Marques Cox Using Pilates to Unlock Full Potential
There aren’t too many college football offensive linemen with more experience than Marques Cox.
The offensive tackle started in 34 of 36 games over five seasons at Northern Illinois, then transferred to Kentucky and started in every game in 2023. Even though he has played in almost 50 college football games, Cox is still looking for new ways to enhance his game ahead of his seventh season.
Unlike many other previous offseasons, Cox has been healthy, giving him more time to work on his body. He had two primary points of emphasis, getting stronger in his lower body and becoming more flexible. Cox addressed each by adding three Pilates sessions a week to his summer training regimen.
A 6-foot-5, 320-pound SEC athlete should be able to make light work of Pilates, right?
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he joked.
“It’s definitely challenging. It helps you find all your little muscles that you don’t use often. It helps you find those, control your breathing, and build your lung capacity.”
The Pilates courses are not something offered by the Kentucky football strength and conditioning coaches. Cox researched a few alternatives to help with his flexibility before finding the right fit with Pilates.
“I’m real stiff and for myself, I just needed a place to go to actually go and get stuff done and stretch and have somebody that’s like watching over me and teaching me different things, teaching me different methods,” Cox said.
He tried yoga, “but it’s too quiet for me.” Cox convinced a couple of his teammates, Courtland Ford and Chip Traynum, to join him. He’s trying to recruit others to follow him and none have completely dismissed the massive offensive tackle.
Cox is still new to this exercise routine. There are days where he gets frustrated and that’s the point. He may be able to throw around SEC defensive linemen, but he has not maximized his strength. This new challenge could be the key to Cox’s best football season yet.
“It’s challenging. It’s not easy. It’s not for the weak,” Cox said. “I found out different parts of my body are weaker than you would think. I’ll be squatting 400 pounds and moving weight and moving people, so you’d think — how can how can this little exercise determine how strong I am? It’s definitely challenging and new, and it’s definitely fun too.”
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