Recovery Workouts: Choosing Yoga or Pilates

[CBDB]

🤕 Today it happened: my first run cancelled due to some pains and aches. That means - I guess - my very first stint on the (mini) injury couch. 🥺

(Warning: long post 📖 😉)

📆 For 9 months I didn’t have a single issue keeping me from running. I was convinced that this was due to slow running, I might even have bragged about it (sorry). 🏃🏻‍♀️

⏰ And this noon I got ready to do my 2nd Magic Plan leisurely Sunday 5.5k run, stood up and a sharp pain in my right knee decided for me otherwise. I could replicate the pain: I straighten my leg and lock it slightly and hello pain. 🤬

Not a big deal, but I thought I’d better give it a rest for a few days. 😫

I actually don’t know exactly what I did to have this happen. But one of the possibilities was the yoga workout I did yesterday. So was it the child poses, downward dog movements or kneeling on the floor last night?

So what to do? Of course that got me looking into Yoga vs Pilates and found it fascinating. So apologies if this is all well known to you, it was an eye-opener for me.

So here a bit of a round-up:

🧘‍♀️Yoga in its mind-body connectivity focusses on controlled breathing, postures, and meditation, as Yoga originated as a spiritual practice.

💪 Pilates emphasises core strength and stability, as it originated as a specially designed form of rehabilitative exercise.

With that, Yoga benefits specifically flexibility, muscles and mental wellness; Pilates focusses on recovery, core stability and conditioning. Pilates is likely to work more with repetitions and bearing less of your body weight (in general), and Yoga tends to be more often about flow and pose. As one site suggests: “Pilates is based on movement and yoga on both pose and stillness”.

And from what I have read, teachers of both are often versatile in both, so you can encounter a very mindful Pilates instructor or a recovery-oriented Yoga instructor. But both give you a good strength and flex workout, but the above different purposes can result in slightly different workouts.

Some other interesting differences

Yoga

- a holistic ancient discipline

- at least 3,000 years old

- developed in Ancient India

- focus on poses

- prioritises breath before movement

- focuses on increasing flexibility and strength in the limbs, spine and joints

- most poses are standing up

Pilates

- a specific system devised by a German anatomist, Joseph Pilates

- founded in the early 20th Century

- designed for physical rehabilitation

- focus on small movements that require the use of important stabilising muscles of the back and core

- prioritises movement before breath

- focuses first on core strength, then on balancing the body’s muscle groups

- most poses are lying down

Both

- low impact

- complement each other

- build strong and toned muscles

- both use breath-work

- both focus on body-mind awareness

- both help balance, strength and flexibility

So of course I had to try out more Pilates! As I was unable to do my run, I though what better way of working out then to chose a movement practice that is aimed at recovery and rehabilitation like Pilates.

So I chose two workouts, resulting in a happy and very sweaty, but low impacted and un-run runner:

25min Full Body Pilates Workout for beginners (without equipment) by “Move with Nicole”

youtu.be/NyP_waVgL1w(Not working as expected?)

And

Standing Pilates for Seniors (30 min, Str, Flex, Confidence) by “The girl with the Pilates mat” (Rachel)

youtu.be/06fDbfMis1o(Not working as expected?)

Nicole is both a Yoga And Pilates instructor based in Sydney, but her gentle introduction to a lying Pilates workout allowed me to see differences and similarities to Yoga. Return of downward dogs and child’s poses, but now more within repeated movements. And yes, for some I stepped out but I must say as a beginner I loved doing the repetitions, and I can see how I might want to continue with Pilates and - once stronger - move to Yoga. It was also a very mindful Pilates.

For the other workout, my husband joined me, as he had to hear all about Pilates anyway. 🤣UK Pilates Rachel (The girl with the Pilates mat) got me surprisingly sweaty by slow repetitions of movements gentle enough for all my joints, knees and bones. I could do all of these, but this was not surprising as it was aimed at “seniors”. But she is certainly an instructor I can recommend and I will be doing more of her workouts in the future!

So for me, I’ve decided to do more Pilates than Yoga for now, but will have to see how that changes my plan. I might try some Yoga here and there, but (also as a German) can’t help feeling some affinity to the Pilates way of doing workouts!

Happy workout everyone!

Sources:

Yoga vs Pilates: ahealthiermichigan.org/2019... and netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-liv... and purewow.com/wellness/yoga-v...

History of Pilates: pilates.com/pilates/origins

[Elfe5]

An interesting read thanks CBDB - I knew about the origins of yoga, but not Pilates.

I have been attending a very good Pilates class for 11 years now and have found it hugely beneficial for core strength & suppleness. My joints are much better now in my 60s than they were in my late 40s thanks to Pilates. 😄

Mend soon xxx

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to Elfe5]

That’s really good to read . And there’s hope for me then. Thank you! 🙏👍🏽🧘‍♀️💪

[slipstick]

Fascinating how we're all different. I tried Pilates a few years ago and it nearly crippled me. So I went back to good old Yoga. My reckoning was that if people have been doing it for 3000 years they should have it pretty well sorted out by now.

Of course I now imagine that my Pilates teacher at the time simply wasn't very good at fitting the practise to the people attempting it. Maybe it's time to have another look at it.

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to slipstick]

😅 Much probably depends on the instructor. And the good thing about all the video workouts available online, one can try out different instructors. 😃👍🏽🧘‍♀️🙏

[Elfe5 in reply to slipstick]

You need a knowledgeable teacher who can teach/demonstrate different levels of exercises so everyone, from beginner to advanced can work at an appropriate level. Like running, one size does not fit all. 😉

[slipstick in reply to Elfe5]

That's very true but back in the day, before Youtube etc, there were probably only one or two instructors within physical reach of many of us. That made it very difficult to find a good one. We have it relatively easy these days.

[Elfe5 in reply to slipstick]

Very true!

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to Elfe5]

Yes, I was thinking of how in my younger days I bought 2 workout video cassettes and both really did not fit my level or needs. So I just gave up. But now I can be sure to find something that makes me feel I’m succeeding in getting stronger, rather than constantly failing.

[Hidden]

True to form, you have done amazing research 😉😊.

I have been doing both yoga (for about 8 years) and Pilates (for 3 years) for a while now and each informs my practice of the other. Both compliment running too. I rely on the three forms of exercise to keep me feeling strong and pain free.

My Pilates instructor and his wife are also trained physios and my yoga teacher is a runner, so I feel really lucky to have them.

Enjoy your Pilates 😊 and your yoga too when you are ready to come back to it.

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to Hidden]

Thank you! It’s great to read. Until now, I only was aware of the popularity of Yoga and not so much Pilates, but as you say, we’re fortunate to have both and there are plenty of videos to chose from on the internet.

Next week I have lined up 5 days of different Pilate workouts for troublesome knees (20-30min each), but will throw in Adrienne’s Yoga for sensitive knees as well.

Hopefully that allows me to get stronger, have fun and by next Sat I should be back on the road.

Thank you, again!

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold]

PILATES VS YOGA

I just revisited this post from two years ago, as currently we are doing a daily Pilates Practice led by ChannelRunner2 who posted also a discussion between yoga and Pilates. See discussion thread healthunlocked.com/strength...

And the video she posted was a brilliant one:

Enjoy:

youtu.be/_Tqd2RwA_i8(Not working as expected?)