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.
The highest ever levels of activity have been recorded by Sport England’s latest Active Lives Adult Survey, with 1 million more people physically active than when the survey began.
According to Sport England, data gathered from 180,000 respondents (aged 16+) in the 12 months from May 2018 to May 2019, 1,015,700 more people are active compared to when the survey started, in 2015.
That takes the total number of active people – those doing at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week – up to 28.6 million.
The number of inactive people – doing fewer than 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week – is down to 11.2 million, a decrease of 131,700 since 2015 and the lowest figure ever recorded by the survey.
Hannah Attenburrow from Beyond the Mud, runs Pilates classes and workshops as well as mountain biking coaching and guiding. Hannah has been working with Havant Borough Council, as part of their Get Up and Go program, to offer Pilates classes for the over 55’s in the borough and has seen her classes go from strength to strength with many participants who starts in January still attending one or more classes weekly. Classes run from Havant, Waterlooville, Bedhampton and Hayling Island.
Pilates is great for building strength and coordination which are two things that diminish as we get older. Pilates focuses on posture, strength, mobility and flexibility from head to toe, moving the body in complete flowing movements, not isolated parts.
Hannah said;
‘The Great thing about Pilates is it is suitable for anyone no matter your age, fitness of flexibility. Each exercise can be done at different levels of intensity with additional modifications to cater for anyone with specific muscular or joint limitations.’
One participant who has been coming since January said;
‘Get Up and Go has provided the incentive to try out Pilates risk-free.
I was unsure about undertaking this form of exercise as I have a very severe left-sided kypho scoliosis – a deformity of my spine and I know from previous experience how easy it is to end up bedridden if I twist or turn too harshly. The pilates class has gradually improved my mobility.
Hannah was amazing, allowing for my difficulties and even sending me a link to exercises specifically for my condition. She never pushes me beyond what I can comfortably do and will suggest an alternative exercise to those for the class if needed.
Hannah checks us regularly to ensure we are doing the exercises in the correct position and frequently reminds us of our breathing, something I forget easily!
Maddison, too, is very supportive and I love going to the classes where incidentally, I met up with somebody I first worked with in 1974!
A lovely group, mostly women but with a few men, too. Don’t hold back, please try it out very soon!
The Get Up and Go Program in the Havant borough offers many activities to over 55’s including golf, guided walks, chair fitness, Pilates and yoga classes.
Keeping active is important as we get older but often people forget about strength training and building muscle in favour of cardiovascular exercise like running, swimming, rowing and so on.
Ideally, you should aim to focus on both if you can – something that has just been reiterated by the UK chief medical officers and the Department of Health and Social Care, which has just published new physical activity guidelines that emphasise the importance of building strength and balance.
The guidelines haven’t been updated since 2011 and now recommend that adults should do strength-based exercises at least twice a week to help delay the natural decline in bone density and muscle mass that typically starts at around 50 years old. The overall message has stayed the same, however – any activity is better than doing none at all and more activity is even better than that.
It’s thought that a drop in muscle mass and bone density is one of the main reasons why older people lose their ability to do daily tasks with ease, with falls the main reason that people above a certain age are taken to hospital. This could be avoided, however, through the likes of carrying heavy shopping, brisk walking, swimming, gardening and taking the stairs.
Physical activity can also help protect against chronic health conditions like type 2 diabetes (reducing the risk by 40 per cent), coronary heart disease (35 per cent) and depression (30 per cent).
The guidance also includes safe levels of activity for both pregnant women and new mothers, with a moderate amount of exercise for the latter proven to help them ease back pain, regain strength and reduce the chances of developing gestational diabetes.
“Physical activity is an under-appreciated asset in our clinical arsenal. It is cheap and brings a long list of health benefits.
“As we age, our muscles weaken and we can become stiff, leading to falls and difficulty performing everyday activities. Physical activity can prevent fragility and support mobility in old age. By keeping active, both throughout the day and also through hobbies, we can slow muscle and bone decline, ultimately keeping us independent for longer,” Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said.
When it comes to strength training, going for Pilates in Waterlooville or your local area could prove particularly beneficial. This practice aims to strengthen the entire body in a balanced way, with emphasis on core strength as a way of improving general health and wellbeing.
It is suitable for people of all ages and levels of ability, so don’t worry if you’re a complete beginner… you’ll soon pick it up. Regular practice can help improve your posture, muscle tone and balance, while also relieving any stress and tension you may be experiencing.
If you feel as though your fitness for mountain biking could use some work but you’re not sure where to begin, you could certainly do a lot worse than following some of the advice offered by Rachel Atherton.
Speaking to GQ magazine, she recently revealed some of her training tips and explained that her training schedule is quite fluid which keeps it interesting and means she can work around any big events or races.
Monday is typically a recovery day, however, if she’s had a race over the weekend. Tuesday is the main training day and the one that includes a host of exercises that will be useful for aspiring mountain bike racers too.
She always begins her session with activation, which are exercises targeted at keeping her on her bike and dealing with existing injuries. This is followed by two strengthening exercises – one for strength and one for power – six conditioning exercises and finishes with work for her energy systems, usually a Wattbike session or ride on her XC bike.
Rachel also fits in yoga, massages and does other exercise like stand-up paddleboarding, and swimming during her week. Nutrition is key as well, and she offered lots of insight into her diet throughout the week too.
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