Let's face it, being a woman is stressful. Most of us
have to hold down careers, raise a family, keep a clean
house and have dinner on the table by 6pm. Our physical
health and fitness can be greatly affected by too much
stress. As women we also have to deal with hormonal
changes once a month and when we are pregnant our hormones
are even more out of wacked. Yoga and Pilates are two
excellent forms of stress management and are also helpful
in keeping our hormones and body in check. What is the
difference between the two and which one is better for you?
Let's start by talking about Pilates. Pilates was created
early in the 20th century. The point of Pilates is to
concentrate on the development of the core of the body or
as you will hear in Pilates classes the Powerhouse. For
years dancers used Pilates to obtain the lean and sculpted
bodies that they needed. Benefits of Pilates included
strong abs and a strong back muscles.
Now on to Yoga. Yoga has been around for centuries and has
been shown to be a powerful tool to reduce stress, and
lower blood pressure. Yoga poses are also designed to tone
and exercise the muscles of your body which will help
eliminate any excess fat. There are also breathing
techniques, and meditation that is included.
Both Yoga and Pilates are what is known as 'mind body'
programs. This means it requires its users to be mentally
focused as they perform all the exercises. Both are slower
than normal calisthenics and use have you use your breath
with movement. The biggest difference in Yoga and Pilates
is structure. Yoga can be loosely structured while Pilates
has more of a stricter routine and is done in sets and
reps. Each move of Pilates should be done in a very order
and precise way. Technique is key with Pilates. Yoga
tends to be a little more free form.
If you need order and want to follow things a specific way,
then Pilates might be a better choice for you because of
how displicne it has to be. Most of the time people who
are considered a "Type A" personality tend to lean more
toward Pilates. People who are more mellow might want to
try Yoga since it is not as structure. No matter what
one you choose there are some things you need to look for.
First make sure there is a qualified instructor. Yoga and
Pilates require their instructors to have completed in
depth training to fully understand the subject and the
techniques. The instructors should have a good knowledge
of anatomy and human movement. There are many schools and
training courses that a instructor can get their
certification, some can last for a weekend while other can
last month. A good instructor though will usually be
certified in one of the two. In order to ensure that you
find a good instructor you might want to enlist the help of
either Yoga Alliance which provides you with a searchable
database where you can find a qualified instructor, or you
can check out the Pilates Method Alliance which provides
you not only with a database of qualified instructors, it
also gives you a list of questions to ask your instructor.
Regardless of what one you decide to go with, you will not
be disappointed in the results that you will soon see.
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