NFL Players Do Pilates — And Here's Why It Makes Them Unstoppable
The biggest men in professional football are on the reformer.
Not as a joke. Not as a viral stunt. As serious training.
An NFL career demands explosive power, total-body control, and the kind of resilience that keeps you on the field through a brutal 18-week season. Increasingly, the athletes who stay healthy, stay sharp, and stay dominant are the ones who've added Pilates to their regimen.
This isn't a trend. It's a performance decision.
---
The Kansas City Chiefs Made It Official
When ESPN shared footage of Kansas City Chiefs defensive linemen grinding through reformer sessions at Pilates By Kahley in Overland Park, Kansas, the football world took notice. These weren't backup players — these were front-line defenders.
The mastermind behind it? Instructor Kahley Schiller, whose studio became a quiet secret weapon for one of the most dominant franchises in recent NFL history.
It started over a decade ago with quarterback Trent Green's wife, who convinced him to try Pilates. Word spread — and the man most responsible for bringing it to the defensive line is Chris Jones. The Chiefs' superstar defensive tackle was the one who persuaded rookie Tershawn Wharton that Pilates could be a pivotal part of his development. Wharton became a convert. Then Derrick Nnadi and Malik Herring followed. Now Pilates By Kahley in Overland Park, Kansas, is practically a second training facility for the Chiefs' defensive line.
Why? Because Pilates delivers what the weight room can't: deep core activation, hip stability, and full-body control under load. For a defensive lineman trying to hold his gap against a 320-pound offensive tackle, that matters more than another set of squats.
---
Tom Brady: 23 Seasons. Pilates. No Coincidence.
Tom Brady played competitive NFL football until he was 45 years old. That doesn't happen by accident.
Brady has credited Pilates as a foundation of his training for years — specifically for improving footwork, strengthening his lower body, and maintaining the core stability that lets a quarterback absorb hits, reset, and deliver under pressure. His longevity was built on a relentless commitment to movement quality, not just raw strength. Pilates was a central piece of that.
When the most decorated quarterback in league history builds his body on Pilates, that's not a lifestyle choice. That's a blueprint.
---
Joe Burrow: The Pilates Prince
Joe Burrow isn't shy about it. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback spent part of his offseason training at Alo Wellness Club in Los Angeles — on the reformer — and made no attempt to hide it. The clip went viral. The internet called it his "Pilates prince era."
Burrow didn't care. He's one of Alo's most prominent brand ambassadors and a genuine believer in the practice. For a quarterback coming back from injury and focused on sustaining peak performance, the logic is straightforward: Pilates builds the postural strength and core stability that protects the spine under the violence of NFL pass rushes. When a 260-pound edge rusher is bearing down on you, your ability to absorb, redirect, and stay composed starts at the center. That's exactly what Pilates trains.
---
Fred Warner: The Linebacker Who Moves Like a Chess Piece
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner is widely considered one of the most complete linebackers in the NFL. His ability to cover sideline to sideline, drop into coverage, and explode to the ball demands a rare combination of speed, control, and body awareness.
Warner works with a South Bay Pilates instructor alongside fellow 49ers teammates as a core part of his training regimen. For a linebacker playing in one of the most demanding defensive systems in the league, Pilates sharpens the precise body control and hip mobility that makes elite coverage possible. Great linebackers don't just run fast — they move with intent. Pilates is where that intent gets built.
---
Chris Jones: The Chief Who Started It All
Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones isn't just a Pilates practitioner — he's the reason an entire defensive line does it.
According to the Kansas City Star, it was Jones who persuaded rookie Tershawn Wharton that Pilates could be a pivotal workout for his development. That word-of-mouth ripple turned Pilates By Kahley into a regular destination for the Chiefs' front line. Jones himself works with instructor Kahley Schiller and has incorporated core-focused Pilates tools — including Schiller's Ab Belt — into his training to build the kind of deep core stability that powers pass rushing and gap control at the highest level.
A six-time Pro Bowler. A Super Bowl champion. On the reformer. Let that sink in.
---
Stefon Diggs: The Viral Moment That Proved the Point
In the summer of 2024, a clip of Stefon Diggs on a Pilates reformer went viral — not because it was graceful, but because it wasn't. The NFL wide receiver, all speed and athleticism, was humbled on the machine.
That moment told a story more powerful than any highlight reel: Pilates is hard. Even for elite athletes. Even for men who run sub-4.4 forties. The reformer exposes weaknesses the football field never will — imbalances, tight hips, shallow breath, a disconnected core.
Diggs kept going back. So did his New England Patriots teammates Christian Gonzalez and Jaylinn Hawkins. Because the work is exactly that — work. And serious athletes respect work.
---
Jaelan Phillips and the Mind-Body Edge
Miami Dolphins pass rusher Jaelan Phillips doesn't just practice Pilates for the physical benefits. He talks about the mind-body connection — the mental discipline of controlled movement, breath under pressure, and awareness of every inch of your body during complex sequences.
In a sport where the difference between a sack and a miss is a fraction of a second and a misstep, that kind of mental sharpness isn't soft. It's a competitive edge.
---
What Pilates Actually Does for an NFL Body
The list of players is growing. The reasons are consistent. Here's the performance science driving it:
Core Activation. Not crunches. Deep, functional core work — transverse abdominis, obliques, the stabilizers that protect the spine and transfer force. The foundation of every explosive movement on a football field.
Hip Stability. The hips are the engine of athletic movement. Weak or unstable hips lead to compensation patterns that break down under high-load, high-speed conditions. Pilates corrects imbalances that traditional training misses entirely.
Injury Prevention. Football is violent. The athletes who play the longest are the ones whose bodies can absorb and recover from that violence repeatedly. Pilates builds resilience in the joints, connective tissue, and stabilizing muscles — the parts that break first when bigger muscles take over.
Breath Control Under Pressure. Every Pilates session trains controlled breath during physical exertion. That translates directly to staying composed when the game is on the line.
Movement Quality. Not just strength — intelligent, precise, coordinated movement. In football, that's the difference between staying healthy for 16 games and missing half the season.
---
What This Means for Your Practice
If you're on the mat or the reformer, you already know something most people don't: Pilates is performance training.
The NFL is finally catching up. These athletes didn't add Pilates to their regimen because it looked good on social media. They added it because it made them better — more stable, more controlled, more durable.
That's what this practice does. For the 300-pound defensive tackle. For the linebacker covering half the field. For the quarterback who needs to stay upright through a 17-game season. And for you — every time you show up and commit to the work.
Stand Your Ground. Find Your Foundation.
The reformer doesn't care how strong you are. It demands precision, control, and presence. It builds the kind of athlete — and practitioner — that no weight room ever could.
Ready to train like a pro? Grip that reformer with everything you've got.
Shop Pilates Boys grip socks at pilatesboys.com — engineered for serious practitioners who don't settle.
---
Sources: ESPN, Self, Kansas City Star, Pilates By Kahley