Your Guide to Beachbody Yoga Workouts

By Denis Faye

Yoga Booty Ballet

• Yoga Booty Ballet Pure & Simple Yoga – YBB's Gillian Marloth Clark leads you through a straightforward, meditative 30-minute session that's great whether you want to chill out or ramp up. The focus is on arm work, so prepare for a lot of plank.

  Ideal for: Those open to the complete yoga experience, yet who want to sweat a little while they're at it.

• Yoga Booty Ballet Master Series Yoga Core – Pure & Simple's more abdominal-intensive cousin features both Gillian and fellow YBB creator Teigh McDonough melding yoga with Pilates. It's also about 30 minutes.

  Ideal for: The same folks who might dig Pure & Simple, except that they want a little more core work.

• Yoga Booty Ballet Master Series Pajama Time – Relaxation is the emphasis of this prop-intensive program that stretches you out and winds you down for a good night's sleep. Again with the 30 minutes.

  Ideal for: Those who find a little movement helps them relax in the evening.

Tony Horton

• P90X Yoga X – A big part of Tony's philosophy is breathing through difficult (read: painful) postures, so this one is intense, and, at 92 minutes, the longest yoga workout Beachbody has to offer.

  Ideal for: A hardcore workout enthusiast with a little patience and looking for a challenge.

• One on One with Tony Horton Fountain of Youth – This is simply Yoga X cut down to 45 minutes. Tony's style isn't as meditative and calming as the YBB girls, but this sweaty workout has its own spiritual dividends.

  Ideal for: Hardcore workout enthusiasts without the aforementioned patience.

• One on One with Tony Horton Patience "Hummingbird" – This straightforward Hatha yoga session with an emphasis on holding postures checks in at a smidge over 30 minutes.

  Ideal for: Those looking for a Tony Horton-led recovery workout.

• 10-Minute Trainer® Yoga Flex – This is actually more of a stretching routine that borrows a few yoga postures to get you limber.

  Ideal for: Anyone with 10 minutes to spare who needs a little stretch.

Chalene Johnson

• ChaLEAN Extreme Dynamic Flow Yoga – Chalene mixes yoga with Pilates for an upbeat, 40-minute session that doesn't give you much chance to hold still. When she says flow, she means flow. This one is great for your core and back.

  Ideal for: Potential yoga enthusiasts who need to keep moving to feel they've gotten a workout.

Kathy Smith

• Kathy Smith's Project:YOU! Type 2® Yoga Flex – Twenty minutes of classic Hatha yoga interlaced with a few standard stretches.

  Ideal for: Those thoroughly intimidated by yoga who know that they need to start somewhere.

Yoga vs. Pilates

By Kathy Smith, creator of Project: YOU ^TM

When people speak of the physical benefits of exercise, they tend to focus on the three S's of strength, stamina, and slimming—so their training programs usually consist of weight lifting to build muscle, with some form of aerobic activity to build cardiovascular endurance and burn calories. But there's a second tier of benefits now making their way onto the A-list. These include flexibility, coordination, posture, and stress relief.

It's not that these secondary benefits weren't always important—it's just that they're more in the spotlight these days thanks to the growing popularity of so-called "softer" training modalities. Two of the most popular of these are yoga and Pilates.

Yoga, of course, has been popular in the U.S. for decades. I started practicing yoga more than 20 years ago and it's still one of my favorite ways to tone my body and calm my mind. Pilates, though, is a newer trend that apparently still has many people baffled. I often get letters inquiring about the difference between Pilates and yoga and asking which I recommend. As with most "which do I recommend" questions, the answer depends on your physical goals. Simply put, the difference between yoga and Pilates is that between East and West. Both systems build strength and flexibility; the difference between them is not so much physical as it is philosophical.

A tale of two workouts:

• Yoga. Yoga is based on the Eastern idea of moving energy through your body. The more freely the energy flows, the healthier and more energetic you feel. Physical tension hinders the flow; over time, areas of tension in your body can become tight and rigid, even painful. The goal of yoga is to keep the body supple through movement and stretching. But there's another dimension. Yoga is a holistic spiritual discipline with its roots in Eastern forms of meditation. The physical postures, although they condition the body, are really aimed at the mind. They symbolize the goal of living your life in a state of balance and composure. When I spend an hour in a yoga class, I melt into a kind of meditative state and emerge wonderfully relaxed and refreshed.
  


• Pilates. On the other hand, Pilates is physical conditioning first and foremost—and there's nothing quite like it. Its creator, Joseph Pilates, was looking for a way to rehabilitate injured soldiers after World War I. He developed an assortment of curious machines with names like the "Reformer" and the "Cadillac." Using cables and trolleys and unusual body positioning, Pilates exercises stretch and strengthen and are unique in their ability to encourage coordination between the muscles that stabilize the body.

  Pilates techniques quickly became a hit with dancers, who found them a highly effective way to improve body awareness and alignment and promote graceful, fluid motion. Machine-based Pilates actually has more in common with weight training than with yoga since it involves moving against resistance (provided by springs) with the aim of overloading the muscles. In particular it resembles functional strength exercises such as squats or cable pulls. There's also a new form of Pilates, the Pilates mat class, which relies more on calisthenics-style exercises and stretches. This form is physically more similar to a yoga class, though the emphasis is still on physical change rather than on spiritual development through postures and breathing.

The choice is yours
I think it's fair to say that yoga is more about how it makes you feel while Pilates is about how you look—how you carry yourself and move. So if you're looking for a limbering, rejuvenating workout that will provide as much of a lift for your brain as your body—and you're not too concerned about building muscle—I'd recommend yoga. If you're interested in a more dynamic system of muscle conditioning—or if you just want to try something new and different—Pilates may be the answer.

In fact, it doesn't have to be an either-or choice. After all, no single training system can give your body all the types of conditioning it needs. That's why my week includes a variety of activities, from weight lifting to hiking, running, yoga, and more. My best recommendation is to try everything—experience it all—and see what works best for you. East or West, the important thing is to explore!

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