Yoga or Pilates? Running or aerobics? Deciding to get fit is the easy part: choosing how to go about it is difficult.
RUNNING V AEROBICS
Running
How quickly will it make a difference? You'll notice a difference after two to three weeks, if running three or more times a week.
How many calories does it burn? About 612 per hour if you run 10 kilometres per hour.
Will it keep me motivated? Treadmill running can be tedious: run outside, changing your route and terrain whenever you can. As you get fitter, challenge yourself by entering fun runs.
Specific benefits: The basic running action strengthens the hamstring, quadriceps, calf and the gluteus maximus muscles each time you take a stride forward. The pumping action of your arms will strengthen the upper body. And it's among the best forms of aerobic exercise.
Risk factors: Your feet absorb three to four times your body weight every time they strike the ground and a shock reverberates up through your legs and into your spine. Good shoes help to cushion the blow and reduce the risk of injury to the knees and other joints.
Aerobics
How quickly will it make a difference? After five weeks of twice-weekly classes.
How many calories does it burn? 374 per hour.
Will it keep me motivated? Classes that stick to exactly the same format every week can become too predictable for both muscles and mind. As with all class-based work-outs, there is little scope for progress, so you may want to try something different after a while.
Specific benefits: Aerobics classes incorporate dance elements that improve coordination and spatial awareness.
Risk factors: Low-impact aerobics classes (at least one foot remains in contact with the floor at all times ) are preferable to high-impact classes for anyone prone to back and joint problems.
Victor: Running
Weights V Circuits
Weights
How quickly will it make a difference? After the first session, your muscles will feel more toned, but noticeable changes will take three to four weeks.
How many calories does it burn? 136-340 per hour depending on weight lifted and the recovery time between repetitions and sets.
Will it keep me motivated? If improved body tone is your solitary goal, then yes. But otherwise it can become tedious.
Specific benefits: Great for improving muscle tone and bone density. Combined with aerobic exercise, resistance and weight training has been shown to speed up the rate at which calories are burned, thereby resulting in quicker weight loss.
Risk factors: Lift too heavy weights too often and you can get bulky. Injuries are high in the weight room, but mostly linked to weights being dropped and poor technique.
Circuits
How quickly will it make a difference? After two weeks of twice-weekly circuits.
How many calories does it burn? 476 per hour.
Will it keep me motivated? Circuit training is as challenging (or not) as you make it. You are unlikely to get bored as circuits can constantly change their content and order.
Specific benefits: A good circuit addresses every element of fitness: aerobic, strength, balance and flexibility. Ideally, an instructor should introduce new tools - medicine balls, skipping ropes, weights, wobble boards - to make sure you are always developing new skills and testing different muscles.
Risk factors: Because the movements are so varied, there are very few risks, unless you perform exercises with poor technique.
Victor: circuits
Yoga v Pilates
Yoga
How quickly will it make a difference? After eight weeks of thrice-weekly sessions.
How many calories does it burn? 102 per hour for a general, stretch-based class. Power yoga burns 245 per hour.
Will it keep me motivated? Yoga is all about attaining a sense of unity between body and mind rather than setting and achieving personal targets. However, you will feel accomplishment as you master the postures and there are many different types to try.
Specific benefits: In a study for the American Council on Exercise (ACE), Professor John Porcari found that women who did three yoga classes a week for eight weeks experienced a 13 per cent improvement in flexibility, with significant gains in shoulder and trunk flexibility. They were able to perform six more press-ups and 14 more sit-ups at the end of the study than at the beginning.
Risk factors: Don't fall for the line that celebrities get fit on yoga alone. According to ACE, even power yoga constitutes only a "light aerobic work-out".
Pilates
How quickly will it make a difference? After five to six weeks of thrice-weekly sessions.
How many calories does it burn? 170-237 per hour.
Will it keep me motivated? Once you start noticing positive changes in the way you move and hold your body, Pilates is hard to give up.
Specific benefits: Widely used by dancers and top athletes, it improves postural awareness and strength. Studies at Queensland University have shown that Pilates exercises can develop the deeply embedded traversus abdominal muscles which support the trunk.
Risk factors: Another study by ACE last year found the cardiovascular benefits of Pilates to be limited. Even an advanced 55-minute session raised participants' heart rates to a maximum of only 62 per cent (below the recommended 64-94 per cent said to constitute an aerobic work-out) and was deemed the energy equivalent of walking 3.5 miles an hour. If you have back pain, make sure you see a teacher who is also a physiotherapist, as poor technique can make matters worse.
Victor: Pilates
-- Guardian
