Pilates and/or Yoga (advanced) the same as weight training?

[WineDeer]

Hi everyone! I guess I need some of your collective wisdom.

I'm starting to work out again (after a long pause with knee and foot issues) and I was using a personal trainer before to do the "weights" part of my workout.

I can't afford her anymore, so now, I'm left with a gym and all of it's machines at my disposal. She did give me what exercises to do and the number of reps, but I know myself, and I know I work better in classes.

I was a very avid Pilates and Yoga person, doing advance classes in both -- and specifically all types of yoga, except for Birkim -- so... my question is:

Can Pilates and/or Yoga count as "weight training"?

I'm a girl, so I'm not looking to bulk up or anything. I just know that I need to get more muscles to improve my insulin resistance, and I know that I am a wimp at will power and a class forces me to do exercise for a set amount of time.

Any advice? Ideas? Confirmation that they count as "weight training"?

Thank you!

 

[maleficent]

I'm a girl, so I'm not looking to bulk up or anything.

women aren't designed to 'bulk up' so don't worry about that...

I'd also spend some time reading the stickied threads in the exercise forum - you might get some ideas to bump up your workouts...

In a limited sense, yoga and pilates are strength training, like any body weight exercise would be - but you'll get a lot more bang for your buck if you actually use weights..

 

[WineDeer]

Eek!

I am probably the one of ten women that does bulk up -- I have PCOS, which means my hormone balance is off, and my testosterone is off the charts. I can bulk up pretty easily -- my legs are proof of it, and without doing anything to really make them muscle-y.

But even with PCOS, I have to do stregnth training, because it's a fundamental truth that muscles burn more calories and studies now confirm that it helps insulin resistance (which I have) and helps burn the belly fat -- which I also have.

Sorry... I'm just really frustrated with this whole PCOS thing. It makes losing weight really hard and I have to find the right combination of diet and exercise, so that I don't starve, don't make myself sicker, and I can lose weight.