健康生活:普拉提還是瑜伽?

Pilates vs. Yoga

健康問答：普拉提還是瑜伽？

Question:

問：

Is Pilates better than yoga for strengthening exercises?

在力量練習方面，普拉提是否比瑜伽更好？

Asked by Rodin's Muse

——Rodin's Muse

Answer:

答：

The answer depends to a large degree on what it is you're trying to strengthen.

答案在很大程度上取決於你想要增進哪方面的力量。

In general, Pilates exercises, originally developed by the fitness trainer Joseph Pilates, target the core muscles around the spine. If your aim is to strengthen your midsection, then Pilates is a fine choice. In a small but well-designed study last year, nine sedentary women who completed 36 weeks of supervised Pilates training bulked up their abdominal muscles by as much as 20 percent, while also lessening any existing muscular imbalances there.

總的來說，由健身教練約瑟夫·普拉提(Joseph Pilates)開發的普拉提訓練，針對的是脊柱周圍的核心肌羣。如果你的目標是強化身體中段，那麼普拉提是個很好的選項。去年一個規模較小但設計優良的研究發現，九位習慣靜坐不動的女性在完成了36周經專人指導的普拉提訓練後，腹部肌肉增加了多達20%，該部位原有的肌力不平衡問題也有所緩解。

"Pilates can be recommended as an effective method to reinforce the muscles of the abdominal wall and to compensate pre-existing asymmetric developments," the authors said.

“在強化腹部肌肉羣，減緩既有的肌肉不對稱惡化上，普拉提可以推薦作爲一種有效的訓練手段，”研究作者表示。

But whether such training fortifies the rest of the body is questionable. A review last year of Pilates-related science found little credible evidence that the exercises added muscle or incinerated body fat apart from in the midsection.

但這種練習是否可強化身體的其他部位，尚不得而知。去年，一篇有篇普拉提研究的綜述認爲，現在尚無可靠證據證明，普拉提練習可以增加身體中段以外其他部位的肌肉或燃燒脂肪。

Yoga, however, especially hatha yoga, with its flowing poses, may strengthen larger sections of the body.

不過，瑜伽，尤其是哈達瑜伽，因其姿勢是流動的，也許能增強全身更廣泛的部位。

"Depending on the specific style, yoga is a quite intensive exercise intervention," said Holger Cramer, a research fellow in integrative medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, who is studying the physical impact of yoga. A telling 2011 study published in the Asian Journal of Sports Medicine found that after six months of almost-daily sun salutations (a multipart yoga pose) and no other resistance training, young men and women could bench-press significantly more weight and complete far more push-ups and pull-ups than at the start of the study.

“視乎特定流派，瑜伽可以是一種頗爲激烈的訓練干預手段，”德國杜伊斯堡-埃森大學(University of Duisburg-Essen)結合醫學研究員霍爾格·克萊默(Holger Cramer)介紹說。他目前研究的是瑜伽對身體的作用。2011年，一篇發表於《亞洲運動醫學》(Asian Journal of Sports Medicine)的研究引人注目地發現，一羣年輕男女進行拜日式體位練習（這是一種要練習身體各部位的瑜伽體位），而且沒有進行其他任何阻力訓練，在半年幾乎每天勤練不輟的訓練後，相比研究之初，他們臥推的重量顯著增加，完成的俯臥撐和引體向上數也有明顯上升。

The upshot? Pilates may be preferable if your primary goal is a solid core, but if you're hoping to strengthen your upper body and goose your push-up tally, you'll probably accomplish more with sun salutations and other yoga moves.

結論是？如果你的主要目標是練出有力的核心肌羣，普拉提也許是個好選項；可如果你希望強化上半身，做更多的俯臥撐，也許通過練習拜日式和其他瑜伽姿勢，能達成這個目標。

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