Fun Facts: Did you know?
6 out of every 10 people think that Yoga and Pilates are the "same thing"
Pilates & Yoga may “look the same” to almost everyone who hasn't done Pilates and/or Yoga before, but it certainly doesn't come as a surprise – while they are in fact, NOT the same thing, they aren't entirely different either. Let’s break both exercises down and take a closer look into how we can differentiate them a little better!
How can one differentiate between a Pilates exercise and a Yoga pose? In Yoga, one generally holds each pose for a longer period of time, while Pilates exercises consists of continuous motions at a faster pace. Yoga exercises are static and often involve the element of meditation – one stays in the position while enhancing the stretch of the body through breathing. On the other hand, Pilates involves a sequence of dynamic exercises which works the body through resistance, core awareness and breathing.
Both Pilates & Yoga exercises may incorporate the use of props to increase resistance, such as toning (weighted) balls, pilates ring or foam roller. Yoga exercises are performed on a mat, while Pilates has the option of Pilates Mat or Pilates Reformer. In comparison to Yoga, Pilates provides a wider variety of exercises by toning the body through natural resistance from one’s body weight, or through the use of equipment (straps & springs of a reformer machine).
In both Yoga & Pilates, the core is engaged during the exercises. The difference lies in the purpose of engaging the core – the core is engaged in Yoga exercises to allow one to move with fluidity and grace through the practice. Pilates is excellent for core strengthening as focus is placed on stability and strength of the core throughout the workout. Even during a leg or arm exercise, your core is always engaged and supporting everything you do. Every movement you make stems from core engagement.
Both Yoga & Pilates uses breathing techniques in their exercises, which improves circulation and oxygenates the system. The difference lies in the type of breathing technique used:
In Yoga, a full belly breathing method is used – in each breath, one fully expands his/her belly on the inhale and deflate on the exhale. Belly breathing oxygenates the blood, lowers blood pressure and relaxes oneself. As Pilates has a strong focus on the core, belly breathing is not used as it discourages core engagement. Instead, Pilates uses a multidimensional breathing method where one inhales through the nose, filling up the lungs to their fullest capacity, hence expanding the ribs out and allowing engagement of the core. On the exhale breath, one exhales through pursed lips with a gentle contraction of the abdominal muscles to stay connected to the core.
The primary goal of Yoga is to stay connected to the breath – focus is placed on concentration on the breath first, before deepening a pose. In Pilates, priority is given to the precision of movement and starting position of an exercise, followed by the coordination of the movement with breathing.
Both Yoga & Pilates are wonderful for strengthening the core and toning all the muscle groups in the body, but is it effective in achieving weight loss? Typically, a 50-min Power Yoga class will burn about 250 calories - while it is not significant enough to help you shed the kilos, a study found that people who practiced yoga regularly gained less weight during their midlife years than their nonpracticing peers. On the other hand, a 50-min Pilates workout can burn between 255 to 375 calories. For maximum weight loss results, you will need to do a 45-60min routine at least 4 days a week. Pilates Reformer exercises add the cardio and fitness element to Pilates poses, which burns additional calories and contributes to faster weight loss results when done correctly and regularly.
In summary, both Yoga & Pilates are beneficial to the body in terms of posture, flexibility and relaxation of the mind and body. However, Yoga is a practice, whereas Pilates is a workout. If you’re looking for faster and more effective results, give our Pilates Reformer class a shot today!
Shoulder extension exercises are the best exercises to fix rounded shoulders
It is known that shoulder extension exercises can correct rounded shoulders and fix shoulder posture and forward head posture.
Shoulder extension is the movement of your arms from the sides of your body to the back.
95% of the population spend their time with hunched shoulders over a computer or their phones for the better part of the day, which is one of rounded shoulders causes. In March, we focus on shoulder exercises for forward head posture and rounded shoulders to correct bad posture. Shoulder extension exercises are the best posture corrector for rounded shoulder and forward head posture.
Over time, long hours in a rounded shoulders or forward flexed shoulder position leads to a kyphotic posture, which brings about issues such as:
If left untreated, this bad shoulder posture of rounded shoulders and forward head may eventually become permanent leading to chronic neck and shoulder aches and pains due to long term tightness and stiffness of the neck and shoulder area.
Shoulder exercises fix rounded shoulders posture and comes in handy to help open up the tight chest muscles while strengthening the weaker muscles of the back.
Shoulder extension exercises increases the mobility and flexibility of the shoulder joint, which decreases the risk of shoulder or neck injuries, as well as stiffness on the back and shoulders. It is important to do shoulder stretches regularly to ensure the range of movement is not affected. Limited range of movement puts stress on the shoulder joint and may cause injuries easily. The same shoulder exercises to correct rounded shoulders can also increase the mobility of your shoulder joint.
Besides helping to correct shoulder posture and reduce rounded shoulder posture, shoulder exercises also tone your triceps and latissimus dorsi muscles - say bye to bat-wings arms and bra bulge!
After knowing the benefits of shoulder exercises, let us look at the anatomy of the shoulder exercises. Understanding the anatomy of shoulder exercises and shoulder stretches help you to target the muscles better and have a more effective workout.
The primary muscles used in a Shoulder Extension are: Latissimus Dorsi (Lats), Triceps, Lower Trapezius, Posterior Deltoids and Rhomboids.
To reduce the painful and uncomfortable symptoms of rounded shoulders and forward head posture, our aim is to strengthen the shoulder extensors listed above, and lengthen the front muscles such as the pecs and biceps.
A basic strengthening shoulder stretch you can do daily at home is a bilateral shoulder extension.
To further strengthen the shoulder extensors against gravity, try the superman. Superman is one of the most effective shoulder exercises to correct rounded shoulders.
As you get stronger, progress to a reverse plank to challenge the strength of your posterior deltoids while opening up the chest:
Simply take 5 mins a day to do the first 2 shoulder exercises / shoulder stretches daily (6-8 reps) to improve shoulder flexibility and strength in the shoulder extensors, and eventually build a better posture!
You may choose to add the third shoudler exercise if you have more time, or whenever you are comfortable to increase the difficulty of the shoulder exercise.
Here are some tips to ace this month's shoulder extension flow in class:
If you want to improve your rounded shoulders and forward head posture or tone up your triceps and lats, our Instructors can help you to accelerate your recovery and performance by using Pilates Reformer machines.
Give us a call/whatsapp us to book your next Pilates Reformer Flow Class! See you soon!
Find out about the Flow Challenge and how you can get FREE CLASSES every month!
Do each of the shoulder exercises 8 - 10 times for each side. It will take you 5 - 8 minutes. You should do it on the floor with the support of a Yoga/Pilates mat or a soft towel on a carpeted floor. These shoulder exercises should not be performed on the bed! You can do these shoulder exercises first thing in the morning to increase flexibility of your shoulder joint or at the end of the day to stretch out those tired muscles.
If you want to improve your rounded shoulders and forward head posture or tone up your triceps and lats, our Instructors can help you to accelerate your recovery and performance by using Pilates Reformer machines.
Give us a call/whatsapp us to book your next Pilates Reformer Flow Class! See you soon!
Find out about the Flow Challenge and how you can get FREE CLASSES every month!
We all have different body shapes and sizes; broad or narrow shoulders, big or small curves of our waist and/or butt, long/short legs or torso, and the list goes on. In Pilates, regardless of what body shape you are, our aim is to condition the body to a good alignment, which is a neutral spinal alignment. However, daily activities such as working for long hours at the desk, standing for prolonged periods, or carrying heavy loads (like your toddler) may cause spinal misalignment, resulting in tension in the shoulders or back as the body tries to compensate for the deviation.
Kyphosis is also known as a 'hunchback' , while lordosis is an exaggerated curve of the lower back (Candice is a sufferer!). As Pilates instructors, we often analyze our clients’ postures to check for postural problems by following a standardized guideline.
However, it is important to note that only doctors are allowed to diagnose such conditions, so the best we can do is to advise you on the possibility of having this condition.
Postural Kyphosis is characterized by an excessive curve of the upper back that forms a hump, and accompanied by the rounding of shoulders forwards. Desk-bound workers are more prone to develop this condition due to long hours in poor posture, which causes a weakening of the muscles and ligaments in the back and tight chest muscles.
To correct this posture, we want to focus on exercises that strengthen the back muscles and open up the chest.
A few examples of such exercises performed during Pilates Fitness classes are:
The tendency of developing this condition is higher if you often wear high heels or are pregnant, so be sure to watch out for signs of lordosis. A person suffering from lordosis will usually have lower back pains and tightness in the hip flexors, as the pelvis is tilted forward.
Here are 3 examples of how Pilates exercises can help someone with lordosis:
Swayback is characterized by:
- a slight rounding of the shoulders
- an extended neck forwards
- a flattened lower back
Sedentary individuals are most prone to having a swayback posture, and usually have weak muscles in the abdominals, neck and upper back, as well as tight hamstrings and lower back.
Most of our clients would be familiar with the Hip Roll, which is a great strengthening exercise for people suffering from Swayback as it strengthens the glutes (butt muscles) and hamstrings while increasing hip mobility.
With consistent and accurate practice of Pilates, you can correct your posture to return to its ideal alignment by reducing muscle imbalances, which also means putting an end to body aches and pains!
How does stress cause one to gain weight? While the immediate response to acute stress may be a temporary loss of appetite, and therefore a possible weight loss; for some people, chronic stress may result in stress-eating, which results in weight gain.
Some of us swear by a tub of ice-cream or pack of potato chips to help relieve stress, but we all know that doesn’t bode well for our waistlines... What else can we do to overcome stress-induced weight gain?
Instead of stress-eating, try these methods:
Exercise is the best method to beat stress-induced weight gain as it releases endorphins, which have natural stress-fighting properties and helps to lower stress hormone (cortisol) levels.
The main cause of stress-induced weight gain are carb cravings induced by cortisol, which encourages your body to store fat - especially visceral fat - which is particularly dangerous as it surrounds vital organs and releases fatty acids into your blood. Regular exercise can serve to repress appetite increase and stop carb cravings by controlling insulin and blood sugar levels.
Studies have shown that getting an average of 6½ hours each night can increase cortisol levels, leading to a bigger appetite, and eventually weight gain. Try to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep to help curb those cravings! If you have to pull an all-nighter for work, school or party - or all of the above - try to repay the sleep debt with a few nights of solid sleep to bring your hormones back into balance!
Foods that are high in dietary fibre include fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, yoghurts, brown rice, whole-wheat/whole-grain products. Including more high-fiber foods in your diet helps to curb carb cravings as it tends to be more filling than low-fiber foods. You’ll be more likely to eat less and stay satisfied longer, which aids in weight loss in the long run! Read more benefits of high-fiber foods here.
Schedule a time-out from hectic days to help you unwind and re-focus. Choose activities that are unrelated to food, such as taking a hike, reading a book, getting a massage or taking your dog out for a walk. Leisure activities may seem like the last thing on your mind with looming deadlines, but taking a breather helps you to feel refreshed and improves your mood, so you are less likely to overeat.
The act of de-cluttering your home may serve as a therapeutic experience. Being organized makes us feel more in control of our lives, which allows us to be better prepared when faced with stress.
According to a study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, women who described their homes as “cluttered” had higher levels of cortisol compared to women who felt their homes were “restful” and “restorative”.
Share with us your favorite stress-reducing activities and tag us @sgpilatesfitness on Instagram!
HELLO!
Do you know we started Pilates Fitness Monthly Flow Challenge back in 1 October 2015? It's been almost 10 years! We are glad that our members are still motivated by Monthly Flow Challenge and continue to benefit from it through the thousands of FREE classes we give out monthly.
Start acting by block booking the recommended classes till November 2015!
With planning, determination and execution, you would not only be able to complete Flow Challenge, but also get a fit and pain-free body.
We have exactly 19 days to go before we end the 28 Days Pilates Challenge!
We hope that you are seeing the results from following our workout plans. As your fitness, strength and stamina improve, you may face what we call the fitness plateau - working hard as normal but seeing very little results. At this point in time, integrating your workout routine with high intensity workouts will push you past the plateau into the next stage.
We have prepared 3 workout plans to meet 3 fitness goals, namely:
We have also uploaded 2 HIIT Mat Pilates workouts into our Youtube channel.
The easier version is the 10 minutes HIIT Mat Pilates with 40 seconds workout and 20 seconds rest. The more intensive version is the the 10 minutes HIIT Mat Pilates with 50 seconds workout and 10 seconds rest.
Follow these workout plans to get your fat burn going and body aches melting away!
With planning, determination and a little strategy, you would not only be able to complete the 28 Days Pilates Challenge, but also get a fit and pain-free body ready for the year end celebrations.
Remember to do your Body Composition Analysis every week to track your progress! You can use your unique ID, to see how you pit against other challengers at our scoreboard.
