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Have you ever wondered if Pilates and cardio workouts together is a good idea? Well, the answer can be both ways depending on how you add Pilates to your cardio. However, if you do cardio pilates it in moderation and have a safe balance between the two, it’s going to be beneficial for your fitness levels!
7 reasons to do pilates in addition to cardio workouts
If it’s beneficial, there must be a reason why. Had there not been reasons to back it up, fitness enthusiasts would not have spoken about this within the industry.
1) Improves flexibility
When you are doing cardiovascular exercises, specific body parts are more engaged. For example, with the treadmill, your leg muscles are more engaged. On the other hand, the rowing machine helps the upper body significantly.
Now, when you add pilates to your cardio routine, you are allowing your entire body to be a part of the routine. This helps in improving flexibility as the muscles start opening up.
2) Focuses on heart health
Now, both cardio and pilates increase the heart rate. However, if you do the two routines in moderation, you can use one to increase your heart rate and the other to decrease it. This potentially means that your heart will be stress-free from sudden increases and decreases.
When the heart rate increases and suddenly decreases, it puts additional stress on the heart.
3) Improves endurance
While cardio is good for muscular endurance and assisting in weight loss, adding Pilates to the routine can improve your energy. It so happens that both cardio and Pilates require the body to burn extra calories for excess energy. Due to the extra energy, there is better blood flow and oxygen circulation as well. When you do pilates in addition to cardio, you are essentially asking the body to provide more energy. Ultimately, this will help improve the overall endurance, enabling you to increase the intensity.
4) Assists in weight loss
As mentioned, both pilates and cardio can help in weight loss. However, you can combine the two to use one as a high-intensity routine and the other for a low-intensity routine.
Ideally, you can use HIIT cardio sessions to top it off with a low-impact Pilates session.
5) Promotes bone health
You can combine weight training and body weight training for muscle growth, you can do pilates in addition to cardio to improve bone health. Whenever you do movements that focus more on joints and less on muscles, bone density improves as the cells work to make themselves stronger to withstand the pressure.
6) Relieves stress
Both cardio and pilates are good for releasing stress. Both training routines release endorphins, which ultimately help in lightening your mood. Moreover, the better your mood is, the better your brain health is.
7) Helps the smaller muscles
Not all movements from all routines activate smaller muscles such as the ones around the ankles or the elbows. Our bodies are made up of numerous smaller muscles as well, and doing pilates in addition to cardio can assist in activating and strengthening those muscles.
Tips for doing pilates in addition to cardio
Whenever you are balancing pilates and cardio, you must remember to focus on the following factors:
Do not overdo it: Considering both can lead to you running out of breath, it is best to ensure the exercises do not lead to you becoming over-fatigued. Muscle fatigue needs to be addressed, and if you find yourself becoming too exhausted, it’s a good idea to rethink the exercises.
Keep yourself hydrated: The more water you drink, the better it is for you. Keep yourself hydrated for better flow of energy and oxygen throughout. Now, you may not always feel thirsty during the routine, but that does not mean your body does not need water. You must protect yourself from dehydration even if you do not feel thirsty.
Warm-up: Regardless of whether you are doing cardio, pilates, or resistance training, you need to warm-up. You are putting yourself at risk of unwanted injuries when you do not warm-up. A warm-up is done to get the blood and oxygen flowing while opening the openings with stretches. This helps with flexibility, mobility, and balance.
Add resistance training: While doing pilates in addition to cardio is helpful, you will be able to enable your body’s maximum ability when you add resistance training to the routine. Divide the week for various muscles and work them according to your body’s ability.
Anything done in moderation and keeping the body moving is the only way to attain your dream physique. However, master the basics of cardio pilates workout first with the ideal range of motion before moving to advanced movements or increasing the intensity. This is an excellent way to ensure you do not injure yourself.
