Pilates and Yoga seem so similar that it’s understandable for some people to use the terms interchangeably. After all, both aim to help people achieve optimum health and wellness. Both also work to make muscles stronger and help relieve stress. There are, however, many distinct differences between the two. Here are some of those differences.
Origins
Yoga originated from India thousands of years ago and has since spread to various locations the world over.
Pilates, on the other hand, is a far more recent creation. Developed by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s, the eponymous method of physical fitness rose to prominence when Pilates moved from Europe to New York in the 1960s. With New York-based dancers and ballerinas taking to Pilates as a way of building strength and stamina, it soon burst into the mainstream.
Types
As yoga spread to different locations, it has also evolved over the centuries with various cultures. The result is the Yoga that we know today which has many different types, including Bikram, Vinyasa Ashtanga, Kundalini, and Iyengar.
As for Traditional Pilates as developed by its founder, there are no different types or styles. What practitioners have are different levels of Pilates, ranging from beginner to advanced. One might argue though that the rise of different schools of Pilates can be considered as the formation of the different types of Pilates. Among the various Pilates schools that are growing in popularity today include Mat Pilates, Contemporary Studio Pilates, Group Reformer Pilates, and Clinical Pilates.
Focus
With the physical movement and poses involved, Yoga can help you improve your strength, stamina, and balance. Fundamentally, however, Yoga is a spiritual practice that teaches its students ways to enter a meditative state and quiet their minds.
Pilates does not have the spirituality component of Yoga. A purely physical exercise program, Pilates also aims to correct imbalances in the body, build one’s strength, endurance, but it’s also meant to help people improve posture and be free from pain. Pilates emphasizes core strength, with classes focusing on body control, flexibility, and muscle toning.
Equipment
Yoga practitioners typically use mats, blankets, towels, belts, and eye pillows during workouts. Those who do Pilates also use mats and other small apparatus, but those into the more contemporary schools of Pilates need to use more intricate machines like the Pilates Reformer or Pilates Cadillac.
Expectations during classes
While both are low-impact workouts, Yoga and Pilates have contrasting approaches to routine. If you walk into a Pilates class, you will know what to expect because the workouts are quite structured and consistent on a day to day basis. Whatever Pilates low-impact muscular strengthening and flexibility exercise you’ll be doing, you can expect to perform them while lying supine, prone, or on your side.
Yoga classes, meanwhile, are quite flexible in the sense that whatever happens largely depends on the teacher, class type, studio, and other factors. While Bikram and Ashtanga have a definite sequence of poses and are therefore more consistent, other types of Yoga like Vinyasa or “Flow” allow the teacher to be infinitely creative with combinations of poses and variations.
Breathing
Both Yoga and Pilates put a premium on breathing, but they differ when it comes to execution. Yoga practitioners breathe in and out through the nose while slightly constricting the throat to make the breath audible. This is done to create inner heat which helps them meditate. Pilates students, for their part, inhale through the nose, then exhale through the mouth. This way, students can empty their diaphragm with each breath and contract the deep abdominal muscles in the process.
Ease for beginners
It takes a lot of practice to perform Pilates movements and Yoga poses properly. Beginners, however, will find it easier to do Pilates movements right off the bat. That’s because most Yoga poses require a certain amount of flexibility and muscle strength from the get-go, and many newbies don’t have either to get into Yoga with any level of comfort. Then again, for Pilates beginners, performing the required repetitions straight away could still prove to be difficult.
Yoga or Pilates?
So which one is better? The better question, however, would be, “Why choose one when you can do both”? Whatever their differences and similarities, both practices offer numerous benefits that you just can’t pass up. Maybe you can do more of one, then practice some form of the other on other days. You can even incorporate some Yoga stretches with your Pilates movements, and vice-versa.
If you had to choose, the best thing to do would be to take your fitness level and goals into consideration first. Yoga would be great if you’re pretty fit and you want to burn more calories. Pilates, on the other hand, would be the logical choice if you feel that your core needs some fine-tuning.