pilates?

This might sound like a stupid question , but can someone please explain pilates to me ? is it like yoga ?

it find it a little hard to explain the difference but i will give it a shot, I would have say that Pilates is a form of yoga only with resistance, while that is only partly accurate i will try and come up with a better defintion. Yoga and Pilates are VERY quite similar,but also different lol , In Pilates there is more of a focus on strength development

You use your own body resistance and work using your "core" muscles. If you want a long, lean body this is for YOU

sounds interesting , i might have to look into pilates a bit more , i have seen it on one of the channels on austar but haven't taken much interest in it before

Pilates involves a series of slow movements with resistance. It works on your core muscle group, It takes a lot of moves from yoga. It involves keeping your shoulders down, your ribcage closed, your belly button pulled in to your spine , your pelvic muscles tight and your hamstrings engaged.

When you first start Pilates it all seems like alot of work, but it gets easier
if you have foxtel/austar up on discovery channel you can catch some pilate shows every so often

my gf does yoga been talking about pilates so might have to squeeze a bit more info out of her

i think my local vid libary has some pilate dvd's so i might have to borrow some , would be a good way to spend these cold winter days

There are different forms of Pilates.

Floor Pilates- the type they tend to teach in classes- can look a lot like yoga, although it has a very different philosophy. People tend to not always get very good results out of floor Pilates done in a class environment as it involves technical and specific movements. If performed incorrectly, you can do more harm than good.

Reformer Pilates- the type that uses machines- is a whole different kettle of fish. This in normally done one-on-one or with a group of no more than three. This is where you really work your core and pelvic floor muscles. It is all about control- it's why it's so popular with ballet dancers.

thanks breebreerocks for the helpful information on pilates , i knew that yoga had different styles wasn't aware that pilates did also , i guess the floor pilates was just adapted to make it more accessible to people

my next question is
Is it safe to do pilates and weights on the same day or should I alternate them on different days?

I would think it best to separate them, as Pilates is about lengthening the muscles as well as resistance. Can't imagine you would perform either well after being fatigued by the other exercise. If you have done a good weights session, you should struggle to do further resistance work, regardless of it's format. Lifting weights after a Pilates session would probably undo the lengthening you had just done.

Just an educated guess though... Would probably be better off doing a pure stretching class after a weights workout to help the muscles recover. Rest is just as important when it comes to achieving results- and this is coming from someone who is suffering the consequences of overtraining!