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Should you do Pilates or yoga? Which is best for weight loss, burning calories, and toning your muscles

Posted on February 23, 2021December 12, 2023 by CaseyAdmin

You’ve heard Pilates and Yoga thrown around in conversations at coffee shops and work, and you want to start a program this year. But which one is better for you, specifically? Here’s a quick glimpse into a few of the differences.

Both Pilates and yoga are exercises that focus on the mind-body connection and offer similar health benefits, including improved strength and flexibility. But their approaches and goals differ.

Here’s what you need to know about the differences between Pilates and yoga and which is best for you.

Pilates vs. Yoga: What’s the difference?

Joseph Pilates invented the Pilates method in the 1920s. It is designed to stretch, strengthen, and balance the body through specific exercises and focused breathing. Types of Pilates include mat and reformer — which uses a special exercise machine with a sliding platform and cables.

“[Pilates has] a high emphasis on neuro-motor control and training your brain and your nervous system to be able to finely tune and control your movements for the desired effect,” says Catherine Lewan, a licensed physical therapist who uses both yoga and Pilates in her physical therapy sessions.

Yoga originated thousands of years ago in India and is a mind-body exercise. Many different styles of yoga exist, from hatha yoga to hot yoga, but all involve moving through different physical postures. Yoga incorporates different breathing techniques, such as moving with one breath per movement. Some types of yoga include meditation.

“Pilates is very repetitive and focused on strengthening small stabilizer muscles. So you may feel more strain in your muscles when you do Pilates,” says Rachele Pojednic, an assistant professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at Simmons University. “It feels a little bit more like a strength type of workout, where yoga tends to be a little bit more fluid. Often, there’s music, and you’re moving with your breath.”

Both build strength and flexibility

A 2015 study found that hatha yoga participants saw improvements in muscle strength and flexibility after 12 weeks. A small 2014 study also found that women who practiced Pilates for 12 weeks improved their muscle strength and torso flexibility.

Pilates may be slightly better than yoga for improving strength, particularly core strength, because it often uses an external stimulus, such as the reformer, whereas yoga uses your own body weight, Pojednic says.

“Yoga is probably going to be a little bit better for flexibility,” Pojednic says. “The poses are really about stretching your muscles and creating a little bit more space in your body.”

Yoga is better for cardiovascular health

Faster-paced versions of yoga, like vinyasa, elevate your heart rate more than slower, restorative types of yoga or Pilates. “Pilates doesn’t tend to have that very vigorous type of format,” Pojednic says.

A small 2017 study found that practicing yoga every day for a month reduced participants’ blood pressure, a key indicator of heart health.

Yoga may be better for improving balance

Both yoga and Pilates improve balance. Balance is important for preventing falls, which is especially important as you age.

Because yoga often includes specific balancing exercises, such as poses where you stand on one leg, it might be more helpful for balance. “In yoga, you’re actually practicing the balancing, and in Pilates, you’re toning the muscles that will be helpful for balance,” Pojednic says.

Both can help you lose weight

If you’re trying to lose weight, how many calories you burn while exercising matters. The calories you burn during yoga and Pilates will depend on the type you practice.

For example, the American Council on Exercise found 50 minutes of:

Hatha yoga burned 144 calories
Power yoga burned 237 calories
Beginner Pilates burned 175 calories
Advanced Pilates burned 254 calories

Other measurements have found yoga can burn even more: 540 calories per hour for vinyasa yoga, a vigorous style.

A 2013 review found that yoga programs often help people lose weight. A small 2020 study of obese young women with elevated blood pressure found mat Pilates also reduced body fat.

To lose weight safely and effectively, you should work with a doctor or nutritionist to create an individualized plan for diet and exercise.

Yoga is better for reducing stress

A 2019 study compared women who practiced yoga and women who practiced Pilates. The study found both types of exercise improved self-reported measures of well-being and psychological distress, but the yoga group saw greater improvement.

Some yoga involves deep breathing, which calms the nervous system and reduces stress.

“One of the critical elements of many yoga practices is combining the actual breath with the movement that you’re going through,” Pojednic says. “Although you certainly are encouraged to breathe with movement during Pilates, I think that the combined effect of moving with breath that yoga offers is going to be a more potent stress reduction stimulus.”

Which is better for you?

Yoga and Pilates can be “well suited to all different types of bodies and all different types of abilities,” Pojednic says. You might think you need to be flexible and strong or have a dancer’s body, but you don’t, she says.

“If somebody gets a little bit more excited about strength training, they probably will like Pilates a little bit better,” Pojednic says. “If somebody enjoys fluid, full-body motion, I think that they would gravitate a little bit more toward yoga.”

You can try yoga or Pilates in the following ways:

Private instruction, which tailors workouts to your needs
Mat and reformer Pilates group classes
Group yoga classes like restorative, Hatha, and vinyasa

Reference: {https://www.insider.com/pilates-vs-yoga}

ABC Fit Studio has pilates and yoga classes that you will not only love but will get you results — plus, we can help you pick the perfect program for your goals! Visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/theabcfitstudio or call us at 949.305.3310 for more information!

Looking to try something new and to belong to something spectacular? We have just what you need! Our space, instructors, and clientele are second to none! Come witness the benefits of pilates and yoga and watch your body (and your confidence!) transform! Visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/theabcfitstudio or give us a call at 949.305.3310 to get started!

It’s Never Too Late to Lose Weight, New Study Confirms

Posted on January 22, 2021December 12, 2023 by CaseyAdmin

2021 has officially arrived, and perhaps you’re feeling the effects of having been cooped up more than usual over the past several months. Gained a few extra pounds and concerned with how you might shed them? Not to worry, here’s a study that confirms you can lose weight, and that age is actually not a barrier as so many commonly think!

“It’s never too late to make a change” is one of the most uttered clichés in the fitness industry. Of course, it refers to the idea that you can alter your life—sometimes in a significant way—no matter how old you are. And now, a new study confirms that truth when it comes to losing weight.

Researchers from the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, both in England, found obese people over the age of 60 are able to lose weight at the same rate as younger people by only using lifestyle changes (changing diets, exercising more, etc.)

This refutes the common misconception that older people have a “reduced ability” to lose weight, lead study author Dr. Thomas Barber, of Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick, said in a release.

“Age should be no barrier to lifestyle management of obesity,” Barber said. “Rather than putting up barriers to older people accessing weight loss programs, we should be proactively facilitating that process. To do otherwise would risk further and unnecessary neglect of older people through societal ageist misconceptions.”

Researchers looked at the weight loss journey of 242 patients at a weight loss clinic and split them into two groups—one with people under 60 and one with people ages 60 to 78. The older group actually had a bigger average decrease in body weight, 7.3 percent, compared to the younger group, 6.9 percent. Both groups spent a similar amount of time at the weight loss clinic.

The program only used lifestyle-based changes for the weight loss, meaning no surgery was performed to help patients shed weight.

As we’ve written in the past, obese patients who lose weight have shown signs of reversing conditions like diabetes, cancer, and even depression. This new study shows that weight loss can and should be an option for older people who want to improve their quality of life.

Reference: {https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/news/its-never-too-late-to-lose-weight-new-study-confirms/}

ABC Fit Studio has pilates, TRX, Zumba, yoga classes, and more! You will love our instructors, motivation, inspiration, and your results! We offer private AND group classes – and you can even create your own group classes at a time that suits you! Visit our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/theabcfitstudio) or call us at 949.305.3310 for more information (We always have specials! Ask us about our latest offers!).

Pilates: Why you should add it to your fitness regime

Posted on November 19, 2020October 1, 2024 by CaseyAdmin

Whether you’re already committed to a fitness routine or thinking about starting a new one, Pilates is an often overlooked practice that is great to incorporate into any schedule.

Here are a few of the many benefits of Pilates. Call us to learn more or schedule yourself into one of our classes — we have many options available, and one to suit your specific comfort level!

(949) 305-3310. info@ABCFitStudio.com

Pilates has not gained as much traction as other fitness routines like yoga. But it can be beneficial.

Pilates is the go-to fitness choice for many celebrities, fitness gurus, Instagrammers and models. Are you still debating whether to give it a try? Here are some benefits that will motivate you.

Increased body strength

While in a gym workout, you isolate muscles or group of muscles to build bulk, in a pilates workout builds long, lean muscles by adding strength to weaker muscles and giving a break to dominant muscles. Your body gets over muscular stamina with less bulk and less effort. Also, you will see an improvement in the functional fitness of your daily life because of enhanced body strength.

Makes you more flexible

In addition to increasing your body strength, pilates is also about stretching and a safe increase of the muscles. This does not mean putting your legs behind your head or full splits. Rather it is about increasing your natural and practical flexibility. Research has shown that 20 sessions of this fitness regime can result in a 20% increase in flexibility.

Tighten core muscles

Pilates is all about the core muscles that includes the entire midsection like your back, abdomen, pelvic floor and more. The core muscles are essential for a strong back and good posture that helps in creating a well functioning and relaxed body. Pilates exercise engages your midsection primarily for challenging your body stability and proper alignment. Research has shown that your core strength can be improved in 12 weeks of undertaking this regime.

Improves posture

A bad posture is linked to headaches and back pains, while a good posture looks appealing, improves your breathing and increases oxygenation. As noted above, pilates creates a strong back and abs. A strong core aligns your spine and balances your body, resulting in improved posture. This will help you get through your daily life with greater grace and ease.

Burns calories

When you are exercising, one of the main things you look for is burning loads and loads of calories. Even though pilates is about strength, flexibility, and creating lean bodies, it is equivalent to a cardio workout. During the workout, all your connective tissues and muscles are working with the exact amount of force and support, leading to the burning of calories.

You can feel the effects of pilates even after a single class. And once you start seeing the long-term effects, you will be hooked for life.

Reference: {https://www.buzztribe.news/pilates-why-you-should-add-it-to-your-fitness-regime/}

Seven Ways to Cope with Uncertainty

Posted on September 17, 2020October 1, 2024 by CaseyAdmin

What should you do when the whole world is facing such uncertainty?

Pilates. And lots of it.

We are kidding / not kidding. The truth is, moving your body, breathing deeply, focusing on your own well-being — these are all REALLY important to your health – and sanity. Women especially tend to put these on the bottom of their to-do list — and that’s not good.

We have a very clean space with very aware trainers and staff that can see you in socially distanced classes, or even privately. Let us help you take care of you. VIEW OUR CLASSES

Read on to discover some great mindsets and tips to further your well-being — and we hope to see you soon.

Living with so much uncertainty is hard. Human beings crave information about the future in the same way we crave food, sex, and other primary rewards. Our brains perceive ambiguity as a threat, and they try to protect us by diminishing our ability to focus on anything other than creating certainty.

Research shows that job uncertainty, for example, tends to take a more significant toll on our health than actually losing our job. Similarly, research participants who were told that they had a 50% chance of receiving a painful electric shock felt far more anxious and agitated than participants who believed they were definitely going to receive the shock.

It is no surprise, then, that there are entire industries devoted to filling in the blanks of our futures. See, for example, the popularity of astrology apps, or the prestige of management consultancies dedicated to strategic planning. Fundamentalist religions counter anxiety by providing us with unambiguous rules and absolute truths. Conspiracy theories provide us with simple explanations for complex phenomena.

But sometimes—maybe always—it’s more effective not to attempt to create certainty. Though evolution might have rigged our brains to resist uncertainty, we can never really know what the future will bring. And in improbable situations like the pandemic, which has massively disrupted our routines and utterly destroyed our best-laid plans, we need to learn to live with ambiguity. “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is,” wrote mathematician John Allen Paulos. “Knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”

So how can we best cope when everything feels so out of control? Here are seven surprising strategies.

1. Don’t resist

There’s no doubt: We are living through challenging times. But resisting this current reality won’t help us recover, learn, grow, or feel better. Ironically, resistance prolongs our pain and difficulty by amplifying the challenging emotions we are feeling. There is real truth to the aphorism that what we resist persists.

There’s an alternative. Instead of resisting, we can practice acceptance. Research by Kristin Neff and her colleagues has shown that acceptance—particularly self-acceptance—is a counterintuitive secret to happiness. Acceptance is about meeting life where it is and moving forward from there.

Because acceptance allows us to see the reality of the situation in the present moment, it frees us up to move forward, rather than remaining paralyzed (or made ineffective) by uncertainty, fear, or argument. To practice acceptance, we surrender our resistance to a problematic situation, and also to our emotions about the situation.

For example, you might find your marriage to be particularly challenging right now. Instead of criticizing or blaming your spouse—two tactics of resistance—you could calmly accept your marriage for the time being.

That doesn’t mean that you won’t feel frustrated anymore, or disappointed, or saddened by the state of things. A big part of acceptance is accepting how we feel about difficult circumstances (and difficult people) in our lives. But allowing our challenging marriage to be as it is right now—and acknowledging our feelings about it—puts us in a better position to move forward.

To be clear, acceptance is not the same as resignation. Accepting a situation doesn’t mean that it will never get better. We don’t accept that things will stay the same forever; we only accept whatever is actually happening at the moment. We can work to make our marriage happier, while at the same time allowing the reality that right now, the relationship or the situation is complicated. Maybe it will get better, maybe it won’t. Practicing acceptance in the face of difficulty is hard, and it’s also the most effective way to move forward.

2. Invest in yourself

The best resource that you have right now for making a contribution to the world is YOU. When that resource is depleted, your most valuable asset is damaged. In other words: When we underinvest in our bodies, minds, or spirits, we destroy our most essential tools for leading our best lives.

We humans don’t do well when we defer maintenance on ourselves. We need to sustain the relationships that bring us connection and meaning. We must get enough sleep and rest when we are tired. We need to spend time having fun and playing, just for the joy of it.

Don’t be confused: Self-care is not selfish. Selfishness is an anxious focus on the self. Selfish people tend to refer back to themselves a lot by using words like I, me, and mine. They pursue extrinsic goals, such as preserving their youthful beauty or cultivating an image of themselves on social media. They often hunger for more money, power, and approval from others, and they are often willing to pursue these things at the expense of other people or at the expense of their own integrity. That sort of self-focus is linked to stress, anxiety, depression, and health problems such as heart disease.

So, I’m definitely not recommending selfishness. I’m suggesting self-care and personal growth.

**3. Find healthy comfort items**

One of the most important ways we can invest in ourselves is to comfort ourselves in healthy ways.

If we are to stay flexible, we need to feel safe and secure. When we feel uncertain or insecure, our brain tries to rescue us by activating our dopamine systems. This dopamine rush encourages us to seek rewards, making temptations more tempting. Think of this as your brain pushing you toward a comfort item…like an extra glass of wine instead of a reasonable bedtime. Or the entire pan of brownies. Or an extra little something in your Amazon cart.

But instead of turning to social media, junk food, or booze to soothe our rattled nerves, we do better when we preemptively comfort ourselves in healthy ways.

Make a list of healthy ways to comfort yourself. Can you mask up and go for a hike with a neighbor? Schedule a call with a friend? Reflect on what you are grateful for? Let yourself take a little nap? Perhaps you could seek out a hug or watch a funny YouTube video.

Those things may seem small—or even luxurious—but they enable us to be the people that we want to be.

4. Don’t believe everything you think

Perhaps the most essential stress-reduction tactic that anyone has ever taught me is not to believe everything I think. In uncertain times, it’s particularly important not to believe thoughts that argue for the worst-case scenario.

It can be helpful for us to consider worst-case scenarios so that we can weigh risks and actively prevent disaster. But when we believe these stressful thoughts, we tend to react emotionally as though the worst case is already happening in real life, rather than just in our heads. We grieve for things that we haven’t actually lost, and react to events that are not actually happening. This makes us feel threatened, afraid, and unsafe when we are simply alone with our thoughts.

Our negativity bias can also set us up for failure. Expectations can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we expect the worst, we often feel too afraid or close-minded to seize opportunities or respond to challenges with creativity and grit.

Instead of buying into every stressful thought, we can actively imagine the best possible scenario. We can find silver linings to replace ruminations. This counters our natural tendency to overestimate risks and negative consequences.

5. Pay attention

The opposite of uncertainty is not a certainty; it’s presence. Instead of imagining a scary and unknown future, we can bring our attention to our breath. From there, we can check in with ourselves. Every time we wash our hands, for example, we could ask ourselves: How are you doing right now?

Notice what emotions you are feeling, and wherein your body you feel those emotions. Bring curiosity and acceptance to your experience (see #1).

Even when it feels like everything is out of our control, we can still control what we pay attention to. We can turn off our alerts to keep the news or social media from hijacking our awareness. We can drop our ruminations and negative fantasies by attending to what’s actually happening in our inner world, right now, here in the present.

Attending to what is happening within us at any given moment keeps a crappy external reality from determining our inner truth. It allows us to cultivate calm, open-mindedness, and non-reactivity.

6. Stop looking for someone to rescue you

When we act as though we are powerless, we get trapped in narratives that leave us feeling angry, helpless, and trapped. And we start hoping other people will save us from our misery.

Although it can feel good when others dote on us, most rescuers don’t really help. Our friends might want to save us—because helping others makes people feel good—and their intentions may be noble. But rescuers tend to be better enablers than saviors. If we stay stuck, they get to keep their role as our hero, or they get to distract themselves from their own problems.

Rescuers tend to give us permission to avoid taking responsibility for our own lives. On the other hand, emotionally supportive friends (or therapists) see us as capable of solving our own problems. They ask questions that help us focus on what we do want instead of what we don’t.

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is”

―John Allen Paulos, mathematician

In short: To best cope with uncertainty, we need to stop complaining. When we drop our fixation on the problem, we can focus on the outcomes we desire. How can we make the best of this mess? What can we gain in this situation?

When we take responsibility for our lives, we trade the false power of victimhood for the real power that comes from creating the life we want.

7. Find meaning in the chaos

Social psychologists define meaning, as it applies to our lives, as “an intellectual and emotional assessment of the degree to which we feel our lives have purpose, value, and impact.” We, humans, are best motivated by our significance to other people. We’ll work harder and longer and better—and feel happier about the work we are doing—when we know that someone else is benefiting from our efforts.

For example, teens who provide tangible, emotional, or informational support to people in crises tend to feel more strongly connected to their community. Research shows that we feel good when we stop thinking about ourselves so much and support others.

When we see something that needs improvement, our next step is to recognize what we personally can do to be a part of the solution. What skills and talents (or even just interests) can we bring to the issue? What really matters to us, and how can we be of service?

Meaning and purpose are wellsprings of hope. When the world feels scary or uncertain, knowing what meaning we have for others and feeling a sense of purpose can ground us better than anything else.

So, don’t just wait for this ordeal to be over. Don’t be resigned to your misery while we wait for a vaccine. What have you always wanted to do? What outcome are you hoping for? How can you make a real-life in this? Live that life.

Reference: {https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/seven_ways_to_cope_with_uncertainty}

Looking to try something new and to belong to something spectacular? We have just what you need! Our space, instructors, and clientele are second to none! Come witness the benefits of pilates and yoga and watch your body (and your confidence!) transform!

Visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/theabcfitstudio or give us a call at 949.305.3310 to get started!

Six reasons why athletes should do yoga

Posted on June 19, 2020December 12, 2023 by CaseyAdmin

Yoga can bring an added edge to the performance of many — from NFL stars, to Ultramarathon runners, or the PR of a weekend warrior!

It’s easy for athletes to fall into a training routine to strengthen areas that are most important for their sports, but they must remember that neglecting one area of the body can create weakness and imbalance, triggering discomfort and leading to more serious injuries.

Yoga teaches poses that focus on all areas of the body, including small muscles like those in the wrist that actually take most of the weight and do most of the work.

Overall, adding yoga to your training program is very beneficial, no matter what type of athlete you are.

Read on to find out 6 reasons why athletes SHOULD do yoga. Then, book your next class with us today! https://abcfitstudio.com/schedule/ 949.305.3310

Although we’re all familiar with yoga, many of us still think of it as just ‘stretching’, however, yoga is more than that. With elite athletes including NFL stars and Ultramarathon runners adding yoga to their training programs, but just how beneficial to your training can it be?

Ryanne Cunningham has revealed in her new book, Yoga for Athletes that yoga can bring an added edge to the performance of everyone from amateurs striving to improve their lives to professionals competing against elite athletes. Cunningham has instructed former Green Bay Packers players B.J. Raji, Andy Mulumba, Tramon Williams, Mike Neal and Jarrett Bush, as well as current Green Bay Packer Randall Cobb and athletes from many other sports, from her Flow Yoga Studio in Wisconsin.

She has pinpointed six benefits of yoga for athletic performance:

Aid in muscle recovery

The deep breathing in yoga helps bring much-needed oxygen to muscles, helping them create energy to burn. The goal of recovery is to clear the muscles of the waste products resulting from muscle contraction, including lactic acid, to allow the fibres to fire again. While proper hydration helps by flushing those waste products out of the body, proper stretching of muscles more rapidly restores function. Yoga practitioners have always known the best way to stretch. “The more quickly your muscles bounce back, the sooner you can get back to training so that you will gain a competitive edge,” Cunningham explains.

Prevent injuries

The five main causes of sports injuries are a lack of a careful warm-up, quick and twisting motions that stress joints, imbalance that trains one part of the body over others, tightness of highly trained muscles that lose flexibility and the overuse of muscles. Yoga practice can help prevent injuries from the first four causes since poses emphasise strengthening, stretching and balance among all parts of the body. We recently did published an article called How to Avoid Injuries in Yoga. In sports like tennis, golf and baseball pitching, imbalanced training is a serious problem. But yoga can bring the parts of the body back into balance, reducing the probability of injuries. It can also restore and preserve the flexibility that is often sacrificed by strength-building exercises by allowing the connective tissue to be restored through its emphasis on lengthening the muscles.

Reduce stress, increase focus and relieve tension

When working out is a major part of training, exercise can actually create stress instead of alleviating it. Yoga can help athletes work through those stresses. During hard times the stress hormone cortisol is carried through the body. Practising a series of movements, poses and deep breathing as part of a yoga sequence can decrease those levels of cortisol, helping an athlete feel more relaxed. “Another way yoga can help an athlete reduce stress is to require focusing on the pose, which means staying in the present instead of thinking about the past or the future,” Cunningham points out. Yoga can also help athletes practice living in the moment through concentrated breathing, creating a calming, quiet moment of meditation.

Strengthen underused muscles

It’s easy for athletes to fall into a training routine to strengthen areas that are most important for their sports. But they must remember that neglecting one area of the body can create weakness and imbalance, triggering discomfort and leading to more serious injuries. Yoga teaches poses that focus on all areas of the body, including small muscles like those in the wrist that actually take most of the weight and do most of the work.

Build your core

Yoga has always emphasised the central muscles that are the foundation of the entire trunk, helping protect the lower back and reducing injuries. Cunningham says a full yoga practice builds all the core muscles because the balance needed for holding the poses and stretches involves the deepest muscles of the body. All three layers of the core must be strong and work together to provide a balanced, effective yoga practice.

Improve sleep

Finally, yoga can train the body to relax. “While sleepless nights can be troubling to everyone, they are particularly damaging to athletes who are preparing to perform,” Cunningham stresses. “Relaxing is as much a skill as exerting your muscles.” Yoga helps athletes learn to relax by teaching them to concentrate on poses, which leads to the mind and body learning to understand the difference between effort and relaxation. Later, when focusing on relaxation, the muscles will be able to respond to the command to relax, translating to the bed for restful sleep. Yoga improves sleep with breathing since athletes consciously use breath to help them get into poses and then calm down at the end of practice, which also works before sleep as well.

Reference: {https://humankinetics.me/2017/02/20/six-reasons-why-athletes-should-do-yoga/}