Why I Do Pilates As Well As HIIT, Weights, Yoga And Cardio

People often ask me ‘What is the best kind of exercise for me’? 

To be honest, while some exercise forms are better for some people than others, on the whole - too much of anything is not a great thing, and my answer is usually -‘ You need to mix it up” 

Those people who only do Yoga should do some strength and Cardio

Those people who only run should do some strength, Yoga or Pilates 

Those people who only do Pilates need to do some Cardio and Strength - especially for women who need to load their bones to prevent Osteoporosis.

Those people who only ride their bike/go to a spin class should definitely do some strength work for their posterior chain (think of the back line of your body), and some mobility in Pilates or Yoga to get them out of that forward posture that we spend so much time in from sitting. 

Variety is the answer here - we really need to be doing a combination of different exercise types to target different aspects of your body, and there needs to be some rest days as well. 

10 years ago, I thought Pilates was Boring - just women lying on the floor doing crunches, Yoga was only for hippies or stiff people who can’t touch their toes, and running always led to a sprained ankle. With time, I’ve learnt that I was actually totally wrong - Pilates isn’t boring, Yoga isn’t for hippies and if you deal with injuries and imbalances in your body properly (which I clearly hadn’t),  running doesn’t lead to a sprained ankle! 

We were designed to move; in all directions, symmetrically, asymmetrically, loading our arms as well as our legs, moving our spine in all directions, and jumping, running and everything else you can think of. Unfortunately, life now means that we often sit a lot and we don’t move our bodies with enough variation. If you look at children playing they do everything, they run, jump, skip, squat and get on the floor, hang from bars and trees, weight-bear through their arms… the list goes on. As adults we have stopped doing so many of these things - how often do you hang or weight-bear through your arms?

When you are looking at your movement and exercise program, think about Strength, Mobility and Stretching, Cardio, Bone Loading - with impact or weighted exercises, and also time to Rest and be Mindful. Have you got all of these aspects in your life? What could you change? You don’t need to do everything each week, but you need to make sure you’re not only doing the same thing week to week — If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it! It’s a cliche, but it’s totally true!! 

10 years later, I’ve learnt to practice what I preach. Now my weekly movement vary from week to week, but it includes 5 sessions of; 

1-2 HIIT/Strength sessions where I build muscle, get my heart rate up, load my bones and do some impact, 

1-2 Pilates session with an instructor who doesn’t only get me to do crunches - but works on all aspects of Pilates including mobility and lengthening, 

1-2 Cardio sessions - running, swimming or cycle classes 

Lots of walking. 

And always 1-2 rest days where my body can recover, breathe, be mindful and get out of my Sympathetic (Flight or Fight) Nervous System and just chill. 

I should probably put some more regular Yoga in there, but you can’t be perfect and it’s not a bad combo!