Asking anyone with experience of both yoga and pilates

[WearyCat]

I have never had the opportunity to do a Pilates class, but I have a deep and historically physically strong yoga practice (Ashtanga, vinyasa flow). I’m dealing with some back and joint pain and the GP yesterday said I should do Pilates because of its core work. I feel my yoga practice requires a very strong core and have never had any issues with that, I’m pretty strong. (At the moment my problem is recruiting that strength because using my core also uses muscles in my back which are so very painful.)

Anyway I wanted to ask if anyone can tell me- is Pilates actually better than yoga for the core, or is it that many people think of yoga as gentle stretching rather than a very physical activity if you want it to be? (Avoiding the fact that yoga has far more to it than a physical practice, which is why I practice it really.)

Your GP, any experience of either?

I do both. prefer yoga.

Woman’s physio said my core was “incredibly strong” post recovery from an op and I out this largely down to 16 years of yoga!

She said she likes Pilates. But I didn’t want to dismiss what she said just because I practise yoga, I have zero experience of Pilates.

I’ve done lots of yoga and some Pilates… the yoga has been much stronger but I expect it’s like yoga and teachers/classes are very different? What about reformer Pilates?

Yoga is a better work out for me. But I love Pilates too (but find a proper teacher who will start you from the beginning). It’s all about stability and the movements at first are very small. A lot of people in my class were originally referred from the GP.

She likes Pilates. but no mention of her doing yoga?

I’ve done both
both superb
yoga I have found better for core
Pilates better for fitness

I think Pilates has a reputation for being more consistent, and is often taught by physios. Whereas yoga can be anything from chilled meditation to an intense high temperature sweaty workout. And can be taught by pretty much anyone

(I love yoga, but some teachers in the past have made me wince with what they were pushing classes to do)

I do both and they are different but complementary. Proper Pilates is very slow and controlled, moving with the breath and I think uses your limbs as counterweight to the core more than for strength themselves if that makes sense. Pilates with Izzy on YouTube is good, she cues well. maybe search for Pilates for back pain to start and give it a go. Very easy to as some Pilates moves to a yoga session

I do both, I find Pilates harder, but my core is weak and I have poor shoulder and upper back strength. The yoga I do is quite gentle (think beginner). I think you gain different things from both.

Thanks all. From what you’ve said I feel like it possibly won’t add that much to what I already do so I won’t stress too hard about fitting in an extra class.

If money is no object try a set of private reformer pilates classes.
In a private class the teacher can really teach you to isolate your core and explain how to work those muscles. They might even have more insight to the back pain.
A regular class probably won't help you, but private sessions with a good teacher are like really intense physical therapy.

Pilates is about working specific muscle groups and is excellent for rehab. At the moment you risk making any injury worse by powering through a more advanced workout.

Rather than a class book a few private sessions as an alternative to physiotherapy

I’ve done both and honestly think the toning results from Pilates are better. Years of yoga didn’t help my core as much as a few weeks of Pilates. For me, yoga helped hugely with suppleness and mindfulness but it was Pilates that toned the deeper core muscles and thigh/bum areas and resolved a back issue (due to stronger core).

I’d definitely give it a go, especially if you can find a reformer class or someone who does 1:1 sessions. As with anything of course, not all instructors and classes are equal!

I'd find a good pilates teacher who also has a physio background and have a trial session, there are similarities but honestly I find pilates much better for my back - there were things in yoga making it worse. Pilates is much more about making very precise moves - in a good class.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/fitness/workouts/yoga-back-pain-pilates/
Not saying that yoga is doing this to you - but it's good at the differences between the two disciplines.

If you're experiencing back issues during yoga I would look at strengthening your glutes. Core strength is all very well but glutes also play a part.

I think it’s mostly about finding the right class/instructor, not much difference for core strengthening

I do both. The benefit will come from proper specialist teachers.
Pilates builds core strength and is what you need for your back just now.
Lots of cross over in movements, a very different technique in how you do it.

I have in the past practiced both yoga and Pilates, these days I stick to yoga and use strength training for improving and maintaining muscular strength.

Agree with others about finding the right class/teacher. I’ve had Pilates classes where afterwards I felt like I’d just had a lie down for an hour, others where every muscle has been shaking and I can barely move the next day. There is an assumption that yoga is just a bit of stretching while Pilates is all core, which isn’t quite true for either practice.

I’m a Pilates teacher who also enjoys occasional yoga classes.

It’s easy to say that people need to strengthen their core in order to get rid of back pain and to be honest it is the problem a lot of the time. However, core strength is not only about strong abdominals; it’s about a bigger group of muscles and about the way that you use each of them to do different movements.

A Pilates teacher would assess your movement strategies and give you exercises to do that will help to improve your movement patterns and to recruit your muscles differently.
I think that some 1-1 Pilates sessions could definitely help you with your back problems and would, in the long term, help you improve your yoga practice too.

Thank you. I’m not powering through- I’ve had to stop all my higher intensity things like strong yoga and kickboxing, I’m doing gentle yoga now 4-5 times a week but really just functional movement and using lots of support. My feeling is that I do have a good core and glutes (have also done weights until recently) and can also isolate movements as I’ve got some training in physical therapeutic movement (am not a physiotherapist). So really am just after opinions about the difference between yoga and Pilates, whether it’s going to be better than what I’m already doing. It would be a struggle to do something else, both financially and time-wise.

@BadActingParsley i can’t open that link unfortunately

I found that Pilates classes changed the way that I did yoga and greatly increased the benefit I got from yoga.

By beginning to identify and recruit the under-used deep muscles around the lower spine I was able to learn how to lengthen my spine in a way that allowed me to open and lower my shoulders and take a huge amount of pressure out of my neck.

In almost every yoga move I find that by being mindful of this lengthening and opening I can improve the position and become more comfortable.

I may not have accurately described the anatomy of what I learned to do, but I can feel it, introspect it, in the way that is so central in yoga.

It is important to go to a specialist Pilates teacher, I think, who will observe the way your body works and ensure that you do the exercises correctly. It is so easy to keep going with old habits that recruit the wrong muscles - which have become overdeveloped by all the years in which they took over from the unrecruited ones.

It was only by keeping the exercises very very tiny and 'low effort' that my teacher enabled me to make progress. So-called Pilates classes at my gym just involved thrashing about in the same old way without learning anything.

I went to classes for several months and then I found that I had achieved enough introspective 'mapping' of the required recruitment to be able to take it forward in other forms of exercise - yoga, walking, running.

Hi, I teach yoga and pilates and yogalates. I am also GP Exercise Referral trained and have just started my Level 4 Back Pain Exercise Specialist course. I actually teach all types of exercise classes though.

I think it’s difficult to answer this question for two reasons: both pilates and yoga classes vary greatly, depending on instructor and style of class; secondly, everyone is different so what one person find helps back pain, another may find this aggravates the issue.

I get a lot of back pain myself. I need to be careful not to overstretch when doing things like twists. In general, back pain aside, Yoga is harder on me and I particularly dislike sun salutations. Pilates can be uncomfortable though with some supine (lying on back) exercises.

I have had people come to my tai chi class after being referred by their physio due to back pain, so maybe that is another class to consider and that is the most gentle of all classes I teach. Again, it depends on type of Tai Chi and the instructor to some extent, as I know a colleague who apparently is very tough with Tai Chi! Whatever you choose, mention to your instructor before class.

My motto whatever class I teach is “listen to your body, do what works for you.” I always say to try not to worry about what anyone else is doing, you can make moves smaller or bigger to suit. A good instructor will usually be able to give alternatives.

You can do a 200 hours yoga teacher or a 500’hours one. I did my 200 first then my 300 to get my 500 hours and the 300 actually gave specific poses for back pain and other conditions so it may be worthwhile looking for a 500 hours teacher.

Back pain is a condition that Exercse Referral practitioners can work with, even without the Level 4 Back Pain course. You may also like to try aqua. Hope this helps

I have done both in a hot yoga studio for the past 12 years (2 nights of flow, 2 hot yoga and 2 Pilates) love them all.

However anecdotally I still find Pilates the more challenging. The class I attend is 100% core where as of course Yoga is a balance of strength, stretching, breathing and based on maintaining a routine, where as Pilates is results based - mines run by an ex military service woman. I think take the advice and try for a few months see if it helps you can always revert.

Classic Mat Pilates for back issues. You need to find a BCP instructor https://www.bodycontrolpilates.com/

Consistent practice with proper alignment, moving with precision and control using your breath will sort out your spine and joint issues.

There are a lot of people who think they are doing Pilates. They are not.