Yoga, Pilates...

[BarbaraRose]

Does anyone here do (or have done) yoga or pilates? I need to get myself in shape (my shorts don't fit this year!) and there is a new Pilates & Wellness place opening up just down the road from me in a couple weeks. I am wondering if it is something I should consider doing. Not sure what it costs tho. Also not sure if they will offer yoga too, or just pilates. Any thoughts?...

[sharon]

I do Yoga pretty regularly, don't really think it helps with weight loss or getting you in shape, but I've heard good things about Pilates. Is there a Curves near you? I did that for 3 years, worked well, I just got bored with it and hated their music.

[SeeyaGal]

Dan does Yoga every morning on the Wii....He dropped 50 LBS from the Wii and playing Pickleball...me....I'm still fat lol

[avalen]

I see yoga as more of a stretching and relaxing thing, but pilates....
I have no idea what a pilate is although I've heard the word many times
before.

[carold]

All the people I know that do yoga like it for both flexibility, toning and muscle build-up. I play tennis with a woman that does yoga and she has all that. She's very committed. I think the best formula for losing weight is eating healthy and working off more calories than taking in-seems simple, BUT not. Don't know much about Pilates. As Sharon said, it eventually has to be something enjoyable or it becomes a chore. Maybe a little of different things. What about walking around your lake? I find the hardest part is to get started. Good luck. carold

[sharon]

Yeah, I'm doing Zumba classes now, what a blast!! Talk about a cardio workout! And builds muscle. Plus it's dancing, so for me it's the perfect workout. I walk out of there all sweaty and with a big grin on my face even tho my legs feel like jello from the squats and lunges!!

[BarbaraRose]

I tried Curves many years ago but had to quit when I lost my job. The one here has really bad hours and is hardly ever open. I don't understand why they don't do the 24/7 thing like a lot of the fitness centers around here are doing (and very successful!) since there really doesn't need to be anyone there supervising all the time. Just give every member a card to get in the door and they can work out on their own whenever they want.

The school here offers yoga but only once a week and I don't think that will do me any good at that rate. As for walking, I could/should do that but am lazy. I need someone/something to hold me accountable (like a having a class at a certain time).

From what I have read, Pilates is a little more strenuous than Yoga and uses machines along with the floor excersizes. Otherwise I think they are similar. I am anxious to see what this new place has to offer.

I didn't know that Wii had a yoga program? My apartment is too small to do any of that here, altho I did buy a "Yoga In Bed" dvd awhile ago but haven't tried it yet...maybe I should check that out! (Now, if they just had "Yoga on the Couch", I would be set! ).

[OutandAbout]

Not that I've done either, I think that Yoga is more holding a position and stretching muscles and Pilates is repetition of certain movements. ( like doing a rep of 10 of leg lifts kind of thing). You can also use equipment with Pilates. Linda

[Redetotry]

I go to yoga exercise classes twice a week and love it! New research out says it is also good for osteoporosis both if you have it and to keep you from getting it.It is great for flexibility and strength. I was finding getting up and down from the floor was hard now it isn't. I gaining a lot of strength all over.
The other great thing is it is very calming, and will go into other areas of your life. Many people eat out of stress and so learning the relaxation breathing would help. The main thing is start with an EASY class. I work with a woman who teaches Anusara yoga. This addresses and many times corrects physical problems and injuries. There are many people who say yoga has saved them from surgery or saved their sanity! You can go to a chiropractor and get a problem fixed for the moment, but doing yoga for the problem area will build the muscles and keep or at least help you from having the issue.
I went to Curves once and felt no one gave instructions on how to use the equipment correctly. I think if you walk and maybe go to a gym for a few times and find a personal trainer to set you up a program teaching you to use hand weights that you could do anywhere would be helpful. Many schools have students who will help and it isn't that expensive. Best things are walk & eat healthy and sounds like you do that already except for your late night cookie attacks. My downfall is ice cream, we all have our passions.

[deborah12060]

Hi Barb,

I have a very bad/fragile back that a few years ago was giving me real trouble when snow shoveling. Also, at that time,
I was noticing that I was stooping a bit, like, it was hard to hold my body up. Enter palates and a tad bit of yoga.

First off, you can do anything and everything you need to do in your apt. Just go by a rubber mat (I use two stacked on top of each other) for that use at, say Marshalls (cheaper there). You can buy tapes for the DVD that will teach you everything you need to know.

My girlfriend gave me a summer of a trainer as a gift, bless her heart. That man got me on a program which I now do
every single morning, almost without exception. It use to take me forty minutes to do it, now, it's twenty.

The thing about palates is that it builds your core....you know, stuff around the middle and the spine, which holds your body up. Who would have thought one would ever have to work on that? And, after years of riding English that is really a surprise. Anyway, after two months of doing the palates, and this guys technique was to do them very slowly, save for the "basic 100" (which is being piked and flapping your arms up and down 100 ties rapidly), I was able to stand vertically without thinking about it. I bring this up to you because if one has good posture, it really is sort of amazing how much of the belly comes in, the head and neck raise and the overall effect is slimming. Even the clothes hang differently. He also had me take a broom pole, or, paint pole (forget the end attachment) and do 20 of that behind my head as far as I could reach making it go vertically with alternating hands being on top and then holding the pole behind my back and with both arms working together bringing the pole over my head to the front, then back over my head to the back. Do this twenty times also.

For yoga I start out with a five minutes deep breathing/letting go thing before starting my stretches. At the end I just do the basic tree and one other thing but this is for my own balance and focus, not because it will give me shape or strength.

Last, I have five pound weights and I do 15 of arms hanging to arms up to the chest (both 15 with wrists one way and then 15 wrists the other way), five of the arms out like I'm a cross-keep the arms straight and bring hands together in center, then 15 of arms at my side then up over my head to straight....stretching all the time, then last, 15 squats (keeping the body very erect) touching the weights to the floor then standing and having them go straight in the air.

For me, I had to really cut out all white bread and white pasta stuff in order to get the bulk and bloat out of my body.
That, by the way, dropped my dress size one to two sizes even though the weight remained the same. Obviously I have a digestive issue.

Good luck with getting a program put together. Basically, I wanted to stress the message that, unless you like going out and being in the company of others, etc., you needn't leave your house to get more fit. Not at all. You could jump rope, as an example, rather than run or walk. Heck, there are even walking programs that are out that you do (I don't know how) in your own home. I think the lady's name is Leslie something......who has these videos.

DD

[rvgal]

I was in a bad car accident a few years ago (a guy in a truck rearended me at about 40mph - I was stopped at a light) which resulted in a ruptured disc in my back & emergency back surgery. After the surgery my doc recommended Pilates. Pilates works your core muscles, which is great for your back. But there are all kinds of Pilates exercise you can do to work arms, butt, etc. It is great for toning & losing weight.

[BarbaraRose]

Thanks for sharing all your experiences and suggestions! Pilates sounds like it would be a good thing for me. I picked up a DVD at the library so I will watch that and give it a try and see how it goes (I don't have much room in my studio apartment, but I think I can move a couple things around to make some floor space).
I have bad posture and a lot of kinks in my back so that might be just the thing for me to "straighten out and up". I don't need to lose much weight but I am just getting flabby and out of shape and don't have the strength and stamina I used to have. It will probably help me alot too, with cutting hair all day without getting the back, shoulder and neck aches I usually get.

Will let you know how it goes!