IF you thought that pilates was a Zen-based activity for women, ironman Kendrick Louis wants to have a word.

Louis credits regular reformer ­pilates classes at Vive Active in Brookvale for helping him go from No.5 to No.1 in the ironman series.

As a result of taking up pilates two years ago, he said he was fitter and stronger than ever before.

Now Louis wants the average bloke to also enjoy the benefits of pilates — a high intensity full-body workout that global sporting stars like LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo swear by.

“It is an amazing workout — it works every muscle from head to toe,” Louis said about Vive Active pilates in Brookvale, part-owned by former ironman champion Guy Leech.

“But at first I didn’t think pilates was for blokes. I started doing a bit more research and I noticed a lot of top-level athletes like LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo lived by pilates.

“Then after going to a few classes I was hooked. I thought this is actually pretty cool and I wasn’t worried how I was perceived by anyone because I do pilates.”

media_camera Pilates has helped Kendrick Louis improve in ironman. Picture: Barton Louis

Louis now incorporates at least three pilates classes into his weekly training schedule. As a result, he said his performance on the ironman circuit had improved tenfold.

In April, Louis won his maiden ironman crown with victory in Perth. He claimed Manly’s first Australian ironman title and also recently won the North Wollongong round, the world ocean man title and helped Australia to victory at the World Surf Lifesaving Championships in Adelaide.

“It (pilates) is one of those things that you don’t know how good it is until you actually do it,” he said.