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Anyone practice yoga or pilates? (1 Viewer)

bosoxs45

Footballguy
What do you recommend for beginners starting out? What subtle changes have you noticed after doing yoga or pilates?

 
My work gym has two sessions a week of Pilates.  I started this year and work permitting I've attended every session.  My back has never felt better.  I've been swamped the past month after taking a new job and haven't attended and I can tell the difference the past week or so.  Anyone with back troubles should try it out imo.

 
Been doing Pilate's for 2 yrs now.  I do the reformer 2-3 days a week.  Im 50 and need to lose about 25lbs and I tweaked my back a few years ago shoveling. We do a lot of exercises for the core and my back feels pretty good. From ages 15-30 I was dedicated to free weights and running a few miles 4\5 times a week, so at first i was a bit skeptical. In the 2yrs I've been doing Pilate's my legs are much more toned and defined than they have ever been. The toning exercises we do are very good so I'm able to get some definition. My point, at my age (50) I'm concerned about building core strength and flexibilty and its helped me tremendously.  BTW, it's not cheap as I pay $360 per 3 months for unlimited classes.  

 
Been doing Pilate's for 2 yrs now.  I do the reformer 2-3 days a week.  Im 50 and need to lose about 25lbs and I tweaked my back a few years ago shoveling. We do a lot of exercises for the core and my back feels pretty good. From ages 15-30 I was dedicated to free weights and running a few miles 4\5 times a week, so at first i was a bit skeptical. In the 2yrs I've been doing Pilate's my legs are much more toned and defined than they have ever been. The toning exercises we do are very good so I'm able to get some definition. My point, at my age (50) I'm concerned about building core strength and flexibilty and its helped me tremendously.  BTW, it's not cheap as I pay $360 per 3 months for unlimited classes.  
Yeah this reformer thing is what my wife does. A small fortune but she loves it. 

 
What do you recommend for beginners starting out? What subtle changes have you noticed after doing yoga or pilates?
Does DDP Yoga count? I've been doing it since March and I've gotten thinner, more flexible and have more energy.

 
My wife does about 10-15 classes a week, mostly abs and boot camp type stuff. She was reluctant to do yoga for a while because too many instructors focused on the spiritual side of it and she just wanted the workout. Now that she's found a few better instructors, she loves it. What she really likes though, is stretch classes. It's helped her with all of her other classes and just overall flexibility. She does that during lunch since you never really break a sweat.

 
My SO takes classes of various kinds of pilates, some with the reformer.  She and I also do, together, a pilates workout (about 20 minutes) with the "magic circle" on a DVD by Mari Winsor (pretty famous West Coast pilates innovator).  It's one of her favorite workouts (now over 10 years old I think) and one day about 6 months back she invited me and I decided on a whim to do it with her.  Never looked back!  I love it and we do it 3-4 times a week.  I am faaaaar more flexible than I have been in a long time, maybe ever, the lower back pain I would get from my semi-regular jogging is gone (new mattress also probably responsible for this), and the pilates really helps me stay down closer to the 185 range where I should be instead of creeping up to 190, 192, etc.     

 
BTW, it's not cheap as I pay $360 per 3 months for unlimited classes.  
Yeah, I pay $99/month. But it's worth every penny. I average 20 classes a month, so it's $5/class. Not much more than a cup at Starbucks. And a lot better for you.

 
my gf does both religiously - a few classes of each during the week, and goes at it at home every morning (switches up her routine daily).

she has tried to coax me in, especially when i had a severe hip flexor strain - she had me try so me of the Yoga disciplines to properly stretch and loosen/relax the injury .... gotta say, it was painful as all hell from the start, but, as i eased into it (with her stretching my leg out) it actually abated. 

it's a time constraint issue for me to pull of every day ... i already have my running and weights/cardio five days a week. 

but, man, is she limber  :D

 
I do yoga once a week at home and have been for 10 years. I'm 43 and way more flexible than I have been since probably a teenager or early 20s. It helps a lot with flexibility and balance. 

This is a good place to start. Around 35 different routines from 15 minutes to 75 minutes, broken down into difficulty levels. 

Yoga For Every Body https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006RCNF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_bg.BzbHXYWM8W
I will throw in the Yoga Zone series of DVDs.  I've progressed from the beginner materials through the more moderate materials and onto a little bit of power yoga, though power yoga totally kicks my ###.  

I'm 30 and have been doing yoga for close to 10 years myself.  I'll go through spurts where I'm doing it 3-4x/week or I'll slow it down to 1x/week depending on the time of year.  I've had some knee and shoulder problems over the years and have found that yoga is a great way to get exercise and tone without putting too much strain on my knee or shoulder, though there are certainly some poses that I can't do out of fear of injury.  I've never used it to lose weight, but it tends to tone my stomach and lower-body tremendously when I'm on a heavy yoga routine.  

I don't really buy into the spiritual side of it, but I do find it to be a relatively relaxing yet difficult workout.  It's a good way for me to close off in a room and focus and just kinda forget about the workday and so on.

 
Big fan of both disciplines.  You'll become more flexible, leaner and less stressed. Ideally I'd do both 1-2x/week if you're not lifting weights. There should be beginner classes offered locally. Highly recommend group classes if you're single or if you just enjoy the company of fit women.   

Also a big fan of Bikram/Hot Yoga.  Great for a good sweat to rid yourself of all those toxins.  It can be a struggle getting through a 60 minute class but you feel like a champ once you're finished.  

 
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The Yoga disc of "P90x" was by far the hardest of the 8 P90x discs for me.

I've never sweated so much while not moving in my life. What a workout.

I'm told the P90X yoga is extreme ... but I've never done yoga before so I have nothing to compare it to.

 
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My wife does about 10-15 classes a week, mostly abs and boot camp type stuff. She was reluctant to do yoga for a while because too many instructors focused on the spiritual side of it and she just wanted the workout. Now that she's found a few better instructors, she loves it. What she really likes though, is stretch classes. It's helped her with all of her other classes and just overall flexibility. She does that during lunch since you never really break a sweat.
WHAT?

 
Not joking...she's a fanatic. She's been working out for over 15 years but has really kicked it up over the last 5 years or so. That includes stretch classes during lunch, 2-3 times a week. She'll do 2, sometimes 3 other classes a day after work. Or if there's only one good class, she runs with some other women for like 5-6 miles in Central Park or down the east side, along the water.

 
I started doing Sun Salutation every morning about two months ago and my lower back feels better than it has in years, and I'm more flexible than ever.  This is a really simple way to introduce yourself to yoga... check Google for the Sun Salutation poses.

 
I'm likely going to start pilates in the next month or two.  Today was my last day of PT following my back injury.  Pain free, and the last several sessions we really upped the core work.  My hot acupuncture gal recommended this great teacher in town.  I'm not like the pricing (I pay $19 a month for life at Gold's being a charter member) but it seems if I want to be able to play golf for 20 years then I better get a stronger core.

 
The Yoga disc of "P90x" was by far the hardest of the 8 P90x discs for me.

I've never sweated so much while not moving in my life. What a workout.

I'm told the P90X yoga is extreme ... but I've never done yoga before so I have nothing to compare it to.
That's my only experience with yoga, so it's actually nice to hear that it was considered on the extreme side. I never got through a whole session - partly because of the sweat and partly because it was so time-consuming. 

I did feel awfully good after doing it, but it was also the one workout I'd skip the most.

bosox, so it's first going vegetarian and now yoga/pilates?  Those friends of yours are really influencing you, huh?  Take or leave the spiritual stuff with yoga, but just don't go buying in to the "detox" aspect that some try to push. That part is definitely bunk. 

 
My wife has been in the Pilates business for around 25 years now. Part of her business is actually training Pilates instructors. I've spent countless hours helping her with lots of different stuff for her studio, but never have actually done it very much myself. That might be changing the older and more decrepit I get. I'd be happy to ask her any Pilates-related questions for anyone who has them. 

 

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