Pilates

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desiresdestiny
desiresdestiny Posts: 175 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
what are your thoughts on Pilates?

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  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
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    Which fornat are you referring to? I know here hot pilates, mat pilates and reformer pilates are popular. I'm a fan of hot pilates. I've tried reformer but that can get expensive.
  • desiresdestiny
    desiresdestiny Posts: 175 Member
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    Mat Pilates. I have few DVDs off amazon from the elements series
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    I take mat Pilates a few times a week. It's a great core workout. In fact, all of me is sore from yesterday. :)
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
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    It's a great core workout and good for toning that area if you have already lost a good amount of body fat from your abs. It doesn't burn too many calories, though, so I'd supplement with cardio.
  • suruda
    suruda Posts: 1,233 Member
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    I've taken mat pilates a couple of days a week for years. Love it! It is a nice workout but also can have the mindfulness of yoga (depending on the instructor). It is a great supplement to cardio!
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    desiresdestiny wrote: »
    what are your thoughts on Pilates?

    It works the abs too much and the rest of the body too little, compared to how our body tends to work in daily activities. So it's not a balanced strength program. But it might be helpful for someone with back problems who needs to be more mindful of their abs. What is your goal?

  • desiresdestiny
    desiresdestiny Posts: 175 Member
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    Cherimoose wrote: »
    desiresdestiny wrote: »
    what are your thoughts on Pilates?

    It works the abs too much and the rest of the body too little, compared to how our body tends to work in daily activities. So it's not a balanced strength program. But it might be helpful for someone with back problems who needs to be more mindful of their abs. What is your goal?

    I have multiple chronic illnesses so a lot of times Pilates helps relax me. I want to maintain and continue to build muscle
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Cherimoose wrote: »
    desiresdestiny wrote: »
    what are your thoughts on Pilates?

    It works the abs too much and the rest of the body too little, compared to how our body tends to work in daily activities. So it's not a balanced strength program. But it might be helpful for someone with back problems who needs to be more mindful of their abs. What is your goal?

    This assumes it's your only exercise. And no. It doesn't workout your "abs" "too much".
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I love pilates and take a class once a week (reformer) and I should go more--keep meaning to incorporate a mat class too. It's really made a difference in my core strength and is one of the few things I enjoy for core exercises (other than compound lifts), and it also helps counteract some of the ways that running can mess with my body and strengthened parts of me (like working on hips and glutes) that help with that.

    I don't assume any burn from it, but I feel better when I do it.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
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    Depending on the instructor and class, it works other areas, such as glutes and hamstrings (in bridge-type positions and leg lifts), chest and shoulders if planks are incorporated. One instructor where I go uses weighted balls, as well as rings. Some of the scapular work is excellent if you have shoulder injuries, some of the same exercises my physical therapist has given me.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    desiresdestiny wrote: »
    what are your thoughts on Pilates?

    It works the abs too much and the rest of the body too little, compared to how our body tends to work in daily activities. So it's not a balanced strength program. But it might be helpful for someone with back problems who needs to be more mindful of their abs. What is your goal?

    This assumes it's your only exercise. And no. It doesn't workout your "abs" "too much".

    There are many people whose primary strength work is mat pilates, because they hear how important the "core" is, and how pilates works other muscles too. I don't think it's a replacement for full-body resistance training. A good strength program works the core plenty, so there's rarely a need to do more than a few minutes of direct ab work.

  • AnnaFit4Life
    AnnaFit4Life Posts: 106 Member
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    I have a AeroPilates reformer and absolutely love it and I strongly disagree with it not being a full-body resistance training. I work everything. I got a pull up bar attachment for my reformer and have never targeted my tricepts so well in my life and trust me I've done plenty of weights. I work my glutes, legs, arms, back, chest....pretty much everything on my AeroPilates reformer. My body shape has completely changed and I love the look.

    The bonus of Pilates is with pretty much every exercise you do on the machine you are working your core. That's a bonus and not a downfall in my opinion.

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