This week it is my pleasure to bring a post written by
Peter Minkoff.
Peter is a yoga enthusiast and fitness lover writing at My Empowered World magazine. He is dedicated to healthy living, exercising and spending time outdoors as much as possible. A firm believer in organic diet for overall health benefits, Peter is powered by true motivation in all aspects of yoga and fitness-ing. He hopes to run his own yoga and fitness center someday. Today he shares with us his advice for losing weight with help yoga and Pilates, something I, personally hope achieve! :)
Often, yoga and Pilates
are considered mere stretching and toning exercises and their
contribution to weight loss is being overlooked. Still, these two
activities are so diverse that they have the capacity to transform
your body, if done properly and with that goal in mind. Celebrity
yoga
trainers Ana Brett and Ravi Singh, who have worked
with stars, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna, also believe in
yoga’s weight loss powers and Pilates can truly make your weight
loss efforts much easier by increasing lean muscle and toning your
body. Let us see how else these two activities can help you lose
weight.
Yoga and Weight Loss
A
study
published by American Journal of Managed Care found
that restorative yoga (yoga that does not feature flowing body
movements or challenging poses, but focuses on relaxation instead)
can trim subcutaneous fat in overweight women, even more than other,
more demanding kinds of yoga. It is also known that yoga reduces
stress, and thus slows the production of cortisol – the hormone
responsible for stubborn belly fat. Yoga, on any level, can help
achieve the mind and body balance, which can actually change your
perspective for some bad eating habits. That consciousness translates
into a better appetite control and works as a spiritual stimulus for
making changes.
Pilates is a
body-toning program that improves muscle control, core strength,
flexibility and coordination. It requires different exercising tools,
such as resistance bands, rings, balls and other smaller props.
According to
American
Council on Exercise, Pilates features some exercises
that can strengthen the abdominal muscles and the back, improve
posture and flatten the belly. The technique is based on using one’s
body weight as a resistance and it includes a number of
range-of-motion exercises. Similarly to yoga, it promotes body/mind
connection which leads to body awareness and better eating patterns.
Misconceptions
In spite of all these
facts, you cannot expect that yoga or Pilates will torch of thousands
of calories. Even power yoga, which is considered to have the best
fat burning potential, burns only 300 to 400 calories per hour. The
most important benefit yoga carries is a new awareness of your body
which prevents overeating. There are no credible evidences on
how
pilates affect weight loss, but it does build muscles,
which, in turn, boosts the fat burning process. Neither one of these
two activities can help you lose weight without reduced calorie diet
and including some other physical activities. Still, if you are
recovering from an injury or have some chronic illness which prevents
you from engaging in more demanding exercises, Pilates and yoga can
be great ways to remain fit.
How to Get the Best
Results?
There are two things
that play a major role in the effectiveness of your Pilates/yoga
weight loss program: your decisiveness and a fitness instructor.
Finding a fitness instructor that will match your goals, needs and
personality can be very challenging. There are several things a
person which will train you should have: Pilates instructor
certificate (from a credible Pilates institution), a professional
should also have a
certified
diploma of disability (if you are recovering from an
injury, are prone to injuries or suffer from a disease) and a
supportive character. After you truly decide that you want to commit
to weight loss regimen, you should create a strategy which will
include Pilates, yoga, cardio exercises and healthy diet. Take
certain days to practice cardio workouts and devote the remaining
days to muscle recovery and relaxation with yoga and Pilates. Focus
on healthy foods and smaller portion sizes to additionally improve
your chances of success.
Can You Do Yoga and
Pilates at Home?
Let us face it, not
every one of us can afford a personal fitness trainer, so we have to
play with the cards we are dealt with. Fortunately, it is perfectly
doable to practice yoga and Pilates at home. For the first, you will
need a mat and for the second a Pilates ball, resistance bands, and
similar props.
YouTube
tutorials sometimes are not sufficient, because anyone
can make it and they do not show everything you need to know, so it
is better to equip yourself with quality yoga and Pilates DVDs and
books or even join an online class, which is cheaper and offers
similar benefits. Take 25 minutes per day to get your body in shape,
and if you are committed enough, you will succeed, regardless of the
location of your workout.
Both Pilates and yoga
have undeniable benefits. Still, if you focus just on these
activities your chances of losing weight are small. Instead, combine
them with healthy diet and occasional aerobics exercises and you will
see how fast you will lose the stubborn fat.
You can find Peter on
Twitter and
Facebook :)
Do you practice yoga or Pilates? I am determined to get back into yoga this year! Do let us know if you have any advice on yoga, Pilates and weight loss or practicing these exercises with a chronic illness in the comments below. Big love.
