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Long gone is the heyday of the Gold’s Gym, Pumping Iron musclehead. Exit Ahnold, enter Blake, Kap, and Beckham, torchbearers of functional strength—a.k.a. lifting 200-something pounds and still being able to bend over and touch your toes without feeling like your entire body is about to snap in half.

And to that end, there’s a reason why pro athletes have been incorporating Pilates into their training regimes for nearly five decades. It’s core-intensive, increases flexibility, helps limit injuries, and targets a handful of muscles that are largely ignored during weight training. It’s also widely considered the exercise of choice for your great-aunt Helen. So when NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin’s doctors suggested he give Pilates a shot—he’d had years of persistent back pain due to an L1 compression fracture sustained after a last-lap crash in March of 2013—his reaction wasn’t too surprising: "I pretty much thought it was for chicks."

Two years later, though, and the results are hard to ignore. Denny completely sidestepped surgery on his lower back and was seven laps away from taking home his first Sprint Cup title at the end of last season. This season is set to be his best yet, and with the Daytona 500 right around the corner, he’s still hanging around the Pilates studio. Maybe you don’t drive a car at 200 miles per hour for a living, but if Denny Hamlin is man enough for Pilates, why aren’t you? We asked him how quickly he saw results:

First off, talk through how you came to this.

I’ve had so many back issues, and doctors said in late 2013, This is something you should try as a last resort before you go ahead and commit to back surgery.

This was around the time that you had the compression fracture?

Yeah. So that was when the conversation started about Pilates helping to strengthen my back.

What was your initial reaction to that suggestion?

[Laughs] Yeah, I thought it was just for chicks.

Before the back injury and Pilates, what did your workout routine primary consist of?

Just lifting weights for the most part. Just strength training. I did some core work but never really directly focused on it.

So was that a tough transition for you to make?

My first experience with it... Well, I had to learn to breathe. That was the main thing. We worked on basically trying to get me to breathe because I was having to hold my breath just to make the moves I was supposed to. So we really spent the first two weeks trying to get my breathing down and my form decent. All of the movements were very foreign. Like, it’s something that you think looks so easy and it’s so hard to actually perform those movements correctly.

When you’re doing Pilates, is it like a group class or...

No, no. I’m not really into classes. I’m not very flexible so I don’t want to show that off. I have a private instructor.

How quickly did you start to feel the effects? After your crash, I think everyone just assumed you’d have to get surgery and be out for the rest of the season.

For me, it really was right away. The first three weeks afterwards my back started getting a lot better, so it was pretty immediate.

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Was it at that point that you caught the Pilates bug?

It was probably two months into it when I really started feeling a lot better, just with everything. Like, I was driving a golf ball a lot further. It was at that point that I wanted to keep doing Pilates.

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The world of NASCAR is pretty macho. What did other drivers say when they found out you were training this way?

Well, mostly they wanted to know where I go and do it. Michael Waltrip and guys like Paul Menard have asked me about it. They’ve heard that it would help their back issues, as well.

Okay, so give us the rundown. What does the typical Denny Hamlin Pilates workout look like?

I like to do Pilates at least twice a week. Sometimes three times a week, depending on my schedule. I like to usually have one rest day, but it’s really two or three times a week, one-hour session each time. I use a Reformer, I use a Cadillac machine. I pretty much use everything in my instructor’s studio. We incorporate a lot of different machines—we don’t do a lot of mat or floor work anymore.

I’d say on Mondays, we really focus on stretching more than anything. So we will do a lot of exercises that helps to strengthen our hamstrings, then stretching those back out after we’re doing working them. Wednesdays is mostly strength training. We will work on a lot of mid-back stuff and low-back stuff to build up strength.

Is there one specific Pilates exercise that has become your favorite?

My favorite would probably have to be "teasers," just because it’s the most challenging. It’s the one move where I really notice my back getting stronger. At first I could hardly even get up in the position to do it, but now that I’ve gotten stronger I can do it with a lot less pain.

Have your doctors noticed a major difference in your back since you started Pilates?

Well, the good news is I haven’t really had to go back to the doctors since I started Pilates. And he’s noticed I haven’t called him as much, so that’s a good thing.

What about doing other forms of exercise, like yoga? Has Pilates opened you up to trying out something like that?

I’ve heard yoga would be really good for the stretching aspect of things, but with doing a basketball league and Pilates and lifting here and there, I’ve got my hands full. I’m not sure I can handle much more.

Not to mention driving a racecar full time. How has Pilates improved your skills as a driver?

Yeah. I can definitely tell at the end of a race, I feel a lot better. My back doesn’t hurt nearly as much after races, my glutes have gotten a lot better. I’m not nearly as sore anymore. It has really helped me in the long run.

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