Yoga? or Pilates?

Hmmm...... yes, there are people here who do one or the other and a few who do both. I'm a pretty devoted yogini, and I've done Pilates -but I don't really know a lot about it. Okay, I don't know hardly anything about it.

But yoga, I do know.

There are aspects to yoga that might be helpful with your asthma, but realistically the difference will be subtle. Serious yoga is always done coordinated with the breath. In yoga, breath work is called pranayama, but that's neither here nor there. The point is that the breath is your gauge of how far to go into a pose. You can have as much air as you want or need, but for your standard yoga practice your breath needs to happen in and out through the nose. If you start to want to "cheat" and take a big gasp through your mouth, then that means that you're too far into the pose for your current flexibility or strength or stamina.

But another aspect to this breath work is that you learn to fully expand the lungs -which we almost never do in regular breathing. So it actually ends up increasing stamina in all activities -assuming you remember to use your new skill! I also notice during allergy season that breathing in this way is excellent for removing congestion. Gross, but true.

Postures which might help an asthmatic person in particular include: headstand (don't try this without a teacher if you've never done it before); plow (double ditto), seated head to knee posture and standing head to knee posture (you can try these at home fairly safely); down dog (again.... it's okay to do this one at home).

Yoga Journal has a good website, and they might very well have an article on-line that would help you.

Bear in mind that I'm NOT saying that Pilates wouldn't help. I just don't know enough to know one way or the other.

Andrea

I have done both and prefer yoga. Yoga is great for my breathing and for stretching every muscle, a good thing for an older tri-er like me. Pilates concentrates a lot on the abs, which is good, but the class I took was a power Pilates one and it prooved much too difficult for me. I found that lying prone and raising my torso towards my upraised legs with the power of my abs alone exacerbated my back problem.

As a safe stretching routine, yoga cannot be beaten. If, however, you are looking to augment your core strength, Pilates is an excellent way to do it.

I've never done yoga but I do pilates every week for an hour. The sessions that i attend are 1 to 3 and so the instructor is always watching our form and giving us helpful tips. There is alot of focus on breathing and the movements, but I'm in no position to say whether this will help your asthma. I have found that pilates has help my posture, and my back/abs are much much stronger.

Do you really breathe like that when you swim? Inhale, hold. Stroke stroke. Exhale, Inhale! Hold. Stroke stroke. Exhale, Inhale! Hold? No wonder your swimming is suffering.

If you do, neither yoga nor pilates will help. Try inhaling, and then exhaling into the water, timing it so when you are ready to inhale again, you are at that time during your stroke sequence that it's time to inhale.

I am sure there are poses that yogis prescribe for greater lung health, but the only thing that makes breathing easier while you swim is keeping a more consistent in-and-out breathing rhythm....

.....no Waiting To Exhale action there, girlfriend

check out this thread. it was on here a while ago. i didn't read the whole thing again, but i think it's the one that talks about breathing and the importance of exhaling fully while under water. if it doesn't help, you could try doing a search on breathing. hope this helps!

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

i think i sent the wrong link. try this one instead...


http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

I don't know if either will help, most likely getting in shape will unless you suffer from exercise induced asthma. I've treated yoga and pilates practitioners for various njuries and I can tell you that the pilates enthusiasts are stronger. It depends on what you want to concentrate on: flexibility or strength. Pilates will stretch out your hamstrings well but yoga will give you a better overall stretch. I recommend pilates to patients and clients more than yoga because most need stability (trunk/core) and you don't need the excessive flexibility some yoga practitioners have. Try each for a few sessions and go with the one you like-that's what will keep you going. Good luck with the asthma.

Gare.