If you are looking for a fat-burning workout that sculpts your muscles and helps to tighten your core, you might want to look at implementing PiYo into your fitness routine. PiYo is a low-impact workout that combines the benefits of Pilates with the health benefits of yoga.
What is the PiYo Workout?
The word, PiYo, itself comes from an integration of Pilates and Yoga (Pi-Yo). It was created by Chalene Johnson who wanted to create a workout program that helped anyone reach their fitness goals, no matter their age or fitness level. PiYo is a form of a low-impact workout, as mentioned before, that delivers a fat-burning experience to leave your body looking long and lean. It also helps to create the body super defined. PiYo introduces a dynamic flow, similar to that of yoga, and flowing sequences that burn calories and tone the muscles of the body.
Getting Started With PiYo
PiYo is great for anyone looking to start a new fitness routine, whether they are a beginner or an advanced individual. It is also perfect for someone who wants to add variety to their workouts in a fun and safe manner. PiYo combines different forms of training all into one and is designed to help you burn calories while creating lean muscle.
PiYo requires only a yoga mat, and nothing else. Only your body weight is needed for all workouts. However, as you get more advanced, you can start to incorporate equipment, such as sliders, into your workout routine.
Workout Duration and Types of PiYo Training
Each PiYo workout lasts for about 25-50 minutes. Based on if you are a beginner or more advanced, you can change the workout time accordingly. For someone who is more advanced, PiYo can be combined with other workouts such as the Insanity Max 30 to burn even more fat and develop muscle.
Most PiYo programs are about 60-days with workouts scheduled for 6 days of the week. As PiYo is a more intense version of both Pilates and yoga, results can be seen fairly quickly.
There are many different types of trainings that are combined to get a full PiYo workout routine. Some of these include: dance, athletic drills, core conditioning, sports training, and stretching routines. With all of these trainings combined into one, it can help to burn a lot of fat, while maintaining lean muscle. There are also at-home workout programs available, such as the PiYo Base and PiYo Deluxe. PiYo Base is the basic program that does not include a yoga mat or sliders. PiYo Deluxe, on the other hand, includes advanced workouts, as well as a yoga mat and sliders.
PiYo Workout Benefits
PiYo provides the body with a wide range of benefits. Not only is this workout fun, but it helps you reach your fitness goals if you stay consistent. Because PiYo is a mix of Pilates and yoga, it is important to take a look at both forms of exercise to see the length of the benefits provided by PiYo. Below are explanations of both Pilates and yoga and the benefits provided by both.
Pilates Explained
Pilates was introduced in America in 1920 by a physical trainer known as Joseph Pilates. He introduced the Pilates method to help injured athletes return to their normal fitness routines. Since then, people all over the world have adopted the Pilates method and regularly use it in their fitness routines.
Pilates is a form of both aerobic and non-aerobic form of exercise that requires immense focus and concentration as the body is moved in precise ranges throughout the Pilates workout. Pilates focuses on all the major muscle groups in the body and each exercise emphasizes rhythm and breathing patterns.
Some health benefits of Pilates include the following:
- Increase in muscle strength and tone
- Toned abdominal muscles and other core muscles of the body
- Improved flexibility, as well as improved posture
- Balance in muscle strength on both sides of the body
- Injury prevention due to muscle imbalances
- Improved balance and physical coordination
- Increase in body awareness and improved concentration levels
- Muscle relaxation and stress management
The most important thing about Pilates is that it is suitable for everyone, whether you are a beginner or advanced, and these exercises can be performed using your own body weight or with small equipment.
Yoga Explained
Yoga dates back to thousands of years and is part of the ancient Indian philosophy. It was originally designed for spiritual enlightenment and has quickly become a form of stress management routine. Yoga focuses heavily on the breathing pattern and it designed to improve the overall efficiency of the body.
The yoga movements affect the muscles, joints, and overall the whole body. Some health benefits of yoga include the following:
- Cardiovascular system improvements helps to normalize blood pressure
- Improves blood circulation
- Helps the musculoskeletal system by encouraging mobility
- Eases muscle tension
- Helps reduce stress and anxiety
- Improves concentration and energy levels
By taking into consideration the health benefits provided by both pilates and yoga themselves, they can easily be achieved through PiYo as it combines both pilates and yoga.
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Weight Loss Management with PiYo
One of the most important benefits of PiYo is its ability to help with weight-loss management. Many individuals struggle to find a program that helps with both weight-loss, as well as keeping the muscles looking defined.
According to Sorey Fitness, it is best to have a 250 calorie deficit between your workouts if you want to burn 1 pound of fat per week. However, the amount of calories you burn depends on many different factors, such as genetics and your diet plan. For most people, they are able to burn 250 to 400 calories with PiYo.
PiYo Meal Plan Diet
The PiYo Meal Plan is known as the PiYo GET LEAN diet. It is designed to be simple and easy to follow. The meal plan is a well-balanced diet that focuses on whole foods. On average, it has the daily ratios of about 35% protein, 40% carbs, and 25% fats which is good for healthy optimal levels. The meal plan comes with a wide range of foods in different categories and you get to choose the amount of calories you want to intake from each category, such as proteins, fruits and vegetables, carbs, and healthy fats.
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The Bottom Line
The PiYo workout, a combination of pilates and yoga, is great for all individuals that are starting out their fitness journey or are looking to take their fitness to the next level. PiYo provides amazing health benefits, such as, improved cardiovascular health, improved muscle strength and flexibility, weight-loss management, and much more as discussed above.
