Maintenance Plan: Yoga vs. Pilates

Rumors and old wives tales spread like wildfire about Yoga and Pilates, but which one really fits your needs and wants?

Although there are many types of yoga and Pilates that combine many different aspects of fitness, in general they both follow two distinctly separate principles. Traditionally, yoga is known as an art form or type of exercise that involves moving your body in ways that strengthens your muscles and finds inner peace and harmony. Pilates conversely is know for exercises that teach awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and aim to strengthen the deep torso muscles.

Pilates has much more emphasis on physical strength, while yoga focuses on that of the spiritual. Looking to something to calm the mind and soothe the body and not overly concerned with building muscle, yoga is your practice. If you are an athlete or just simply are looking to find a more dynamic system of muscle conditioning outside of your regular routine, Pilates is answer.

However, you guessed it, many studios, now offer many combinations of yoga and pilates or one or the other, so do you research.

*many thanks to Kathy Smith for insight from her iVillage article*"