Yoga vs. Pilates for Runners: Benefits, Differences, and How to Choose

Yoga and Pilates as runner cross-training

Running repeats the same forward motion mile after mile. That’s efficient, but it can also let strength imbalances build, and repetition can magnify them over time. Shannon Rowbury, a BowFlex fitness adviser and three-time U.S. Olympic middle-distance runner and medalist, compares the effect to poor car alignment: a small wobble can eventually cause a major breakdown. Cross-training can ease the pounding on muscles and joints while strengthening muscles that running’s main movers tend to overpower. Yoga and Pilates both offer low-impact ways to work muscles runners may overlook, and both can support endurance and help lower injury risk. They do different jobs, though. Yoga tends to emphasize mobility, balance, body awareness, and recovery; Pilates can help connect the core with the arms and legs. The right choice depends on what your training needs and what you’ll stick with. For background on [yoga](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a32713561/yoga-benefits-for-runners/), [Pilates](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a37932494/pilates-workouts-for-runners/), and [cross-training](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20827090/cross-training-activities/), see these guides. The [Runner’s World Guide to Cross-Training](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a74068946/runners-world-guide-to-cross-training/) covers ways to add strength work while helping prevent [injury](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a73485023/guide-to-common-running-injuries-program/).

Where yoga helps—and where it can fall short

Yoga gives runners a guided way to move through different ranges of motion, rather than relying only on a few [static stretches](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a70907984/best-post-run-stretch-routine/) after a run. Shavonne Wood, a certified yoga and Pilates instructor and marathon runner, says it can help with mobility, balance, body awareness, and recovery, especially when muscles feel tight. There’s a mental reset, too. Race training can turn every run into a set of numbers—pace, distance, heart rate, workouts, and goals. Yoga offers time to focus on breathing and movement without chasing another performance metric. Theresa DeLorenzo, a yoga therapist, Pilates instructor, and owner of [Nutrition for Optimal Performance](https://nutrition-4-op.com/), says greater body awareness can help runners recognize when to rest or ease back before burnout, overtraining, or injury. Her background is described [here](https://nutrition-4-op.com/about). But “yoga” can mean anything from gentle mobility work to demanding power classes. Those sessions add very different loads, so runners should account for class intensity when planning their [training load](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a61499738/training-load/). And more flexibility isn’t automatically better. Wood says runners need strength and stability as well as mobility; people who are already very mobile may get more from controlled movement and strength through their existing range. The timing matters as well. Many popular [yoga movements](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/g20859404/8-yoga-poses-for-injury-free-running/) involve holding stretches for 30 seconds or longer. That can suit a stiff runner, but Rowbury cautions that runners seeking speed need tendon tension for a springy stride. A long stretching session may therefore be a poor warm-up before a [speed workout](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a69240377/run-faster-program-key-speed-workouts/).

What Pilates can add to a runner’s stride

Pilates may help the body work as a connected system. Rowbury calls it her “core connector”: her arms, legs, and [core](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a70335146/core-activation-exercises-before-running/) were strong individually, she says, but Pilates improved how they transferred power together. That connection matters when the arms counterbalance the legs during a running stride. Rowbury began Pilates after giving birth in 2018. After about a year of consistent practice, she says she was running faster 200-meter intervals at age 34 than she had in high school, college, or as a professional. She attributes the change to activating her deeper core and coordinating her body, despite the usual tendency to lose speed with age. There’s some research behind the possibility, though the evidence cited here is limited: a small 2018 study in [*PLOS One*](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29561907/) found that participants who completed a 12-week Pilates program ran a [faster 5K](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a73957442/how-to-run-faster-5k-race/) afterward than those who didn’t do Pilates. One small study doesn’t settle the question, but it gives the training claims more than anecdote alone. Pilates has limits. Wood says it shouldn’t replace progressive resistance work that loads muscles and bones; she sees it as a complement to running and [strength training](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a74049730/runner-strength-training-workout/). Class quality and intensity vary, too, so choose sessions that fit your ability, injury history, and overall training.

Choosing a practice you’ll keep doing

DeLorenzo considers both activities useful additions to a runner’s routine, provided there are no existing back or neck injuries. Anyone starting a [new workout routine](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a63117278/switch-up-your-running-routine/) should first get approval from a healthcare provider. Wood gives Pilates a slight edge for runners because it combines strength, stability, and movement control—qualities that can balance running’s repetitive motion. Pilates can also include mobility and stretching, so it may offer some of the range-of-motion work people seek from yoga. Rowbury suggests one or two Pilates sessions and two or three yoga sessions each week to keep the [core engaged](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a45633874/how-to-engage-your-core/) and maintain mobility. Treat that as a suggested schedule, not a requirement: the fragment doesn’t explain how those sessions should fit around an individual runner’s mileage or harder workouts. The practical test is simpler. If yoga is the practice you enjoy, do yoga. Wood would rather see a runner practice it consistently than avoid the “perfect” activity they dislike.

[Danielle Zickl](/author/216616/danielle-zickl/) is a freelance writer with 10 years of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. She graduated from Ithaca College. Her work has appeared in Women’s Health, PS, SELF, Well+Good, Runner’s World, Outside RUN, Peloton, Men’s Fitness, and other publications.