Pilates

Milk

Anyone done any of this? 
 
I've heard it is a good way to lose weight and tone up. My girlfriend does it using techniques she learnt off a video, so it would be something I could do with her. Not sure if it is that effective for males, plus it seems kind of feminine. I did a class of yoga once and found I was too cynical to take the spiritual stuff seriously. 
 
I really need to improve flexibility as well, hamstrings especially.

Hooroo

Yeah, all the gay dudes Voltman knows do it............ <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> You'll fit right in. heh heh! 
 
Nah seriously though. I would give it a crack if I wasn't such a flexi tardo!!

BartMan

Hooroo - head instructor for the local classes for the unfit and inflexible.... xzxblum1 
 
Same deal here Milk - tried yoga years ago, could not keep a straight face. Pilates like yoga as in holding poses, but quite hard out by all accounts.

MN5

One of the toughest ever All Blacks swore by pilates. I saw it on the rugby channel.

Milk

I think I'll give it a go. Should be ok if I alternate it with free weights and eating steak while I score chicks and drink beer. 
 
Some of the exercises where you lie on your back lift your legs out, my hamstrings barely extend much past 90 degrees.

BartMan

This reminds me... my best yoga experience is not when I was doing it, but there was a class running in the aerobics room while I was leg pressing. 
 
Quite music in the background, and soft murmer of the instrictors voice, and me clanking weights on the leg press just a dividing partion wall away, you could hear everything from both sides. 
 
The funny bit though, was when I was straining near the end of the wrolkout, working with pretty much my maximum weights, the enormous fart I let loose on the strain as I pushed the weights up. 
 
As I was the only one in the gym lifting weights, there was no chance of pretending it was anyone else!! 
 
Good days. Thankfully it did not smell!!

MN5

[quote name='BartMan']This reminds me... my best yoga experience is not when I was doing it, but there was a class running in the aerobics room while I was leg pressing. 
 
Quite music in the background, and soft murmer of the instrictors voice, and me clanking weights on the leg press just a dividing partion wall away, you could hear everything from both sides. 
 
The funny bit though, was when I was straining near the end of the wrolkout, working with pretty much my maximum weights, the enormous fart I let loose on the strain as I pushed the weights up. 
 
As I was the only one in the gym lifting weights, there was no chance of pretending it was anyone else!! 
 
Good days. Thankfully it did not smell!![/quote] 
 
Loud and proud farts are the best ones ! I remember 9 of us crammed into a car whilst we were at school and I had to end up sitting on my mates knee in the front seat, we went over a bump and as I was squashed in I had to fart.......on him. Hes a Samoan guy who I'm still great mates with to this day and thankfully he couldn't get the leverage to punch me xzxrofl 
 
but back to Pilates, none other than TROY FLAVELL said it was an awesome conditioning exercise.

BartMan

[quote]but back to Pilates, none other than TROY FLAVELL said it was an awesome conditioning exercise.[/quote] 
 
Which would have [i]nothing [/i]to do with him and Cribb owning a few pilates studios would it... eusa_think

MN5

[quote name='BartMan'][quote]but back to Pilates, none other than TROY FLAVELL said it was an awesome conditioning exercise.[/quote] 
 
Which would have [i]nothing [/i]to do with him and Cribb owning a few pilates studios would it... eusa_think[/quote] 
 
Well you can't argue both of them were big munters in great shape it just clearly didn't do a hell of a lot for their rugby brains.....

Bones

I don't know about losing weight, but you could certainly tone up a bit - depending on how hard and how often you take it. Would certainly strengthen the core, which is never a bad thing.

ACT Crusader

Pilates is great for the core and there isn't the annoying monotone soft voice in the background when you do yoga. I've done it a couple of times while watching my wifes pilates video. You do sweat if you focus your attention on the muscle areas. 
 
But you should still do high intensity interval cardio for losing body fat. And of course eat properly.

Mainlander

[quote name='ACT Crusader']Pilates is great for the core and there isn't the annoying monotone soft voice in the background when you do yoga. I've done it a couple of times while watching my wifes pilates video. You do sweat if you focus your attention on the muscle areas. 
 
But you should still do high intensity interval cardio for losing body fat. And of course eat properly.[/quote] 
 
Who's doing the Vidio, I have some I copied off the TV from those OZ chicks, the wife uses all the time. Could maybe arange a swap of copies... eusa_whistle

Cutter

Good for core, flexibility and your back if you have back problems (and probably even if you dont). I've done it and am just about to get into it again. Interestingly, my girlfriend didnt like it because it didnt push her enough!

davidav

My wife does them a swears by them. I haven't tried it myself, but anything that strengthens the core, adds flexibility and helps the back is a good thing.

dogmeat

I've been doing Pilates for over 6 years now and would swear by it. 
 
It's not about holding poses at all and I guarantee an instructor could leave any of you pleading for mercy. <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> 
 
I heard a Pilates instructor on Deakers programme 1 sat talk about it being good for posture flexibility and breathing. All of which I had issues with. I ended up going elsewhere on a recommendation and it has really helped me with core strength flexibility and posture. 
 
Like a lot of things it is all about the expertise of who you go to. I know people who have gone elsewhere and after one session have fucked their back or neck. So pays to be careful. 
 
The video's are misleading as they focus on MAT work whcich is the closest to yoga but I do very little of that. It is more about resistance traing using a number of large expensive machines which is why the vids for home market don't feature them. Basically the video's don't refelect what I do at all. 
 
Where I go they do a lot of work with athletes and also a lot of rehab work. My bro had a frozen shoulder following a dislocation and had been everywhere and tried everything. 3 hrs of Pilates and he was good as new. 
 
Athletes that go where I do and swear by it include Terenzo Bozzone Tom Ashby, Hannah MacLean, Sam Warriner, Ben Fouhey and a lot of other track, swimmers weightlifters that I don't recognise. 
 
It has really helped me now that I am back in the gym with technique and just overall structural awareness. 
 
As you can see bit of a fanboy.

Red Beard

Les Mills do a class called Body Balance which is a mix of Yoga, Pilates and Stretching. They run it at the gym here in TA. Im going to implement it once a week over summer because I need to work on my flexibility bigtime. 
 
I went to Yoga once in Bundaberg of all places. A whole lot of chicks in the basement of a house and me. I disgraced myself by getting so relaxed I fell asleep during the warmup, then letting out a massive fart for about 20 seconds when we had to sit open legged against a wall for support. When they started their UUUUUMMMMM chants I had to leave because I lost it completely. The exercise were hard but they certainly relaxed me, I slept soundly that night (afetr ten bundy and cokes).

Milk

[quote name='dogmeat']I've been doing Pilates for over 6 years now and would swear by it. 
The video's are misleading as they focus on MAT work whcich is the closest to yoga but I do very little of that. It is more about resistance traing using a number of large expensive machines which is why the vids for home market don't feature them. Basically the video's don't refelect what I do at all.[/quote] 
 
That's interesting. The mat work was all I knew about pilates.

The Silver Fern

Pilates