So does anybody have any expereince with Pilates?

I have heard that it is akin to "Power Yoga" I need to work on my flexibility in my legs as I am fibrocitic and it has been acting up lately.

I want to try Pilates. JSG has done it and loves it. I'll get her to comment tonight if it'll help.

I don't have any experience, but from what I've heard is after you do pilates you feel better. Some say it relieves pain and tightness in their body and relaxes them. Yoga works mostly on the mind for relaxation and pilates works the physical, whole body side of it.

Our gym just added Pilates, but they charge an extra 15 bucks to take the class! I want to try it, but I don't think it's fair to charge extra. However, everyone we know who's tried it has loved it.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Pilates! Although I'm off the bandwagon at the moment, I did Pilates for years when I lived in NYC. There are many misconceptions about what it is and there are many untrained people out there teaching it, so choose your class carefully. That said...

Pilates is not like yoga. It got lumped into that category when it became trendy. True yoga has a spiritual side, while Pilates does not. Pilates does have a philosophy and a method of training your mind to control your body. Pilates is all about building core body strength, concentrating on the deep inner abdomen muscles. It is not about relaxation, although it does involve stretching, so as not to build bulky muscles but rather long and lean ones.

Pilates can involve some really weird machinery, but the most popular and classic workout is done on a mat, using your own body's resistance to build strength. If you think you can't get a good workout without weights, you are wrong! But in order to benefit the most from the exercises, you have to really learn how to do them correctly and how to use your mind and breathing to control your movements. Joseph Pilates originally called his excercise method Contrology, because it is all about being in control of your movements.

I have scoliosis, wore a back brace as a teenager, and have always had a delicate and painful back. When I was doing Pilates on a regular basis, my back felt the best it has ever felt in my life. No pain, no worrying how I got out of bed in the morning, no tweaking simply by bending over. Pilates makes you stand taller because you train your abdominal muscles to carry your weight, which is what they are designed to do.

Because Pilates became trendy, there are many gyms that now offer classes by untrained people with minimal understanding of the excercises. Obviously, as a beginner, you won't know whether the person is correctly trained or not. I suggest you read up on Pilates a bit and look for real Pilates studios in your area if there are any. Be sure to find a teacher who is certified, on the way to becoming certified, or at least has taken certification classes.

The Pilates Body by Brook Siler is a great book and intro to Pilates. Also check out The Pilates Studio for background and referrals. And the Wikipedia article is pretty good for background.

Good luck! I love Pilates and hope that you will, too. My guy and I were just discussing last night how we need to start a Pilates program.

One note...I don't mean to suggest that you can't find a good Pilates class at a gym, just that my experience with gym-based classes has been that the people teaching them have not been trained properly. You do need to understand Pilates and its philosophy in order to do the exercises correctly, get the most benefit from them, and not hurt yourself in the process. However, once you have a basic understanding, you can pretty much do it on your own or take a gym class and still know how to do things correctly. Pilates studios can be expensive, so I don't mean to suggest that the only way to do it is by spending a lot of money. Just trying to express the idea that you do really need to understand how to do the exercises correctly and the best way to do this is to learn from someone who is trained.

Thanks guys! Michie, that was just the input I was looking for.

Being fibrocitic I have problems with my back, legs, and neck.

As a teacher I can really identify with getting in touch with a proper instructor. 1/2 of what I teach in my firearms classes is undoing all the bad info folks have already gotten in thier heads.

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I've been taking a water-based class at our local Y which incorporates aerobics, strength training, and uses Pilates and Yoga for stretching and toning for about 7 weeks now. I absolutely love it! After not doing any kind of exercise for years I opted to start this way because I knew it would be easier on my body.

The results have been quite pleasing as I find that I have more energy, stamina, and my flexibility has definately improved. I have lost about 11 pounds since I started, but the inches are the part that make me smile the most. I'd already lost some weight before I started due to lifestyle changes I'd already made. (In fact, I credit my increased libido with contributing to my weight loss as I was getting more "exercise"!)

Now with all that said, my problem is that I've lost a good bit of fat around my core but the skin is still "hanging around". Now I realize it's only been a short time, but a friend of a friend credits Pilates with giving her back a nice tummy after 3 pregnancies. Anybody have any experience with that?

Love, love, LOVE Pilates. My stomach has always been my problem area. Pilates is the only thing that made it totally flat. Michie has it all exactly right. It made me feel taller, leaner, more graceful....do yourself a favor and try it.
I took classes at a local dance studio in the past, and I recommend starting that way so you learn the correct techniqe, but after a few classes, videos will do fine. I have the Pilates for Dummies video and I enjoy it.
I'm planning to make just_some_guy try it, so I'll make him review it for you later this week as well.

I guess I know what I'm doing this week... bah...

Pilates here I come!

Because Pilates focusses on the inner core abdominal muscles, many people use it to tighten their tummy. Never worked like that for me, however. Even when I was working out 5 times a week, my tummy was never totally flat (improved, yes). Even when my weight was at my lowest, it wasn't flat. Perhaps that's just my body type. I would not recommend going into Pilates training with the goal of six-pack abs. Obviously, that is the area targeted by the exercises, so most people do see a difference and you will absolutely FEEL the difference.

Pilates is not a cariovascular workout and won't do a lot in the fat-burning area, therefore, weight loss is usually not the direct result of a purely Pilates workout program. For that, you'll still have to walk/run/bike/swim/whatever. But as far as building core body strength goes, Pilates is about as good as it gets.

Thanks for the feedback. I knew it wasn't directed at weight loss necessarily. I had my 2nd meeting with a personal trainer today. I think she'll kick my butt in that department! I'll have to look for a good Pilates class though. Thanks again.