In recent years, with the boom in interest in fitness and exercising, many of all age groups have started turning their heads towards yoga and Pilates as forms of endurance building.
But a problem many people face when choosing between the two is that, at face-value, both look much the same.
How do you know which to go for according to your needs?
The difference lies in their target areas and the end results the two disciplines aim to achieve.
Endurance Building
Like most forms of exercise, building endurance is a top priority of both yoga and Pilates. However, yoga tends to be slower, where it is required for you to hold poses for much longer than in Pilates.
In Pilates, you are expected to move in rapid succession, and use weights and props to build strength and endurance. In yoga, endurance is the main focus; whereas in Pilates, it is building strength that takes center stage.
Pilates aim to build body strength, flexibility and body awareness without building bulk.
Spiritual and Mental Health
The main focus of yoga lies in attuning your mind and body to each other in order to help you de-stress from all the pressures of life. By stretching and compressing major muscles of the body, and through breathing exercises, yoga helps bring balance and a sense of calm and peace over the body and mind.
Pilates, while also a mind-body exercise, focuses more on physical training and so, mental wellbeing isn’t as much of a focus here as in yoga.
Flexibility
While almost all forms of exercise improve flexibility to a certain extent, yoga is unparalleled in its ability to increase flexibility because of its focus on holding poses for extended periods of time.
A study has shown that just 10 weeks of yoga are capable of increasing flexibility and performance in athletes. On the other hand, while Pilates also improves flexibility, the focus of it lies in understanding why certain muscles are tight and fixing the problem.
Focus Areas
The main focus of yoga is providing you with an environment suitable for meditation, and helping you unwind all the while improving your physical and emotional health. It builds flexibility and endurance.
The goal of Pilates is to help with physical rehabilitation, and can help relieve pain of people suffering from back pains and joint injuries. Some poses of yoga may be difficult to execute for these people but Pilates is specifically designed for them.
Steel Abs
If you’re looking for ways to build those washboard abs you’ve always wanted, Pilates would be the way to go for you. Because the main areas of focus in Pilates are the abs, stomach and other core muscles, nothing can do a better job at toning and flattening your abs than Pilates.
Yoga works on building and strengthening the spinal column and while they do work on the core muscles, yoga poses aren’t demanding enough to build the abs of steel you’ve always craved.
What to Choose?
Both yoga and Pilates have their own benefits, and are excellent forms of getting some exercise, regardless of what age group you belong to. You can even opt for both to bring change and variability into your workout routine.
If you’re still confused about what to opt for, your best option would be to take a trial class in beginner Pilates or beginner yoga and talk to one of our instructors to get professional insight into what works best for your needs.
Made your decision and are now looking for the best yoga and Pilates classes in New York City? Head on over, and let’s get started on making you the fittest you’ve ever been!
