Pilates versus yoga - what's the difference?

Great question! I get it all the time. Or I hear, What is Pilates? Is that like yoga?

Well, yes … and no.

Joseph Pilates (developer of Pilates … hence the name) taught six principles in his method: Centering, Concentration, Control, Precision, Breath, and Flow.

See the similarities already?

I have done yoga - but I am no expert. I liked yoga at a certain point in my life, now that part is over. I find it doesn’t suite me any longer so I’ve let it go. That and the fact that I was told for my body yoga wasn’t good for it and I should stop. Because I danced from the age of 10 to my mid-20s, my body (even at the age I am - yippee!) became too flexible. There is a fine line, but there is one, between being stiff and inflexible and mobile and hyper flexible. They both have their own issues and neither constitutes a healthy body. I was advised to strengthen the smaller muscles around joints to basically keep better control of my body rather than letting it go all loosey-goosey as I was doing with yoga. Yoga felt great, I was good at it, but it wasn’t good for me. I was already suffering from shoulder issues and now hip and gait issues. I needed more Control of my movements in daily life!

The main difference(s) you will see when comparing the two is … movement which must be precise as it flows (Precision and Flow). Yes, there is the Sun Salutations sequence in yoga but most of yoga involves finding a position or pose, and holding it, and holding it, and more holding, using your breath, discipline of the mind, and meditation to help you through the, sorry, boredom of it. Movement is why Pilates was the natural fit for me that I wished I’d found when I was in my 30’s. Being a ex-ballet-tap-jazz dancer, I was used to movement. I don’t want to hold a position for 30-60-90 seconds! I want to move! The movement in Pilates can be graceful, beautiful, natural, and fun. It just feels good to move with the support of the Pilates equipment or alone on the mat. In fact, I believe our bodies crave movement. There is a precise nature to Pilates (one of Joseph Pilates central tenets is precision) which just feeds my dancer soul!

Pilates varies in its extension focus as well. Two cases in point- the bridge and swan. I see some people in my classes try to arch up as high as they can in a bridge either on the mat or reformer and I have to bring them down. In that position, Pilates is very concerned about undue strain and stress on the cervical spine so pushing up as high as you can go is not recommended. For swan, Pilates encourages you explore back extension without worrying about how high up you can go. In a basic Pilates repertoire, swan is always towards the end of any one session because your spine must be warmed up to extend the entire spine in that manner. We always start with more gentle extension and core exercises before a full swan is attempted.

The equipment in Pilates is vast and varied, from the typical machines to smaller equipment like hand weights, bands, balls of different varieties, and Fitness or Pilates Circles. Pilates works to actively, through movement, strengthen all muscle groups - stabilizers and movers - throughout its repertoire. My clients have heard me say twenty-two million times that my favorite contraction is the eccentric contraction of any movement exercise- sure, you can do a bicep curl easily but how precisely, with awareness and focus, do you reverse that motion, bringing the weight back down. That’s the eccentric contraction. It elongates the muscle group rather than shortening it or bulking up. Unless you’re moving against resistance, that’s a hard contraction to get.

Pilates focuses on gentle movement and flexibility of your spine. Through movement and awareness, you concentrate on how you twist, bend, move your arms and your legs, all with a focus on how they relate to the torso and therefore, the spine. Can you move your arms with a light tension resistance and not allow your rib cage to hyper extend? Both Pilates and yoga focus on a tall posture, but Pilates defines it in a different way. We work with the body we have in front of us to get that body in a neutral spine. And each session and each exercise is modified for each body to move effortlessly and efficiently. A good Pilates instructor would want to know what bodies he or she is dealing with before class even started. For this reason, if you were to walk in to any Pilates studio, you’d be asked specific questions and evaluated based on your posture, physical limitations and challenges. Many times, you’d be required to have a private session first before ever being allowed to take a group class!

On the other hand, you could walk in to almost any yoga studio and jump right into a class. Chances are no one would ask you if you had wrist issues before having you hold a plank for 45 seconds or if you’ve had a spinal fusion before doing swan.

Pilates and yoga are alike in a couple of key aspects yet offer different approaches —

• They both require a mind-body focus. The Pilates principles of Centering and Concentration ask you to give attention to your body and how it is moving. While yoga is still, Pilates asks you to connect to your body during movement, asking yourself where am I in space, where am I going, and how do I get back to the starting position.

• Pilates and yoga both have a balance objective to the exercises. Again, most of the time in yoga, static balance is required - holding one pose. Pilates asks you to move as you balance which is more functional to everyday life.

• Pilates and yoga each concentrate on the breath but in different way. Most often in yoga, chest breathing, full-lung expansion to the front or forward is the common way to breath, whereas in Pilates, we ask that the chest not be expanded upward and forward, but down and to the back and sides. Pilates breath is more focused on breathing into the back rather than the chest thereby expanding and helping to mobilize vertebrae and your abdomen. Pilates breath is just not about ‘belly-breathing’ but more about ‘back-breathing.’

• Both Pilates and yoga also focus on flexibility and stretching. The differences here are minimal unless you’re hyper flexible like I am. A yoga instructor would tell me to go farther while a Pilates instructor would tell me to hold back a bit. Pilates stretching is more dynamic versus static. We rarely hold a stretch for too long but we do stretch!

One way yoga outshines Pilates is in it’s spirituality focus, whatever that may be for you. Yoga encourages you to be kind to others, have a generous heart, a nonjudgmental attitude, be at peace with yourself and others.

We don’t tend to delve into that realm in Pilates. I just want to work your body!

I hope this gives some clarification to the two practices. And Pilates is a practice, just as yoga is. You will not do a perfect mat rollover on the first try. Your feet-in-straps leg circles may be more like triangles!

Which one is right for you? I haven’t a clue! Try both, see which one sticks. If they both stick, you’ll have a well-rounded fitness routine that trains and nourishes your heart and soul as well as your mind and body!