Pilates and Yoga are two forms of exercise that are often grouped together and mistaken for one another. They share similarities – both are low-impact, performed on a mat, and offer benefits such as improving strength, flexibility and mindfulness.
What’s their story?
Pilates was created in the 1920s by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates after he started using low-impact exercises to improve his strength.This relatively recent development is in contrast to yoga, which is thought to have been created more than 5,000 years ago in ancient India.
Pilates was originally named ‘Contrology’ as he would focus his mind in order to control his core postural muscles, keeping the body balanced and providing support and control for his spine. Yoga, however, encompasses physical, mental and spiritual practices aimed at controlling the body, breath, and mind.
Initially pilates was an exercise used for rehabilitation purposes, and it wasn’t until Joseph moved to New York and opened Body Conditioning Gym that his training piqued the interest of ballerinas and gymnasts who were looking to improve their flexibility and strength.
The six key principles of pilates are breathing, centring, concentration, control, flow and precision, whereas yoga highlights working with the energy points within the body – the chakras. These 7 key energy points are both stimulated and balanced by practising yoga, and yogis believe that different poses can help with different chakras.
The benefits of Pilates and Yoga
Both exercises are hugely beneficial for the mind and body. Yoga helps increase flexibility and mobility, strength and endurance, breathing, posture, balance and stability, while Pilates improves strength and flexibility, spine and core strength and posture as well as increases lung capacity and bone density.
They both promote mindfulness and focus, as well as focus on controlling the breath, which can help calm the mind. However yoga tends to have a stronger focus on meditation, which pilates doesn’t. In pilates, focus is needed to control the body – especially in more advanced practices.
What is the difference between the two?
The main physical difference between the two is that yoga focuses on the person holding static poses and flowing into the next one using your body weight as resistance, whereas Pilates uses movement to engage the core and challenge stability, and often accessories such as a hoop or band can be utilised to increase (or in some cases, decrease) the challenge presented by the exercise.
Yoga also has a focus on spirituality and mindfulness, and is generally considered not to be as fast paced as pilates.
Which exercise should you choose?
Choosing whether to practice Pilates or Yoga depends entirely on your goals. If you want to improve flexibility and practice mindfulness, Yoga might be more suited to you, but if you want to strengthen your core or help your body recover from injury, Pilates might be the way to go.
Of course, I’m a big advocate for Pilates and I offer different levels of exercises so you can choose whichever is best for you.
If you were to book a one to one session with me, it would be totally bespoke to you and your goals or reasons for choosing Pilates. Small props such as balls and resistance bands may be used to enhance or progress elements of your programme.
If you’re interested in giving it a try, take a look at the classes I have available in Weston-super-Mare at https://ehsportstherapy.com/services/pilates/.