Wednesday 4 April 2012

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?


11 comments:

  1. i totally agree about avoiding yoga! i went to one of the classes at the gym a few weeks ago and it was super hard. i totally wasn't doing the postures correctly but the teacher hardly corrected me at all and at times even said "good" at me when i wasn't doing anything like what the others were doing! definitely sticking with pilates which always makes me feel loads better the next day. xx

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    1. I wonder sometimes if it's just our gym that's bad! The classes are so busy, and the instructors don't even try to correct people. And I love Pilates there but I was doing the shoulder bridge wrong for YEARS and nobody told me!

      Px

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  2. I am SO behind on commenting (have stored some of your posts in my reader to come back and comment later!) but just wanted to say I love pilates! Was doing mat classes before the wedding up until I got too busy! It was a massage therapist who recommended I go as I have a very curved back apparently (she could tell from my foot arch while doing reflexology! I only went for a facial!) I recently went back as part of my new health regime and had a one off class with the teacher to get back into it and I was the only one there! Amazing, one on one class for £25! Her block booked mat sessions are about £80 for 12 I think. The one I had the other day was using equipment (half cadillac?) for the first time and I really enjoyed it. Was planning on going back to her classes but as I have now joined the local council gym I get classes included so was thinking of trying theirs out. Probably will stick with her though - she was telling me the evils of the gym body pump instructors and giving me tips for when I do that!

    Never tried Yoga.

    :)
    x

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    1. Ooh what did she say about Body Pump?? If you engage your core properly most of the moves should be ok - problem is a lot of people who go don't really have the core strength to be safe in the first place!

      Love that your massage therapist recommended you - she sounds like another anatomy geek!

      Px

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    2. She said she'd had dozens of clients come to her complaining of back pain after body pump because they don't teach it, they just expect you to copy and then your technique can be all wrong. Luckily I knew about engaging the core from doing pilates before but can see how some wouldn't know to do that and could hurt themselves. I have no idea if I'm doing it right at all when I go! I know I hurt less if I go for a swim after though as they don't do stretches for longer than 3 seconds!

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  3. I adore pilates, although I don't adore the day after (or the day after that... OUCH MAMA).

    I find yoga annoying, maybe it is just the classes I've been to, but they irritated me. Bikram yoga especially got on my nerves, our instructor kept telling us how the moves we were doing were healing all our injuries and all I wanted to do was ask her to explain HOW that would work, had not been putting all my energy into not vomiting/passing out simultaneously. (I do think Bikram is a great workout and I felt amazingly relaxed afterwards, I just don't understand how chakras can heal arthritis).

    Ultimately, I like to understand what I'm doing to my body and how it helps and makes me stronger or bendier or better. I dislike being patronised with chakras, which is what I feel in yoga classes. Of course, my yoga instructors may just be hippy pains in the ass, and maybe I should try another class!

    K x

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    1. I found that about Yoga too - I can understand that some people are really into the spiritual side of it, and there's a lot to be gained from it, but I imagine 95% of the students aren't bothered at all. It comes across as really pretentious and annoying if you're just there for fitness. I'm sure there must be SOME Yoga classes where the teachers are a bit more modern, but I'm yet to find one either!

      I always try and tell people why we're doing things - in fact I probably talk TOO much in lessons!

      Px

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  4. The one time I did bikram yoga with a girlfriend we both threw up on the way home. I also know that I have terrible posture and when I've done other yoga classes I've spent the whole time unable to relax because I'm afraid of doing poses wrong and doing damage. I am keen to try pilates though! x ps thank god you're back sparkle penny x

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    1. Pilates is the best and only thing for posture! You should give it a go, and good teacher will make sure you don't hurt yourself, and you'll build up really good strength. Everybody is wonky when they come to my class, even if it's in a tiny way - I love watching everyone straighten up over the weeks!

      Bikram Yoga terrifies me, and now you've said that I'm REALLY never going to do it. I faint in hot places on a normal day, never mind when I'm contorting myself into weird positions.

      Px

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    2. Gemma, in absence of being able to be personally taught by Penny I want to find somewhere in london to take classes - we could go together?

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  5. I did mat Pilates for about five years and loved it, and converted all my sisters who all have bad backs. Now I do reformer Pilates twice a week and love that but would also like to get a mat Pilates class back into my daily routine. Am re-inspired to do some research on new classes in my area (West London, in case anyone knows of any).

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