Power Pilates

carbineacs

Hi,

Has anyone started Power Pilates, or know any cyclists that do it? I've read a few places where Pilates is recommended to cyclists for posture and power efficiency, but has anyone seen gains from it themselves? I've seen conflicting 'blogs' from cyclists, but thought I would ask real cyclists on here. I know there was another topic raised on here in the past, but that was full of people trolling each other.

I tried a class last night, and I can see how it could work, it got the heart rate up a surprising amount and surly the stretches must be good for your entire body? But if it does more damage than good then it's obviously a waste of time. There were blokes in the class before anyone says it's only women who do it. This is Power Pilates too, not standard.

imposter2.0

Cycling is also pretty good for getting your heart rate up...

carbineacs

Imposter wrote:

Cycling is also pretty good for getting your heart rate up...

I'm going to ignore you as you were the one trolling the other post that someone asked about. Everyone else, please don't feed the troll.

I don't know why people who have no useful input into anything feel the need to say something on a topic they know nothing about..

keef66

So in answer to your many questions:

No
No
N/A
I'm in favour of stretching after exercise, not so sure about stretching as an activity in it's own right.

If you have time / money to spend on pilates in addition to your cycling I doubt you'll be doing yourself any harm. Be surprised if it will do anything for your performance on the bike.

The idea of spending an hour in a room full of contorting, sweaty strangers makes me feel physically sick, so for that reason I'm out. On my bike probably.

carbineacs

Well, it is mainly 20 - 40 year old women in there, so I don't have a problem with that :-p

Good points though, and probably during the summer I would rather be out on the bike than doing the classes but until then hopefully it will do me some good. That Molton - Gazely hill is tough eh..!

jgsi

Its been discussed on here a fair few times that some of use struggle to touch our toes but hey, we can get into a decent aero position/use the drops/pedal powerfully in such postions for lengthy periods of time.
All this done by practising on the bike... or knowing a bit about bike fitting.
But if you enjoy the classes, do them.
Plus dont moan about replies you might get on an open forum... particularly this section where there is more bunkum bandied about than in bunkum town centre on a bunkum night.

carbineacs

Fair enough, I moaned about the first comment as I've seen that same user troll before and it got quite rude.
I think I will stay clear of the Bike Radar forums then, if what you're saying is true, I'm better off talking to people face to face at races etc.

Thanks anyway to those who replied.

keef66

That Molton - Gazely hill is tough eh..!

You a local then?

That does get your heart rate up! I believe there's an annual hill climb event up it.

The one up from Dalham to Gazeley is also an interesting one

Dodger747

Not sure what power pilates is, but I'm a big fan of yoga and helps me to stretch after hard periods of training. It makes sports massages less painful for me also, if I keep on top of my stretching. However, it is something that I don't do anywhere near enough.

So if it's part of your stretching schedule and it feels good, then keep doing it :-)

cougie

Not sure of Power Pilates - but I know a good Pilates teacher can help people get over back injuries.
My wife teaches Pilates and one of her clients arrived injured and unable to train.
With the sessions and exercises she got back to running and cycling and swears by it.

I'd think Pilates would be a nice addition to cycling for flexibility and core strength - but it's just not for me. :-)

carbineacs

keef66 wrote:

That Molton - Gazely hill is tough eh..!

You a local then?

That does get your heart rate up! I believe there's an annual hill climb event up it.

The one up from Dalham to Gazeley is also an interesting one

Fairly.. used to live on Studlands! Now in Thetford but come down that way as there are some really nice rides around there. I did that hill last weekend and thought what good training it is.

imposter2.0

carbineacs wrote:

Fair enough, I moaned about the first comment as I've seen that same user troll before and it got quite rude.
I think I will stay clear of the Bike Radar forums then, if what you're saying is true, I'm better off talking to people face to face at races etc.

Thanks anyway to those who replied.

Mate - you're the only one being rude here - and yet you can't disagree with anything I said in my first comment, can you? Would you really replace a cycle-specific training session with 'power pilates' ?

If not - there's your answer.

sloppyschleckonds

carbineacs wrote:

I did that hill last weekend and thought what good training it is.

Good training for what?

carbineacs

Climbing long tough hills!

sloppyschleckonds

carbineacs wrote:

Climbing long tough hills!

A quick google shows a half a mile hill at 5% gradient.

letap73

Some "interesting" replies here. I have personally found doing pilates a revelation for general fitness and physical wellbeing. Tom Danielson in his book Core advantage refers to certain pilates exercises.

jgsi

letap73 wrote:

Some "interesting" replies here. I have personally found doing pilates a revelation for general fitness and physical wellbeing. Tom Danielson in his book Core advantage refers to certain pilates exercises.

Cool.. I've got an allotment for that very purpose.

peddlingmadness

Had a hip problem for few years due to tightness in the lateral band, hip flexors and hamstrings. Always stretched after cycling and most evenings but, the problem never went away. Came across pilates on youtube and did a 30 min beginners session. Next day my hip didn't hurt which was unusual so carried on and kept at it. I believe the combination of working the joint whilst stretching instead of just stretching has worked wonders. My neck and back are getting stronger and my posture is improving and at the age of 44 i'm getting a defined stomach, not quite a 6 pack but, no longer a party 7. So yeah, give it a go.. Try following a class online, what harm can it do..

diy

I think in general there are two schools of thought. 1. ride your bike - all your required training can be done on your bike. 2. Other training helps.

If you are in school 1, you'll have difficulty accepting anything in 2. I personally do a fair bit of 2 and some things in 2 don't help and other things do. I think Pilates and the like are good for preventing muscle related stiffness and soreness. They can also help balance the negative sides of cycling. If you are short on time, then its probably too much time doing one thing. I personally think a combo of stretching, core and body weight training can help a lot and if I was paying for a 1 hour class, I'd be looking for that, not a whole hour stretching and relaxing.

For those in school 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLCLNOQ-ohA


EDIT: what I would say though is cyclists have specific weak-spots and some exercises are not great. Be careful with ankles particularly if you'd had a couple of hard sessions.

markwb79

carbineacs wrote:

Fair enough, I moaned about the first comment as I've seen that same user troll before and it got quite rude.
I think I will stay clear of the Bike Radar forums then, if what you're saying is true, I'm better off talking to people face to face at races etc.

Thanks anyway to those who replied.

To be fair his reply was pretty rubbish!

But he is completely right.

Had you have gone on your bike last night instead of power pilates. Your HR would have also gone up and you would come out of it a strong cyclist! (obviously there are other factors, but power pilates vs cycling, there is only ever one winner to improve CYCLING performance.)

Eebijeebi

Didn't read the OP as being vs cycling but as a supplement to riding. Maybe the heart rate bit is the red herring. If stretching, core work and certain weight training isn't beneficial, then why do we keep seeing videos, photos, tweets and the like of pro teams doing it?

AK_jnr

Unless you ride for a living you should be running, stretching doing yoga/pilates and even then you probably still should!! If you can get out most days riding you can substitute one of those hours to do some other form of exercise which will help you in later life.

But if you would rather wow/bore your fake strava friends with all your junk miles go ahead.



This forum is a joke.

markwb79

Eebijeebi wrote:

Didn't read the OP as being vs cycling but as a supplement to riding. Maybe the heart rate bit is the red herring. If stretching, core work and certain weight training isn't beneficial, then why do we keep seeing videos, photos, tweets and the like of pro teams doing it?

Totally agree, and I currently go to the gym twice a week. But will stop in 2 weeks when the days are longer and allow for focused training on the road.

but do the pro's replace a ride with core work, stretching or weight training? From what I have followed, those things supplement their riding. For me, thats the key, It should be in additional to your training!

Eebijeebi

Markwb79 wrote:

Eebijeebi wrote:

Didn't read the OP as being vs cycling but as a supplement to riding. Maybe the heart rate bit is the red herring. If stretching, core work and certain weight training isn't beneficial, then why do we keep seeing videos, photos, tweets and the like of pro teams doing it?

Totally agree, and I currently go to the gym twice a week. But will stop in 2 weeks when the days are longer and allow for focused training on the road.

but do the pro's replace a ride with core work, stretching or weight training? From what I have followed, those things supplement their riding. For me, thats the key, It should be in additional to your training!

Indeed so. I can stretch for the tv remote and my kids can sure get my heart rate up, but I wouldn't consider either a ride replacement!

diy

I just want to clarify something about the fitness industry. Its full of people trying to create exclusive brands, because the money is in instructor education, subscriptions, franchising, gym licensing and merchandising. There is nothing inherently wrong with that.

However, certain forms have become "generic" and any associated trademarks cancelled, often due to a failure to protect the trademark or a dodgy trademark to start with. Yoga, Karate are the obvious ones. Pilates, more recently and Spinning is almost there.

So why am I mentioning this, well... Power Pilates does not appear to be some sort of Pilates+ or advanced Pilates, its a trademark version of the Pilates method. It may be different, it may be better, but you shouldn't believe it is anything other than a branded version.

jgsi

diy wrote:

I just want to clarify something about the fitness industry. Its full of people trying to create exclusive brands, because the money is in instructor education, subscriptions, franchising, gym licensing and merchandising. There is nothing inherently wrong with that.

However, certain forms have become "generic" and any associated trademarks cancelled, often due to a failure to protect the trademark or a dodgy trademark to start with. Yoga, Karate are the obvious ones. Pilates, more recently and Spinning is almost there.

So why am I mentioning this, well... Power Pilates does not appear to be some sort of Pilates+ or advanced Pilates, its a trademark version of the Pilates method. It may be different, it may be better, but you shouldn't believe it is anything other than a branded version.

It just makes the fitness 'industry' a laughing stock with its sometimes pathetic attempts to justify its own existence... anyone who believes anything said to them in a gym/fitness centre by someone who has done a weekend course in this or that needs a slap in the face to wake up.

diy

I think pretentious is the term I'd use. At the end of the day you can't patent a method, so you have to create a brand and protect the brand. Unfortunately, the focus is too much on the different and unique, to create a differentiated brand, rather than effective and well researched methods. I'm not saying that about power pilates btw, or any of the other yoga-like versions. Just wanted to avoid the confusion that it was some sort of special, tuned version.