Can Pilates help prevent running injuries?

Yes. Many common running injuries — IT band tightness, runner's knee, lower back pain on longer runs — trace back to the specific muscular gaps that running creates and Reformer Pilates addresses. Lateral hip stability, glute activation, and deep spinal strength are all areas the Reformer trains precisely, and all areas that protect runners from the injuries that accumulate over time.

What causes IT band tightness in runners and can Pilates help?

IT band problems are almost always driven by weakness in the lateral hip, specifically the gluteus medius, which fails to keep the pelvis level through each stride. The IT band itself cannot be stretched meaningfully. Reformer Pilates trains lateral hip stability directly through side-lying leg work, single-leg press sequences, and standing balance work on the carriage, in ways that running and most gym training do not reach.

Is Pilates Good for Runners?

Q: Should I do Pilates during marathon training?

Yes. Reformer Pilates is low impact enough to sit comfortably alongside high mileage weeks without adding meaningfully to recovery load. The specific demands of marathon training — sustained single-leg loading, spinal stability under fatigue, hip flexor endurance across long efforts — are precisely what the Reformer trains. Runners who maintain one or two sessions a week through a training block consistently report better form retention in the later miles and faster recovery between long runs. The recommendation is to keep sessions at a restorative level during the heaviest weeks rather than pushing into new class levels.

Q: How often should runners do Pilates?

Once a week alongside your running and you will notice the difference in your legs on longer runs within a few weeks. Twice a week, particularly during a training block, is where runners tend to see the clearest performance gains. Because Pilates is low impact, it generally supports recovery rather than adding to training load.

Q: What Pilates classes are best for runners in Edinburgh?

At Luma Pilates in Edinburgh, runners new to the Reformer start with Reformer Fundamentals. The foundational footwork, hip mobility, and spinal articulation work maps directly onto running mechanics. As the practice develops, Reformer Pilates 1 and 2 introduce more lateral work, rotational challenges, and single-leg loading — all directly relevant to how runners need to move. Barre classes are also an excellent complement, building hip stability and single-leg balance.

Man and woman running -- how Pilates helps runners, Luma Pilates Edinburgh — Edinburgh runners — and why more of them are adding Pilates to their training

Short answer

Yes, and most runners who try it wish they had started sooner. Running creates specific muscular imbalances that Reformer Pilates addresses directly: posterior chain activation, hip flexor work through full range, and lateral stability. The carryover to both performance and injury prevention is consistent and well documented.

What running doesn't train

Every stride is a single-leg movement. Your ability to stay stable, transfer power efficiently, and protect your joints depends entirely on how well your body manages that. Most runners are strong in certain directions and considerably weaker in others, and have no idea until an injury reveals it.

Running does relatively little for lateral hip stability, for rotational control under load, or for the deep spinal muscles that keep your pelvis level when your legs are tired. Those gaps accumulate quietly. They show up as IT band tightness, runner's knee, the lower back ache that arrives somewhere around mile eight, or calves that never quite loosen no matter how long you spend on them.

What the Reformer gives runners

Posterior chain activation. Weak or inhibited glutes are implicated in a disproportionate number of running injuries. Footwork and leg press sequences on the Reformer isolate and load the glutes in ways that straightforward running never does, and the carryover to running mechanics is direct.

Hip flexor work through full range. Long hours at a desk followed by running keeps hip flexors shortened and overactive, which tilts the pelvis forward and creates a chain of downstream issues. Pilates works the hip flexors through their complete range, not just stretching them, but strengthening them in lengthened positions.

Lateral and rotational stability. Every stride asks your hip to do two things at once: generate power through extension and resist the tendency of the pelvis to drop on the opposite side. That resistance is the job of the lateral hip stabilisers, primarily the gluteus medius, and in most runners they are significantly underdeveloped relative to the muscles driving forward propulsion.

When the gluteus medius is weak, the pelvis tilts with each stride. That tilt increases the angle at which the femur meets the knee, which is one of the primary mechanical causes of runner's knee and IT band problems. It also places greater demand on the lower back to compensate, which is why hip stability and lower back pain in runners are so often connected.

The Reformer addresses this through exercises that load the hip in the frontal and transverse planes, the directions that running largely ignores. Side-lying leg work, single-leg press sequences, and standing balance work on the carriage all target the gluteus medius and the deep hip rotators in ways that squats, deadlifts, and running itself do not reach. The kinetic chain explains how a weakness here affects the whole system.

Spinal stability under fatigue. The deep spinal stabilisers around the lumbar spine are what keep your form together in the second half of a run. Pilates trains them specifically, rather than hoping they develop as a side effect of something else.

A route back from injury. The low-impact nature of the Reformer means you can maintain conditioning while addressing whatever caused the injury in the first place. Many runners find they return from Pilates-assisted recovery running more efficiently than before.

Reformer Pilates class at Luma Pilates Edinburgh -- training for runners — A jumpboard class at Luma Pilates — running mechanics, without the road

Common running injuries and what Pilates addresses

Most running injuries are not bad luck. They are the predictable result of specific muscular weaknesses accumulating over thousands of repetitions. Understanding which weakness sits behind which injury makes it easier to understand what Pilates is actually fixing.

IT band tightness. The IT band itself cannot be stretched in any meaningful way. What drives IT band problems is almost always a weakness in the lateral hip, specifically the gluteus medius, which fails to keep the pelvis level through the stance phase of each stride. The Reformer trains lateral hip stability directly and specifically, in ways that running and most gym work never reach.

Runner's knee.Patellofemora l pain is most commonly caused by the kneecap tracking slightly off-centre as the knee flexes and extends. The underlying driver is usually a combination of weak hip abductors and tight hip flexors pulling the femur inward. Reformer footwork and single-leg press sequences address both sides of that equation in the same session.

Lower back pain on longer runs. The lower back starts to complain when the deep spinal stabilisers fatigue and the larger muscles begin to compensate. Pilates trains the multifid us and transverse abdominis specifically, the muscles closest to the spine that are responsible for holding it stable under load. Most runners have never trained these muscles directly. The Reformer does it in every class at every level. See our full guide to Pilates for lower back pain .

Calf tightness and Achilles problems. Persistent calf issues in runners often trace back to restricted hip flexors and reduced ankle mobility rather than the calf itself. The Reformer works the hip flexors through their full range and develops active mobility through the ankle and foot in ways that static stretching does not replicate.

Anna Marchington works regularly with runners at Luma and sees this pattern consistently. The injury that brings someone in is rarely the whole story. What Pilates addresses is the movement upstream of the problem, and that is what stops it recurring.

What we see at Luma

We have a strong community of runners among our Edinburgh clients, from regular parkrunners to marathon and ultramarathon athletes. The pattern is consistent: Pilates reduces injury frequency, improves running economy, and helps them recover faster between sessions.

Runners who come to Luma with a specific injury consistently find that Pilates does more than address the immediate problem. Anna Marchington, who trained at The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado and has over 20 years of teaching experience, works regularly with this group. In her experience, the most significant shift is not physical but mechanical: clients leave with an understanding of why the injury happened, and that understanding is what changes things long term.

Lucia Poulter, Luma's lead instructor with 26 years of experience, draws a clear parallel. In her view, running and Pilates are both skills, and practised alongside each other they sharpen one another.

The benefits hold across every type of running. Half-marathon and marathon runners find Pilates most useful during a training block, when cumulative load is highest and the small muscular deficits become large ones. Trail runners, who deal with uneven terrain and constant lateral adjustment, tend to feel the hip stability and rotational control work almost immediately. Parkrunners and casual runners benefit just as much, often finding that nagging issues they had written off as inevitable simply stop.

Which classes to start with

New to the Reformer? Begin with Reformer Fundamentals. The foundational footwork, hip mobility, and spinal articulation work in that class maps directly onto running mechanics, and it gives you the vocabulary to extract more from everything that follows.

As your practice develops, Reformer Pilates 1 and 2 introduce more lateral work, rotational challenges, and single-leg loading, all directly relevant to how runners need to move.

Barre classes, taught at Luma by Serena Crolla and Fi Hendry, are also an excellent complement. Standing work that builds hip stability and single-leg balance in ways the Reformer approaches from a different angle.

How often?

Once a week alongside your running and you'll notice the difference in your legs on longer runs within a few weeks. Twice a week, particularly during a training block, is where runners tend to see the clearest performance gains. And because Pilates is low impact, it generally supports recovery rather than adding to training load.

For runners building toward a race, whether a 5K, a half-marathon, or a marathon, two Pilates sessions per week during the training block is the most consistently effective pattern. The hip stability and spinal control work complements high mileage weeks rather than conflicting with them.

See our guide to how often to do Pilates for more detail.

Pilates during a training block

The instinct when mileage goes up is to cut everything else. It is usually the wrong call. Reformer Pilates is low impact enough to sit comfortably alongside high mileage weeks without adding meaningfully to recovery load, and the work it does becomes more relevant, not less, as the distances increase.

The specific demands of marathon training, sustained single-leg loading, spinal stability under fatigue, hip flexor endurance across long efforts, are precisely what the Reformer trains. Runners who maintain one or two Pilates sessions a week through a training block consistently report better form retention in the later miles, fewer of the niggles that accumulate during peak weeks, and faster recovery between long runs.

The practical recommendation is to keep sessions at a level that feels restorative rather than taxing during the heaviest training weeks. This is not the moment to push into a new class level. It is the moment to let the work consolidate what your body already knows.

Getting started

Our introductory offer gives you 3 Reformer or Tower classes for £48. It's enough to feel what the practice does to your body, and more than enough to understand why so many Edinburgh runners have made it a permanent part of their training.

View our class schedule or browse all classes to find the right starting point. And if you'd like to talk through your goals before booking, we're always happy to hear from you.

Written by Lucia Poulter

Lucia is lead instructor and co-founder at Luma Pilates, with 26 years of teaching experience and Comprehensive BASI certification. She works with a significant number of runners at Luma and has watched the same pattern repeat consistently: they arrive for injury prevention and stay because they run better. If you’re a runner thinking about starting, get in touch or book a class directly.

Is Pilates Good for Runners in Edinburgh?