Having had bad back / hip pains for a while which have just resulted in a week off work and an inability to walk more than half a mile. I’ve been recommended to start some stretching regime to loosen the muscles in my legs which are apparently extremely tight and may be a root cause to my back pains. The initail stretches I’ve been given do seem to have eased off the pain but I need to get more serious about it so what will be better for me yoga or pilates – any experience?

I’m a yoga addict, absolutely love it. Long term it’s what I’d reccomend…

However…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/sep/29/healthandwellbeing.fitness

Edit – based on the fact that it’s tight legs you’ve got… do Yoga. Pilates is just an off shoot anyway. More young fit people do yoga than pilates.. which is mainly the preserve of the older lady.

Edit2 – I’m not some mung bean chewing hippy who’s in to all the meditating crap btw.

During the 3 weeks of rehab I had for back / leg-related problems, it was pilates we did every day. I can’t recommend it enough. Both will do you good, but it was pilates not yoga we did.

i do a fusion class which is going to make lots of yogis spit pins and get all precious.

I would love to do both but there are only so many evenings a week.

yoga will stretch and strengthen you generally. pilates is core focussed – bit less stretching.

I would also recommend that you should do a class a few times before making a decision on it – i initially thought it was hippy nonsense as i wasn’t doing things right.

having said that be prepared to try a few classes – and find what suits.

Pilates focuses primarily on the core muscles, which are key to helping back pain for a lot of people. Yoga encompasses the whole body and for my money is more fun than pilates.

Both are good for back problems. I would go for pilates if you purely want to work on your back and yoga if you want a more rounded approach. Also the women are hotter in yoga, so that is another bonus.

I did pilates found it very helpful for a back injury and to strengthen my core also improved my balance

The TRX system is also suppossed to be very good – someone on this forum gave a stong recommendation on a previous thread

Yoga all the way – there’s lots of different types. Good yoga is also very ‘core focused’ (I’ve done pilates too) and has the advantage of being much more holistic. Acts as a brilliant counterpoint to cycling and fixed my dodgy back. Find a good teacher – most important thing.

As others have said, Pilates is focused on core strength. I reckon for most of the population that’s the most important factor in back pain but for cyclists you need to sort out your Hamstrings (legs) first. If you bend forward with straight legs how close are you to touching the ground?

I’ve only been to a few pilates classes but found them boring. I’ve found lots of yoga classes I enjoy.

Loads of variations to yoga. My recommendation –
Start with Iyengar – slow and precise. Can be a bit dull but teaches you the positions you’re trying to get to very well so you’re less likely to hurt yourself.

Once you’ve got the basic positions really sorted move to something faster – some form of Hatha/Ashtanga/Dynamic yoga (or do both sorts at once).

Try as many different teachers as you can – other than Iyengar (which is very prescriptive in how it’s taught) the rest is the wild west so some instructors have a ‘fitness’ approach whereas others are playing whale music, burning incense and chanting (which may or may not rock your boat).

Oh – and don’t ever expect to be as mobile as non-cyclists in some ways – the two just aren’t compatible. It’s also been pointed out that there’s a limit to how flexible you want to be riding off road – being double jointed would actually be a disadvantage.

apologies for Hijack – can anyone reccomend good Yoga class in Glasgow area ?

Thanks

yeah but staying loose off road is a great advantage generally.
I love yoga for sorting out my posture and breathing, but I think cycling doesn’t help with certain positions- my quads/hamstrings can be very tight and stop me doing vertical leg raises etc. so perhaps you need to particularly focus on that as a seperate plan.

and don’t ever expect to be as mobile as non-cyclists in some ways

there are some things that me and ‘the other cyclist’ in the class just can’t do as well. particularly sitting position type stuff.

it does get better though; it’s taken me 4 weeks to get one thing right but it came eventually….

ooOOoo – you just need to practice more at home / away from classes focusing on the positions that you’re weakest at!

I was rubbish at hero pose… so I practiced and practiced until I wasn’t 🙂

ooOOoo – you just need to practice more at home / away from classes focusing on the positions that you’re weakest at!

TSY has it, cause otherwise you dread those ones in class, anything super twisty in the standing sequences, legs in the air balancing and my pet hate – inversions … arghhhh 😯

Hey true, I’m getting there, I just still struggle to remember the sequences without someone telling me exactly what to do 😀

Personally I’d forget about the exact sequences for practicing the things you’re poor at.
Or..
You could ask your instructor to do some quick stick diagrams of the sequences if you wanted… or search online.

What moves do you struggle with in particular??

What moves do you struggle with in particular??

Anything that involves the thigh moving to the side rather than front to back – sit on floor with legs straight in front, try opening legs. I stop about about 45 degrees!.

My legs have spent many years going round in circles. The don’t like doing much else. I’m still chuffed I can touch my toes to be honest.

Re-itterate that a good teacher and something you enjoy is more important than the name of the discipline.

Good luck getting back to fitness 🙂

Most of the standing poses – like warriors – should help??

Cheers for the replies – veering towards yoga as there’s a beginers class at the end of the street 🙂

Exercises of any pretty much any description will help with your back pain to be honest. Way too many shite pilates and yoga instructors out there.

You may want to look for a clinical pilates class if you want to be specific in targetting your back though.

Dabbled in both; either will help but a good teacher is a must. Be aware that it is possible to “cheat” in some poses as well. I becamse more postually aware through pilates but yoga is better for flexibility. To get the full benefit the positions have to be engaging the right muscles and stretches. Would echo the recommendation to start with Lyengar and really make sure you are doing the move right. Just because the yoga instructor has his / her hands flat on the floor doesn’t always mean you should bend you whole back & spine to get hands on the floor; the right stretch might leave your hands literally feet of the ground; or at least it does in my case…. In some classes done at speed it is easy to get caught up in the flow and loose a lot of the potential benefit.