Pilates Vs Yoga

I am not going to bitch about Yoga teachers here (BORING). Oh go on then, they're a pack of hippies. Happy now?

They're not really hippies. Just a bit, you know, spiritual.

BACK TO THE POINT. Pilates and Yoga are very different. It's easy to mix them up if you've no experience of either, as on the surface they're very similar -  they are both mind/body classes. You might well expect a teacher of one to at least dabble in the other. But we don't. We raise our eyebrows at each other. Pilates teachers suspect Yoga teachers are lentil-eating sandal-wearers with no business being in fitness. Yoga teachers think Pilates teachers are wannabe physiotherapists/sadists with no soul (nb. this last one is largely accurate - we are).

As forms of exercise, Pilates and Yoga are totally different. I could bore on about why all day, but in a nutshell - Yoga is largely stretching, Pilates is largely strength - more specifically, core strength.

See here, last night's Easter Challenge:

A class of Yoga students would knock those plates of Mini-Eggs right on the floor, because they'd be stretching as far as they could. But my students engage their core muscles, move their arms and legs slowly and keep their middles still like ninjas:

This is because I have taught them well - and also because they are motivated by chocolate:

Yoga (particularly gentle forms like Hatha) can be terrific for de-stressing or easing a troubled mind. I honestly can't claim the same for my Pilates class - we work extremely hard. Even though every movement is small and controlled, each is challenging. Pilates is designed to tweak all your muscles so your body goes back into what we call "neutral alignment" - the way we're born, before a lifetime of bad posture and desk work gave us tight necks, bad backs, headaches, weak glutes and poor joint stability. This is why physios LOVE Pilates teachers so much - we fix you. We make sure you get injured less, make sure you walk taller, help you manage that niggly back/knee/shoulder.

Whereas Yoga seems to care less about your aches and pains. Don't do Yoga if you're injured - I've had doctors recommend it to me, then gone to an Asthanga class and made myself worse. I still have a panic attack every time I walk past the Yoga class at my gym, where there are so many newbies every week twisting themselves into pretzel shapes with little or no correction from the teacher.

 Actually, either discipline is scary when badly taught, or taught en masse. Always opt for a small class if you can, as a beginner or if you've been referred by a physio or doctor.

Fewer people means you get more Mini Eggs.

Have you tried Yoga or Pilates? Love one and hate the other? Think both are a waste of time?