One is a holistic discipline originating from ancient India, the other a specific physical system devised by German anatomist Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century, but there’s much cross-over, today I hope to help unravel some of the differences for you.
Today, yoga and Pilates are both renowned for their numerous health benefits, from offering connection to the body and stress relief, to developing flexibility, strength, control and endurance. The key factor they both share is working with breathing to deepen the moves you practise during your sessions.
According to the NHS yoga is an ancient form of exercise that focuses on strength, flexibility and breathing to boost physical and mental wellbeing. The main components of yoga are postures (a series of movements designed to increase strength and flexibility) and breathing.
What are the health benefits of yoga?
Dozens of scientific trials of varying quality have been published on yoga.
While there’s scope for more rigorous studies on its health benefits, most studies suggest yoga is a safe and effective way to increase physical activity, especially strength, flexibility and balance.
There’s some evidence that regular yoga practice is beneficial for people with high blood pressure, heart disease, aches and pains – including lower back pain – depression and stress.
So to me yoga sounds rather like Pilates! However, in your local Pilates class you will probably find no meditation that you may come across in yoga.
What is Pilates?
Pilates looks to work your whole-body using weight bearing exercises and in some cases weights, resistance bands, balls and equipment such as the Reformer, Cadillac and Wunda Chair. With its system of pulleys and springs, handles and straps, the apparatus can provide either resistance or support, depending on the client’s needs.
Pilates joins the body with the mind, it requires good concentration, awareness of your body and breath with a deep focus needed for advanced level Pilates all of which can help to boost your mental health.
What are the health benefits of Pilates?
Regular Pilates can help to improve posture, muscle tone, balance and joint mobility, as well as relieve stress and tension. For elite athletes, including dancers, cyclists, golfers and runners Pilates can complement training by developing whole-body strength and flexibility, and help reduce the risk of injury.
Pilates is a fundamental part of my training as a mountain biker I use it not only to help stretch out my muscles but build all over body strength especially in my back and core which help me be a better cyclist. It has also helped me with my balance which has transferred to my balance and coordination on the bike.
Research from MINDBODY has shown that 70 per cent of those who do yoga or Pilates say that it relieves stress for them. Both practices teach breathing techniques that can help to combat feelings of stress and anxiety, while both traditionally encourage students to align the body with the mind and spirit, taking time to focus on self-care.
I run my Pilates classes from West Stoke, Westbourne, Fishbourne, Havant, Waterlooville and Bedhampton. I run mainly mixed ability classes keeping my numbers low so I can give one to one support to my clients. Have a look at my Pilates page for more information.
Welcome to my new Pilates workout Wednesday series. Every week I am going to bring you a new Pilates workout you can do from the comfort of your own home. I know sometimes we are all time crunched and don’t get time to spend an hour on ourselves (we should!) so my workouts are all under 10 minutes long and can be done from anywhere by anyone in most cases.
My Pilates workouts start off with easy levels and increase in difficulty, please adapt and use the levels that are right for you. Reduce the range of movement or number of reps if you find it too hard. These 10 minute videos are a great addition to one of my weekly Pilates classes.
My aim with all my Pilates classes is to offer a bespoke service. Apart from my Get up and Go council led classes all private Pilates classes run with no more than 10 clients per session to make sure I can give a personalised service and feedback on every move. So although below shows the difference between class levels I can accommodate everyone within my classes in most cases.
Beginners:
Starting with the complete basics and principles at a physically gentle level. This can be more of a challenge mentally as you learn how to use your body correctly and identify how to avoid ‘compensations’. This is where everyone should start off on their Pilates journey.
Improvers:
Building on the techniques learned in the beginners classes, in Improvers, we develop the exercises to a more physically demanding level, whether that means increasing the range of movement or reps required per exercise. One or two alternatives and explanation and visual demonstration will be given. Improvers requires knowledge of the basic principles but not necessarily great physical strength.
Intermediate:
The pace of this level is faster with slightly less detailed explanation as we go through progressions. Participants are expected to know the exercises as they start to explore harder movements and begin to understand their own limits, with more verbal correction given.
Advanced:
This most physically demanding level, a real work-out but still follows the basic principles. Everyone should work to their own level within each exercise. The pace is fast moving and challenging. Participants are expected to know their own limits and modification alternatives if a move does not suit their body.
I hope you found this useful. I run my Pilates classes from venues in Westbourne, Emsworth, West Stoke (near Funtington), Bedhampton, Havant and Waterlooville.
Please get in touch if you have any questions, are interested in joining my Pilates classes or go to my Pilates page on my website by clicking this link.
Fred raced this one in the u12s at the South Downs venue of Matterley Basin. Flowy singletrack in the woods combined with fast open sections combined to give close racing. Fred started at the back and was immediately held up behind a crash. Pushing hard he fought up to 17th having passed 18 riders. A good ride!
Edith and Fred both raced here in the u12s. This is a very familiar venue after many years of the old Rampage series and frequent Southern XC visits here. Pan flat, but tight and rooty, this course rewards speed through corners and power, lots of power! Edith raced hard and came in 12th. Fred got off to a good start this time and was rewarded with an 11th place. It was also Easter Sunday, so chocolate eggs followed!
19/05/19 Southern XC Round 3 – Crow Hill, New Forest
Edith and Fred returned to the much-loved venue of Crow Hill in the New Forest. The course here is loamy, fast and in contrast to Checkendon is nicely hilly. Loved by Fred, and less so by Edith! Good starts by both saw them racing well up until a ‘racing incident’ between Fred and Edith resulted in Fred through the tape and crashing off the course, right in front of the race commissaire. He wasn’t impressed at the Price sibling antics. Finishing the remainder of the race cleanly saw Fred in 13th and Edith in 9th.
This is a new woodland venue for Southern XC and featured a fresh cut woodland course with a reasonable climb and fun descent. Edith raced hard for 10th and Fred had a very close race resulting in a sprint finish for a 10th place. Good racing! Good to see new venues and it should develop into a cracking race venue for the future.
This one was a full family outing with Fred and Edith in u12s, Karen in vet ladies and me in open men. I reckon this is the best venue on the Southern XC circuit, and every year it gets better! Why? Well it’s a Southern Enduro venue too, giving some cracking descents with berms, jumps and drops abound, all earnt with some stiff rooty climbs too. Get your droppers on for this one and have some fun! Well fun I had and scored a happy 8th placed finish.
Edith and Fred both got 10th placed finishes and then we all cheered Karen on in for her race. Just to make it an endurance day too, Karen rode to the venue and started her race with some 60 something miles in her legs already. Luckily it didn’t slow her down and she scored a 3rd placed finish. Podium!!
Is there anything better than pulling on an extra layer and heading out on a ride in one of the best mountain bike sports in the South of England. Last weekend despite the ‘liquid sunshine’ we went up to the Surrey Hills to check out some new trails as well as some firm favourites like Barry Knows Best, Yoghurt Pots and Graveyards.
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