Are you looking for a new way of weight loss? Been wanting to practice Pilates due to your most followed influencers but do not know where to start? Continue reading to understand what it entailed or if it’s appropriate for you.
Beginner’s Guide to Pilates
Pilates focuses on body strengthening, focusing on core strength. It emphasizes the mind body connection, focusing on posture, balance, and flexibility. The body should be aware of your breathing and movements.
This type of exercise can be aerobic or non-aerobic. It requires moving the body in precise motions, needing mind-body concentration. Here, no muscles are exhausted. Therefore, there is no sweating or straining.
It originated from Joseph Pilates, who pioneered this exercise for injured dancers and soldiers. It is easily identified as an exercise with lower chances of injury compared with other more strenuous forms.
If you consider taking up Pilates classes, you should decide which one is better for your goal. There are two versions of pilates classes.
Mat Pilates or Classical Pilates is done on a yoga mat.
Equipment Pilates referred to as Reformer Pilates, is done on specialized equipment that uses resistance like springs.
What happens when you do Pilates?
The benefits one can get when focusing on core strength, posture and flexibility include:
Better flexibility- pilates exercises will boost your joint mobility and gradually improve flexibility. It is instrumental in avoiding possible injuries and accidents.
Increased and balanced muscle strength, particularly with core work- the muscles will be toned as it mainly uses muscles not normally used in usual daily activities. It is beneficial for older people and those with minimal physical activities daily.
Improved posture- the body should always be aligned in Pilates exercises. It is beneficial for people who suffer from lower back pain.
Prevention and rehabilitation of injuries- it does not strain an existing injury and does not involve heavy workout routines.
Relaxation and reduced stress- pilates helps in one’s overall sense of well-being since it tries to achieve physical and mental equilibrium.
Is Pilates Good for Weight Loss?
Pilates is definitely perfect for weight loss as it is a low-impact workout that helps you tone up. It helps you tone up, build lean muscle, and improve posture. It can assist you in maintaining a healthy weight. Traditional mat Pilates workouts burn fewer calories than other aerobic activities.
However, if you enjoy Pilates lessons, you are more likely to continue your exercise routine if you attend them regularly. You’ll be more likely to live a healthy lifestyle as well.
It is important to combine Pilates with a nutritious diet and other forms of exercise to burn major calories and lose weight healthily. You can try alternating or combining Pilates and strength training.
Specifically, there is a study where overweight and obese women practiced Pilates for eight weeks and effectively lost current weight, lowered their body mass index, toned, and decreased their waist size.
How Does Pilates Effectively Help You Lose Weight?
Depending on the type of Pilates class you take, the level of difficulty of the class, and the time you spend exercising, the calories you burn will differ.
How much weight and calories can pilates affect? If before you are about 150 pounds, a 50 minutes beginner Mat class will burn roughly 175 calories, while an advanced Mat class will burn about 254 calories. A Reformer Pilates class will burn more as it involves more muscles and a different workout that elevates the heart rate.
Pilates for weight loss does not sound much, especially if 3500 calories are needed to burn and lose 1 pound. So if the target is weight loss, practicing pilates should be accompanied by other exercises like cardio routines and proper nutrition and eating a healthy diet that includes lean protein, fruits, and vegetables. Combining these exercises will effectively tone your muscles and burn calories.
Pilates vs. Cardio
A cardiovascular or cardio exercise involves activities that speed up your heart rate and use significant muscle movements. Resistance training is a kind of training that works out the muscles using their body weight and other equipment. It ensures that even with the goal of weight loss accompanied by muscle loss, there is still a lean muscle mass retained. Strength Pilates workout would be comparable to a lean dancer, while cardio exercise-focused would be comparable to a bodybuilder.
Cardio Exercise
Examples of cardio are running, jogging, swimming, push-ups, and plank position. Losing fat and calorie deficit are the primary effects of this exercise.
Pilates Exercise
Better posture, breathing, and stressing alignment initially sound simple but may sound challenging if done correctly.
Which should You Choose?
An ideal exercise routine would be a combination of cardio and Pilates exercises. While one focuses on more intense training and faster weight loss, one focuses on overall well-being, flexibility, and stress management.
It could help you choose which one works for you by asking yourself some of these questions:
Do I want to focus on losing weight or building strength?
What type of body build do I prefer?
Do I want to focus on certain parts of my body, or do I want a whole-body routine?
Am I after just physical wellness or body-mind wellness?
While Cardio exercises promise faster weight loss, Pilates’ most significant advantage is that it also teaches handling stress better through physical exercises. Stress may result in additional pain, which may compromise your immune system.
It’s also important to think long-term in deciding on a workout routine for your specific weight loss goals. Can you continually perform high-level routines, which could be a reason to stop in the future? Or is it better to have a less stressful routine which you could follow even when you age?
Final Words
Pilates, in general, is suitable for weight loss. It will highly depend on your routine, whether you’ll take on regular Pilates class or advanced Pilates class, which you may be getting from Pilates studios like Sweatbox Fitness. Ideally, if you want to lose weight by doing Pilates, you’ll have to mix it up and combine it with Cardio exercises to reach your desired weight goal.
