Fitness plays an important role in our life by improving our efficiency in professional and personal life. Fitness not only improves our body, but also our mind that can result in better performance. But the main question is; How to stay fit? Should I do yoga? Pilates? Gym? Etc…Today; we will discuss the basic differences between Yoga & Pilates, which can help you to choose the one that suits your needs.
In this article, you will learn a lot about Yoga vs Pilates. It will help you make the right decision for your body, mind, and soul.
What Is Pilates?
Pilates is about having the correct body alignment, concentration, and breathing, body stretching, and strengthening muscles. It conditions the body and mental health. Pilates’ benefits are many as the structure of exercises provides improvement towards flexibility, posture, physical strength, and mindfulness. The curriculum program is such that it makes one aware of breathing and body movement. Practising Pilates will help gain focus on core strength, body awareness, and stability.
History Of Pilates
The history of Pilates goes back to the early 20th century, after the First World War. Joseph Pilates, a German physical trainer began this mind-body exercise type phenomenon when the soldiers were bedridden. Pilates, the fitness regime was born to give strength and rehabilitate the soldiers. The term Pilates is derived from the last name of Joseph Pilates. Pilates arose in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. The Pilates benefits spread worldwide, and today the entire globe practices it.
Main Difference Between Yoga And Pilates
Yoga is a holistic discipline spotlighting the mind, body, and soul with a longer duration of poses. Pilates is a group of exercise patterns concentrating on body alignment, muscle balancing, and core strength.
There is no equipment used for Yoga except for a Yoga mat.
Pilates has mat work and equipment-based workouts. Pilates uses equipment like a reformer, stability chair, ladder barrel, and Cadillac.
The effective weight loss of Yoga vs Pilates is different with the choice of workout. You can burn 250 calories in 50 minutes workout in Yoga as compared to 175 calories as a beginner in Pilates and 375calories as an advanced practitioner.
Yoga And Pilates Benefits
1. Weight loss
Who doesn’t want a weight loss while doing the workout? Yoga and Pilates, both help in losing weight. By choosing the right program and teaching methodology, the desired balance of body and weight is achievable. A combination of Yoga and Pilates helps lose weight easily. By practising Yoga and Pilates in a regime, a practitioner gets a toned body with a balanced mind.
2. Physical Strength
These days developing core strength is in vogue. It is true as Yoga and Pilates both practice ideal programs that enhance physical strength. These programs work on the overall muscles of the body. Not just on the specific ones. Usage of eccentric contractions makes the muscles stretch and contract. It aids in lengthening the muscle and strengthening them.
3. Mental Strength
Who doesn’t want a stress-free life? A routine of training the body regularly by practising Yoga and Pilates brings positive energy to the mind. It focuses on mind-body awareness. You can see a significant decrease in people with anxiety, depression, and low energy. The quality of life becomes better with Yoga and Pilates.
Piloga – Pilates And Yoga Combined
As the name suggests, Piloga is the perfect mix of benefits of Pilates and Yoga. If you are someone looking for a toned body without losing limbs, Piloga is just for you. The program is arranged to take care of the fitness level, toned muscles, mental health, and stress relief. It brings control over breathing, balance in posture, and control over the body and mind. Wondering how this works? So, well the sessions are combined with asanas (Yoga postures) with controlled exercises of Pilates.
Which Is Better: Pilates Or Yoga?
Now, this is a million-dollar question! The above information provides you with the preface of the program. Choosing between the two is a completely individual choice. If you are looking for strength and agility, and want to decrease joint pains, Pilates is your pick. While if you are looking for mental health, breathing, and holistic discipline Yoga it is for you.
Wrap Up
Pilates and Yoga combined are in vogue. It is of course a personal preference to choose between the two. Yoga and Pilates focus on overall balance with a variation in their approach. Yoga and Pilates with regular practice will help regulate day-to-day activities. Yoga and Pilates help in physical and mental fitness. A customized program makes it easier to work towards the result. However, practising Yoga and Pilates without knowledge is risky. It is advisable to get hold of a teacher aware of the programs. This will facilitate in giving you the desired outcome.
Personally , I feel that yoga is more of an overall balanced body workout and I think that Pilates emphasizes the core strength rather than creating a balance with strengthening the lower back . It is vital to create a balance within all muscles groups. Paulette
Thanks Paulette for your feedback,
Yea i do agree with you as yoga is emphases more on stretching and give result that last for longer even-though we stop practicing yoga.
I think you are right. I would say that pilates is a wonderful tool to use if you are out of shape or experiencing alignment issues as an introduction and healthy starting point before diving into yoga. A lot of the core poses are done on the ground which can provide much needed support to the back and is very helpful if you aren’t very strong in the core yet. This will help immensely when starting a yoga practice. Whenever i fall out of my yoga practice, i start back up with pilates to relearn basic body mechanics.
Hi .. I agree with you ..and I think this is the yoga of awareness and relaxation exercises to calm the spirit of the moment..
There is an awareness and peace movements in Pilates
Hi:) Both are great and they compliment one another. If you are after a great shape to your body Pilates is one of the most effective ways of getting it and mat Pilates is personally much more relaxing than reformer (although some might disagree with me). I find equipment less relaxing and most of the time body weight is enough. Yoga is amazing for relaxing and tapping into your spirit and well-being and helps you to meditate. However, when I just practice yoga I find it hard to activate my core the whole time and my back tend to get too flexible so Pilates keeps my body safe and strong enough to enjoy yoga. I like your diagram where the benefits of both practices overlap:)