Having just discovered this board, and being a certified Pilates trainer and Yoga student, I'll add my two
cents worth.
To over generalize, Pilates emphasizes stability, whereas Yoga emphasizes flexibility. In Pilates, you develop your core muscle groups out of which the limbs can move more freely and, ultimately, become more flexible. Yoga tends to assume core stability and is definitely more aggressive in the pursuit of flexibility.
A number of years ago, I badly hurt myself doing Yoga, not understanding that flexibility must come from a stable base. That’s why I got into Pilates. Now, I’ve gone full-circle, and am using Yoga to further develop both my abilities and understanding of human movement.
I could agree that Yoga is a more “mature” system than Pilates. After all, it’s been around for thousands of years. In the hands of a master Yoga teacher, you will soon accomplish amazing things. In the hands of someone with only casual training, you could easily hurt yourself, as I did.
I would not agree, though, that Pilates is just for “beginners.” Maybe there is a perception of that because most peoples’ exposure to Pilates is in group mat classes at full-service fitness facilities. Often, the trainers of these Pilates classes are minimally trained. It is possible to attend a weekend workshop and receive a “certificate” to teach Pilates matwork. By way of contrast, it took me fifteen months, averaging nearly ten hours per week, to achieve my certification. And I’m only certified to teach through the Intermediate level! Next year I will enroll in the advanced program, which requires 250 hours.
Fortunately, Pilates is inherently safer than Yoga, so you are not as likely to hurt yourself doing it. Once you learn the basics in Pilates, you can spend a lifetime perfecting your technique. Believe me, there are Pilates exercises that an elite athlete would have difficulty performing without first starting at the basic level and then working up.
In case anyone is interested, the following link chronicles my over-zealous fitness activities and how I ended up in Pilates. I wrote it early in my certification program, before I got back into Yoga:
http://www.pilatesconnections.com/ar...ts_pilates.asp
Regards!
Tom Floyd
Linear Mode
