Quick yoga and Pilates workouts

Suggestions for practicing these exercises at home.

Yoga and Pilates way more than the latest fitness craze.

As the popularity of both workouts has risen with the help of countless stars, women everywhere have discover the positive mental and physical benefits gained from doing these exercises. Acolytes of yoga or Pilates swear it re-energizes their lives and redefines their bodies.

Yoga is a mind-body discipline from India dating over 5,000 years, and is based on a set of breathing exercises and postures. Today, there are so many types of yoga it is impossible to list them all. 

Pilates, developed almost a century ago by German-born fitness trainer and innovator Joseph Pilates, sets out to control body movement and protect the back by focusing on abdominal muscles. Pilates is gaining mainstream popularity because of its “all gain, no pain” approach to fitness.

Instruction for beginners

If you have not tried Pilates  before, there are plenty of resources to help get you started. Try the popular For Dummies series,  which offers Pilates workouts for Dummies on DVDs. You will have an idea of the Pilates  principles and then you will feel  motived to start your personal training or group classes at Gym Tonic