I've been practicing Pilates for over 20 years now. I've been going to the same studio all that time and also have equipment at home. I started due to a back injury; the owner of the studio specializes in rehab work. Other instructors I've had at the studio over the years have been good but not at the same standard as the owner. There is quite a difference in an instructor who just teaches classes, and an instructor with a deeper understanding of human movement who does rehab work. I also do some YouTube Pilates workouts. I find Pilates is the best for abdominal strength and learning control of movement, which is complimentary to other styles of workouts that I do. There are different styles of Pilates, some are more athletic focused, some more stretching, or mobility/flexibility focused and then there are the rehab style ones which move much slower and have fewer exercises, but the exercises are targeted to the problem area. I do a bit of Yoga too from DVDs and YouTube, but I prefer Pilates. There are quite a lot of crossovers between Pilates, Yoga, and Barre particularly in the more athletic or stretching/mobility/flexibility styles.
