Yoga vs Pilates

I posted on Facebook about a week or so ago which was the preferred class, Pilates or Yoga. The response was very much 50/50. 

So I decided to try them both and see what I thought. 

Yoga

It was the first of the classes that I tried early on a Sunday morning. I was in a really open mind about it. The other people were nice and very welcoming to the class. The instructor took time to find out about me, any niggles, illness etc and explained about only doing what I was able to do. She said she would correct me on my form and keep me right and mostly not to worry. All positives. The class itself though, hmmmm not sure. I think it's one of these classes that you will eventually see results in unlike the classes I normally do where I sweat a lot or feel the muscles the day after. The relaxation bit at the end was completely wasted on me. I'm physically incapable of relaxing.

Pilates

The things I had heard from friends about Pilates was more what I was looking for in a class so I think I unconsciously favoured it before I even started. The people were very cliquey which isn't a major factor for me, I'm not at the gym to make friends but general politeness doesn't cost anything. I'm also not very sociable outside of work. The instructor wasn't particularly nice either. Anyway the class itself was really good. At points I'm sure I wasn't squeezing in the right places but I enjoyed it. I could feel the muscles working. I discovered that my balance is worse than I thought but I'm putting that down to the fact that I still ached from Pump on Monday night.

Verdict

I'm not sure....... I think they are both classes where results aren't initially evident. I'm not going to see results on the scales at Fat Fighters next week. But in the long run I think they'll both do what they say on the tin. I'm going to give them both another go but at the moment Pilates is probably winning by a small margin. 

On a plus point, I ran into one of the girls that I used to do Commando training with and had a catch up with her. She was one of the girls that I ran my first 5k and 10k with. It was really nice to see her and she reminded me of that determination that I had previously shown when I was training. I was on the verge of pulling out of the Spin class that I had booked into but I didn't, I stayed for it. Good Lord, it is torture!! The seat are hugely uncomfortable and the class itself is brutal and it was only a 30 min beginners class. I have no idea how people do full 60 min classes. I'm going to go again though. It was hard but I love feeling that burning sensation in my muscles. I found a picture that describes how I feel about exercise generally. It's from a campaign being run by Sports England called #thisgirlcan

Both of these pictures describe how I feel about exercising perfectly. I am super slow compared to other people in my classes but they aren't my competition. My only competition is myself and I've come to accept that. I don't care that I'm the heaviest person in the class or that my face looks like a cherry tomato as soon as I move my feet, I'm working and I'm giving 100% at all times. This last week has shown me that it doesn't matter how much I hurt (because I hurt a lot!!!), I can do it and I am doing it. I start my new job a week on Monday and the next challenge will be maintaining this level of exercise when I am working Monday - Friday again.

Next weigh in is Monday but before that I have another challenge to do. Body Attack & Body Pump on Sunday. I've heard that Body attack is like Body Combat but multiplied by 3. Let's give it a go!!!!