We have many clients who ask us how to improve health and fitness, and the short answer is that there are many answers. A few ways to balance things out with the heavy lifting and weight training could include incorporating pilates or yoga type movements into your weekly health and fitness routine.
As personal trainers, we definitely recommend using some yoga or pilates type moves to improve your overall health and fitness. Luckily, in this digital day in age there are many free online resources that can be coupled with your days at SRQ Health and Fitness Studio with your personal trainer to create a more balanced regimen.
Consider your "off days" or your stretch days to include a YouTube video of a slow-moving, mega stretching, yoga or pilates movements class. Incorporating the balance of stretching in this way in-between your personal training sessions, can add additional qualities and benefits that are great for your physical fitness.
Not sure which one to include in your regular SRQ Health and Fitness routine?
Let’s break it down:
Pilates Movement for How to Improve Health and Fitness:
Pilates is a relatively new type of exercise that Joseph Pilates created in the 1920s to help rehabilitate soldiers during World War I. Since then, it has come a long way and can be found throughout mainstream online resources to include in your health and fitness program.
There are two main forms of Pilates: mat and reformer. Both forms focus on building your core while strengthening the whole body with low-impact movements. Mat pilates utilized body-weight resistance, while reformer pilates uses a machine with spring resistance, so for those who are utilizing online classes, look for mat movements to grow stronger and leaner.
Benefits of Pilates:
Rehabilitation
Core control
Better posture
Safe mobility
Yoga Movement for How to Improve Health and Fitness:
Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that has grown in popularity throughout the West over the past decades, which makes it the easiest to find online for free, and the most streamlined "stretching" based workout to pair with your personal training sessions at SRQ Health and Fitness Studio.
Even though there are many forms and styles of yoga, they do all share certain characteristics. In all styles of yoga, you move your body through different poses with choreographed deep breathing allowing your body to be restored and recover from the more cardio intensive or weight training sessions you and your personal trainer do throughout the week.
Benefits of Yoga
Improved flexibility
Better sleep
Mental health
While incorporating either pilates or yoga into your regular workout routine (depending on your desired health and fitness goals) it's best to chose one over the other. Both have several benefits but the biggest distinction between the two is that pilates brings the focus out to your physical body, while yoga brings the focus inward to the individual.
A well balanced workout regimen should include a mix of weight training, cardio, and some restorative stretching based classes to improve your overall health and fitness. Those have have the more general goal of just being healthy and fit can focus less on one type of workout and focus instead on conditioning all aspects of the body from the inside, out.
Have us help suggest how many days a week to include a stretch based workout into your health and fitness routine, or to have your personal trainer even determine if something like that even matches up with your goals.
Regardless, we're here to help you find the best ways to improve your health and fitness, so don't hesitate to give us a call and set up a consult with one of our personal training experts.