In my 20 years of teaching Pilates and physical therapy I get asked the question all the time about Pilates vs. yoga.

While they are both wonderful movement modalities, there are significant differences that are worth knowing about when trying to decide whether a Pilates workout or yoga workout is right for you!

It’s fairly obvious that I love Pilates and teach and practice it throughout the week. What you may not know is that I love yoga as well! I have found it’s a great workout for me to incorporate a few times a month to help with my flexibility and endometriosis.

That being said, it took me six years of doing Pilates before I felt strong and safe enough to do a yoga class successfully.

As a physical therapist, I generally will recommend my patients start with Pilates vs. yoga when recovering from an injury. Of course this depends on many factors, such as the instructor and the type of class, but for the most part I want my clients with pain or injuries to learn to control their movement and range of motion. Pilates lends itself well to this! Once this is accomplished, I feel comfortable letting my clients get back to their yoga class if they chose because they are able to control the extreme backbends and range of motion activities required.

There are many other factors involved and I talk about all the differences between Pilates and yoga in the video below! The most important thing to remember is that you find a movement modality that you love, that you can stay consistent with and that feels good to you and your body. Pilates and yoga both have benefits so try them both and see how it goes!