Why Yoga and Pilates Aren’t Enough
Why Yoga and Pilates Aren’t Enough (and What Your Body Actually Needs)
Let me start with this: Yoga and Pilates aren’t the problem. But if they’re your only form of training, then yeah—we’ve got a problem.
Someone tells me, “I do yoga three times a week. I feel great! Why would I need anything else?” Fair question. Flexibility’s up, you’re moving, breathing, slowing down your mind—awesome. But fast-forward five years. You hit your 40s, 50s, 60s, and suddenly: You can touch your toes, but you can’t lift your suitcase without throwing your back out. You can hold a Warrior II for two minutes, but you lose your balance stepping off a curb. You feel “fit,” but your muscles are fading and your bones are getting brittle.
That’s when it hits: You were training control, not capacity. These systems are brilliant at what they’re designed to do:
Improve body awareness
Build core stability
Increase flexibility and alignment
Support breath, posture, and presence
But here’s the hard truth: They don’t prepare you for the messy, chaotic, heavy stuff life throws at you.
No one tears a ligament in a yoga class. They tear it twisting weird to grab a falling phone in the car. Or catching their kid mid-fall. That’s where the “movement in all directions, under load” kind of training steps in.
What Your Body Actually Craves: Loaded, 3D Movement
Here’s what I mean by 3D movement:
Lunging in multiple directions
Rotating under load
Pulling, pushing, carrying, and crawling
Training joints and tissues to handle real forces from real angles
This kind of training builds capacity:
Stronger muscles and connective tissue
Denser bones (goodbye osteoporosis)
Faster reflexes and injury-proofing
More coordination and resilience across the board
It’s not about getting jacked. It’s about aging like someone who could still carry their groceries and their grandkids in one trip.
So, What Should You Do?
Here’s what I recommend to almost everyone, build a hybrid movement practice:
Use yoga or Pilates as your reset button—recover, breathe, find your form.
Layer in 3D strength 2–3x per week: kettlebells, landmine presses, sled work, crawling patterns, rotational core work, and carries.
Progress with load, intensity, and complexity over time.
That’s the blend that keeps you strong, supple, and unbreakable.
Final Word
If your goal is to feel good now and still be capable at 60, 70, 80? Flexibility alone won’t cut it. You need strength. You need power. You need movement that prepares you for the unpredictable. Yoga and Pilates are tools. Valuable ones. But they’re not the whole toolbox.
Train for the body you want not just to move, but to handle life.