Earlier this week I had my first Pilates lesson, and I think I can safely say it is not for me. My friend and I went to the studio having no idea what to expect, and we were surprised to learn that almost the entire program uses these odd-looking machines with springs (one is called the reformer).
Some of the moves we were taught felt like great stretches and some of it really worked my abs and my core, but it felt odd doing almost all my work on these strange spring machines. I also didn’t like that they all came with mostly the same resistance — you can remove a spring or two, but it’s quite different from using weights. We didn’t do many sets of each exercise either, which I wasn’t used to.
I think my main problem was that it wasn’t intense enough for me. I have a hard time doing very low-intensity workouts because I feel as though I’m not accomplishing very much (regardless of whether that is true or not). I prefer what I did yesterday at my gym — a good 30 minutes of cardio on an elliptical and some good weight and ab work. Then again, I have read that Pilates is supposed to be used in addition to cardio, not in place of it.
The friend who went with me really likes yoga and had been considering beginning it regularly, but told me if she liked Pilates better, she’d do that instead. When we left, she said she strongly prefers yoga. She finds it more soothing. In the Pilates studio we went to, it was a small facility with one big, open room with the equipment. While we were there, there was a small private class going on in addition to a few other private lessons, so it was loud and open (not to mention it was mostly older women). I think she really prefers the quieter, calmer, relaxing environment yoga provides. Pilates is purely physical, whereas yoga has a major mental element.
I looked at my gym’s class schedule yesterday — I realized even though I have been a member for almost a year now, I have still never attended any classes, mostly because I just forget about them. But I noticed they do have a class called Body Flow, which incorporates elements of yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi and doesn’t use machines. I wonder if I would appreciate that type of class perhaps after an intense cardio workout, when I am more in a place where I want to relax and unwind. I think I would like that much better than just doing a standalone yoga or Pilates class. I am already paying for the gym membership, so I might as well give it a shot. Lessons and classes at Pilates studios are quite expensive, so while I am disappointed it didn’t work out for me, I know I will save a lot of money by sticking with just my gym.
Have you tried Pilates? What do you like or dislike about it?
June 16, 2008 at 6:23 am
I found this post very interesting. My wife is a Pilates instructor and one thing she says about Pilates is that it works very different muscles in very different ways than regular exercise.
The inner muscles of the core are challenged in a way that just quite doesn’t work the same – I of course suck at it so have convinced myself that they work just fine without being ‘pilatified’.
Great analysis with the comparison between yoga and pilates. I wonder if anyone has created aa Pilates class that tried to embrace the mental part of it as well?