Inside the Pilates movement of South Carolina football. ‘We’re killing it’

The Pilates Reformer does not judge.

Height, weight, gender, ability, whatever. Doesn’t matter. The thing will make muscles weep and even the fittest of the fit wonder how good of shape they’re really in.

South Carolina offensive lineman Cason Henry is learning that for the umpteenth time. Never has anything so innocent inflicted so much stress on the body. The reformer — a contraption of pain where tension-loaded bands move a platform on wheels — is not exactly built for 6-foot-6, 310-pound men. Then again, it can still cause 6-foot-6, 310-pound men to shake from muscle fatigue.

Henry is lying with his back on the reformer. He’s got his arms through the bands and he kicks his feet up so they’re pointed outward and his weight is resting on the top of his butt. He lifts his head a few inches and pulls his arms — and the weight of the bands — to his side.

Then instructor Aly Beaulieu explains the Pilates 100. Henry swears he’s never done it and, afterward, it seems he’s fine with never doing it again. For 100 seconds, you’ve got to hold that position while flapping your arms like you’re making small splashes in a pool.

“Inhale 2-3-4-5,” she says. “Exhale 2-3-4-5.”

That repeats 20 times. Then the bands drop and your muscles melt into the pad.

“It doesn’t get easier, unfortunately,” Beaulieu says with a smile.

“Nope,” Henry agrees.

But Henry keeps coming back. He’s up to twice a week now, just one of the many Gamecocks who have jumped into the Pilates movement.

Pilates, for those unfamiliar, is a type of exercise that helps strengthen the core muscles while improving flexibility and enhancing posture.

Pilates reached South Carolina football over a year ago when guys like punter Kai Kroeger and former Gamecock Dakereon Joyner began going to Beaulieu’s classes at Club Pilates. When Beaulieu and her husband, Jason, converted half of their garage into a Pilates studio with two reformers, A/C and a bunch of contraptions, Kroeger continued to take classes and told his teammates how much he was benefiting.

Defensive coordinator Clayton White was quick to notice the possible benefits, telling linebacker Debo Williams this January he should try it out to improve his flexibility.

“I really love Aly, man. She’s been helping me tremendously,” Williams told The State. “When I get up, I’m not sore. And say if I do hurt something, I can heal faster.”

After a while, Kroeger, Henry and Williams were regulars through an NIL deal where they could take free classes in exchange for social media posts. But it got to the point that too many players wanted to take classes, wanted to try Pilates. Beaulieu couldn’t train everyone for free.

Eventually, after guys like Williams were talking to Shane Beamer weekly about wanting South Carolina to bring Beaulieu into the facility to do classes, the Beaulieus met with South Carolina head athletic trainer Clint Haggard. They pitched Pilates, the benefits, how it complemented weightlifting and the rave reviews the football players had already given.

Now, Beaulieu shows up at South Carolina’s facility on Mondays and Wednesdays for three hours, training guys on reformers the school had but hardly used.

Every week, players have to sign up for one of the 12 spots. But even if they get a spot, some — like Henry and Williams — will still go to Beaulieu’s Lexington studio for an extra class.

“We do a lot of high-impact stuff (for football),” Henry said. “Coming in here, it’s really low impact, a lot of joint-mobility work where you’re going through like weird range of motion.”

That’s what Henry’s going for. Last season was as nightmarish a year as one could have. In the Gamecocks’ season opener, a North Carolina player rolled up on Henry’s knee and he tore his MCL. He rehabbed and rehabbed and eventually made it back for the Jacksonville State game in November … only to suffer another knee injury.

As he was going through spring ball, trying to get back to full health, Williams and a few others mentioned they had been training with Beaulieu at her studio in Lexington. Henry had nothing to lose. Months later, he’s one of Beaulieu’s most-consistent visitors.

And he doesn’t plan on stopping. His knees, ankles, hips, joints — everything hurts less. It’s a compliment to the strength training he does at South Carolina. In the weight room, he’s boosting strength. In the Pilates studio, he’s increasing his range of motion.

He’s noticed massive changes to his core. Sure, situps are easier, but when Dylan Stewart is charging at him and he needs to turn into a brick wall and lock everything together, he knows he can do it. To lock his body like a can charge at him and he can get in his set, throw his arms out and feel stable.

Pilates is a way to work all the small, stabilizer muscles that so often go neglected, the ones that most folks never think about. The results are wide ranging.

“I feel way more explosive since I started doing it,” said freshman O-lineman Kam Pringle, who touched his toes for the first time after a session with Beaulieu.

“The soreness starts to feel good. You start to get better at the exercises,” said OL Vershon Lee. “Now, it’s like a little routine and we’re killing it.”

“Just put yourself into positions you don’t normally put yourself in, so when you get hit like that, you can survive it,” said freshman QB Dante Reno. “My joints don’t hurt anymore. My knees don’t hurt anymore. I’m not sore after workouts.”

“I really do feel immediately better after doing it,” OL Markee Anderson said. “It helps me in the weight room for sure — I feel a lot looser. … I feel like I’m moving now.”

The hope of Beaulieu and many of the players is that South Carolina’s coaches and administration see the value in Pilates and make an investment. Perhaps it’ll take a year to ensure that players stay interested through a season and that the benefits are actually translating to the field.

Perhaps one day Beaulieu will have an entire studio inside the Gamecocks football building, with a few Pilates Reformers specially-made for bigger and taller people. For now, though, she’ll keep coming in twice a week, showing new football players what Pilates can do for them.