Pilates Advice Please!

[JanetH]

Your posts about pilates are very interesting! I've been considering trying to add it to my fitness routine and recently a studio opened near my home.

Questions for those of you who have experience with pilates/yoga:

what should I look for in a good studio/instructor
what is the going rate for instruction
it this something you do on an ongoing or periodic basis
how does it differ from yoga

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

JanetH

ps: I want to add my name to the list of those who would like to see Cathe do a yoga tape. Actually, Cathe could do a video on workworking, cake decorating, auto mechanics and I would buy it.

 

[KathyH]

Hi Janet! I've been doing Pilates and Power Yoga and traditional Yoga for a year now. I happen to prefer Pilates. I started taking a class by an instructor who had been doing Pilates for a year and a half. I only do mat work, however. Never did the machines. This will strengthen your core and you'll be amazed how well you'll be able to do plank work in Cathe's new CTX tapes. Start off slow because believe you me it's difficult. I felt I had no flexibility whatsoever! I practice pilates or yoga only once a week. Wish I had the time to do it more. I don't go to the gym anymore but I use Moira Stott's Advanced Matwork. You can formulate any type of workout you want. You don't have to feel you HAVE to do all of the exercises on her tape. She has a series of tapes and you can find them on her website or go to Collage. Good luck! Kathy

 

[jackie7]

RE: Power yoga

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Oct-26-00 AT 05:36PM (Est)[/font][p]What exactly is power yoga? What exercise tapes are availabe for it?

 

[JanetH]

Thanks Kathy!

Your reply was very helpful - thanks for taking the time. I need all the help I can get on the plank work in CTX - I can't remember when I've found any particular set of exercises so difficult to master. I was also glad to learn that you found Pilates helped you with your flexibility - it's a big focus for improvement for me right now.

Thanks again - I'm going to check out the Moira Stott website now!

Janet

 

[SnowyOwl]

RE: Thanks Kathy!

I don't have experience with Pilates, but I've done "traditional" yoga and power yoga since '95.

Power yoga (also referred to as Ashtanga yoga) usually refers to a style of yoga where each pose flows into the next, each pose or movement linked to breath, generating heat, and requiring quite a bit of upper body strength. There are other forms of vigourous or hot yoga, like Bikrams (this used to be THE celeb yoga in the 70's). Other forms of yoga usually involve performing the pose with rests in between.

Beryl Bender Birch wrote a very good book called (not surprisingly) Power Yoga that explains it very well. She doesn't have any videos though. Everyone here raves about Bryan Kest, and once I feel prepared to pay the import fees and exchange rate I will splurge on one of his videos.

Power yoga builds strength as well as flexibility, and done properly will also increase cardiovascular capacity.

And, it's fun!

Sophie

 

[JanetH]

Another Yoga Question

Thanks for the advice Sophie - one more question. Is yoga something you can properly learn from good video tapes or is it better to begin with an instructor? It's my understanding that the smallest detail of form can make a difference and I wonder if novices can get the kind of instruction from a video that's needed at the beginning.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. One thing I've learned from Cathe and this forum is that there are so many fun ways to stay healthy and fit.

Janet

 

[SnowyOwl]

RE: Another Yoga Question

I hope you get some other answers to this question, but my personal bias is that it is better to have some rea life instruction along with videos.

Videos and books can have terrific instruction, but it is very very difficult to really know what your body is doing, even if you are using a mirror.

It is immensely helpful to have a teacher that can check your alignment and help you correct your form, even given the fact that there are many different ways to do the same pose. A teacher should still be able to guide you to the position that will work for you - what they like to call the "edge".

So that applies to looking for a teacher - find one that is willing to walk through the class helping you in your pose, and avoid classes that have more students than the teacher seems to be able to help. He/she should always encourage everyone to work within their own range of abilities (modify, modify, modify) and be aware of their students weaknesses (stiff shoulders, necks, whatever).

Keep in mind that yoga does originate from spiritual roots so don't be surprised if chanting or meditation is included in the class. Teachers will vary a lot in how much of this they are willing to incorporate into class.

The things that really make it "yoga" instead of "stretching", aside from the spiritual origin, is mindfulness of movement and breath. Both are essential to get the full benefit, IMO.

But even if you don't incorporate these aspects, or find it's just too darn much to think about when starting, you'll still get a lot of flexibility and other physical benefits from just learning the positions, whether from a teacher or a video.

Good luck in your search! If you can, leaf through some copies of Yoga Journal at your bookstore or library and that might give you a better feel for what's out there. As I said, depending on your inclination you can find a teacher that's great at just getting down to business and teaching you to stretch, or you can find one that rates high on the "woo-woo" factor!

Oh - and search back on some of Denise R.'s posts about her last rotation. She just finished a great rotation that incorporated yoga videos with strength work almost daily and she would be a great person to ask more about learning from videos.

Have fun!
Sophie

 

[KathyH]

RE: Power yoga

Hi Jackie7! Power Yoga is very different from traditional yoga in that there are no pauses in between each exercise. You keep continuously flowing one movement after another without stopping. The exercises are very strenuous in that you need a lot of strength in your upper body and you must be able to hold the move in place for quite some time without collapsing. Tapes that are worth buying and the ones that I have are the series from Bryan Kest. Start off very slow and only until you've perfected one tape can you go on to the next. I don't think I'll ever master the third and final tape (there are 3 in all) from Bryan Kest. My body just doesn't have that kind of flexibility. It takes a liftime to perfect anyway. Also, if you find that power yoga is not for you, you might want to try the tape (can't remember the name of it) from Ali MacGraw. It's a wonderful tape. There are 10 exercises in all and they're all doable. Try it and good luck! Kathy

 

[Debra]

Janet, I've been taking Pilates mat classes twice a week for the last 2 months & love them. I'm using them to improve torso strength & flexibility, & to master diaphram breathing. I believe you'd get the same benefits from yoga, & Pilates does borrow a lot from yoga (including the dreaded planks).

When I first looked into Pilates, mat classes were not available & the equipment sessions were too expensive for my budget. I did use The Methods "Precision Toning" video. Recently the club where I take spinning classes added Pilates. I pay $10 a session as a non-member which is the cheapest I've seen anywhere. A session on the equipment w/ an instructor is $75 per hour.

I've read that it's best (for body & wallet) to start with some mat classes before moving onto the equipment. My instructor encourages us to book at least 1 session on the equipment so that she can work w/ us on form & address specific goals.

I asked her about screening. She said to make sure that the instructor is certified. The 3 primary certifications are thru Moira Stott, Body Arts, & the big daddy, The Pilates Studio in NYC.

We use Thera (sp?) bands & Stott fitness circles in class. These are great tools for learning the moves & would have made the first attempts using "Precision Toning" much easier. I'm certainly getting what I wanted from the mat classes. By the way, I don't have a dance background.

I plan on sticking with the classes indefinitely. There's a core group that's progressing together & the instructor is adding in more challenging moves. I still do 1 stretching video each week, along w/ regular strength training & cardio.

Hope this helps. Debra

 

[JanetH]

Kathy, Sophie & Debra - THANKS!!!!

Wow! Thanks for all the good advice and for taking the time to answer my questions so thoroughly. I've printed out your responses - they are so informative and just what I was looking for.

Happy Excercising!

Janet