Anybody Tried Pilates?
Just wondering if you have any opinions about Pilates that you are willing to share. Have you tried Pilates? How does it compare to yoga? Do you like it? There’s a class on Friday that I’m thinking of attending.
Also, I’m interested in yoga tape/DVD recommendations. Anybody know a good one?
Thanks!
April 17, 2006 at 5:02 pm
I’m taking pilates as part of my rehab. If I could afford to, I’d continue after my rehab ends. I think it’s great. I understand things about my body that I never understood before, and I can apply that to dance. I’ve had pilates workouts on tape that I’ve done for years, but I wasn’t doing them right. Having an instructor’s feedback is so important. My situation is one-on-one with the instructor, so I get constant encouragement or correction.
I’ve never taken a yoga class, so I’m probably doing that all wrong too. 🙂 But I like Total Yoga with Tracey Rich and Ganga White. It’s 70 minutes and leaves me in a happy fuzzy trance. There are lots of tapes available that are 20-30 minutes, which is convenient, but I don’t recommend them. I’m not very flexible and I need more time to warm up and ease into the stretches.
For me, the biggest difference between pilates and yoga is the breathing. Yoga breathing seems intuitive and easy. It’s a three-part breath: belly, ribs, and chest. It’s very relaxing. In pilates, you keep your belly muscles and pelvic floor muscles engaged and you don’t breathe with your belly. You keep those muscles tight and pulled in, and only your chest and ribs expand with the breath. I haven’t mastered this, so I often feel tense and like I’m not getting enough air. For this reason, and others, I find yoga to be more relaxing than pilates.
April 17, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Thanks! That’s a lot of helpful info. I wonder if you would/will like Pilates as much if you take a class with multiple students and thus receive less individual attention from an instructor. That’s the option that I have available to me. I’m just not sure if my time is better spent on the treadmill.
April 17, 2006 at 7:17 pm
I’m doing pilates with one-on-one instruction and the use of the “reformer” and other cool equipment. It sounds like you’re thinking about a mat class with a bunch of people. I would prefer to just do a DVD at home (I like The Method and The Bar Method) than pay for a class like that, unless the teacher can managed to demonstrate the exercise *and* make sure all the students are doing it correctly. That’s a tall order.
Whether or not your time is better spent on the treadmill depends on your fitness goals. Pilates in my experience doesn’t offer a cardio workout. In theory, it forms long, lean muscles, promotes proper posture and alignment, and enhances flexibility. Also, you can really just zone out on a treadmill while doing cardio, but you have to use your head the whole damn time thinking about precisely what your body is doing in pilates. So, if going to the gym is your time to relax and zone out, pilates is not for you.
I hope I don’t sound like I’m trying to talk you out of it, though. I think it’s fun. Sometimes teachers let you try the first class for free. You should check it out!
April 17, 2006 at 7:31 pm
I have tried Pilates and I liked it very much. It reminded me of the isometric leg-lift kind of classes my mom and I used to go to, and also reminds me of my favorite 80s exercise lady Callan Pinckney’s “Callanetics” stuff. I’ll be interested to hear (read) what you decide.
April 17, 2006 at 7:33 pm
I think Ms. Liscious has a good point about the dance connection; one of the things Pilates stresses is attention to form and posture, and I enjoyed that part of it as well.
April 18, 2006 at 1:36 am
Variety is the spice of life. Pilates is hard, I’ve only done it once but I have friends who rave. You can borrow some of my yoga videos/DVD’s if you want to try them.
April 18, 2006 at 8:02 am
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