- Joelho -->\n<h2>The knee: when the problem starts in the hip and core<\/h2>\n<p>The knee is a \u201cpassive\u201d joint: it has no muscles of its own to stabilise it. It relies entirely on what lies above (the hip and core) and below (the ankle). When the hip weakens, the knee compensates and pays the price.<\/p>\n<p>This explains the prevalence of ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries in both women\u2019s and men\u2019s football. Pilates works directly to strengthen the glutes and core, thereby reducing the strain on the knee during jumping, braking and changes of direction.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Deep activation of the glutes to align the knee in the correct plane<\/li>\n<li>Eccentric quadriceps strengthening to absorb the impact of jumping<\/li>\n<li>Joint alignment training to protect the ACL in high-risk situations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<!-- Lombar -->\n<h2>Lower back: the price of standing for 90 minutes<\/h2>\n<p>The lumbar spine is designed for light-load movements and an upright posture. In football, it is subjected to forced rotations, the impact of heading the ball and a slightly forward-leaning posture for most of the match. The result? Chronic inflammation, post-match pain and, in severe cases, slipped discs.<\/p>\n<p>Pilates builds what we call the \u201cnatural core\u201d: constant activation of the transverse abdominis and the multifidus muscles (deep muscles of the spine) that keep the spine protected even when the body is under load and moving at speed.<\/p>\n<!-- Adutores -->\n<h2>Adductors and Pubalgia: the secret nobody tells you<\/h2>\n<p>Pubalgia is chronic groin pain that affects hundreds of players. It is almost always caused by an imbalance between the abdominal muscles and the adductors (inner thigh muscles). When one side works harder than the other, the pelvis is pulled out of alignment and the pubic bone becomes inflamed.<\/p>\n<p>In Pilates, we work the inner thigh muscles eccentrically and in isolation on the Reformer, rebalancing the pelvis without the risk of overloading the joint. It is the most effective exercise there is for preventing and treating pubalgia.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eccentric adduction exercises on the Reformer to build strength without causing inflammation<\/li>\n<li>Rebalancing the pelvis to relieve pressure on the pubic bone<\/li>\n<li>Core integration with the adductors for long passes without the risk of muscle strain<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"pnf-divider\" \/>\n<p>The good news is that none of these problems need to be inevitable. With two sessions a week of football-specific Pilates, you\u2019ll start to see results within 4 to 6 weeks. Less pain, more confidence and more time on the pitch.<\/p>\n<a class=\"pnf-article-cta\" href=\"#contato\">Book an assessment with Helena<\/a><\/div>\n<\/article>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Focuses on ankle, knee and lower back sprains, as well as adductor injuries; explains, in simple terms, how core stability and movement control help to reduce the risk of injury and time off.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,1],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-midia","category-sem-categoria","tag-fitness-challenges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=997"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3303,"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions\/3303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilatesnofutebol.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}