Today, many more youth are overweight then what they used to be. With the increase of video games, TV watching, poor eating habits, and fewer PE classes, our youth are gaining weight at rapid rates. Obesity levels across the nation have reached an all time high. It’s now at an epidemic proportion.

In fact, the number one reason that the US Army rejects candidates is due to their excessive weight. Unfit recruits have become a huge issue for the Army. Many are failing their fitness tests. Some are even getting injured during basic training because they are unprepared for any strenuous activity.

As a result, the Army has unveiled a plan to change their fitness routines. They are now going to incorporate yoga and Pilates into their fitness regime to increase core strength. The hope is that the new plan will help get recruits into shape. Instead of relying solely on intense physical training, Pilates and yoga will help develop core strength. It is also supposed to reduce the number of injuries that unfit recruits get.

The program incorporates more stretching and gradually increases with difficulty over time. It’s more of a whole body workout. The program has now been put into use at five different training posts and combined it has over 145,000 participants. In fact, the program is now more closely inline with the skills that are required by soldiers. It will help to strengthen both their core and back.

Recruits are not in the shape that they used to be in years past. The Army’s rigorous fitness requirements are not able to be held up. These plans to insert yoga and Pilate routines are in no means to lower the fitness standards. Rather, they are meant to help recruits safely reach the optimum level of fitness. They are creating these adjustments in order to help with America’s rising obesity problems. The Army’s problem with overweight recruits is not just an Army problem, rather it is a problem with the rest of the nation, too.

Along with this, the Army is also making changes in the mess hall. The soda has been replaced with healthier options. Now, rather than serving soda they are serving milk. They even added a color coded system in hopes to encourage recruits to eat better. Army members are seeing more leafy greens being served. So, not only are their workouts changing, their eating habits are too.

Pilates is a system of body exercises developed by Joseph Pilates. His form of exercises were based on building body strength, improving flexibility, and agility. And involved a series of specially designed exercises that involved the body and mind. Traditional Pilates exercises use special exercise equipment to do the movements. So, now we move forward to Mat Pilates. What is Mat Pilates? Mat Pilates takes the position that the individual does not need a complicated list of exercise equipment to perform basic exercise movements. The belief of those involved with this type of exercise is that the body can achieve total physical fitness without the use of any form of equipment. In addition, they find that the individual only needs their own body weight and gravity to exercise and receive amazing benefits. And that the set of mat work exercises serves to completely tone, strengthen, and lengthen, the entire body.

Performing Mat Pilates is a very easy task for most individuals. All that is needed is a space to exercise, a floor, and a mat. This is of course nothing like the traditional Pilates that uses a large combination of expensive machines to perform all the exercise movements. Many people often wonder if regular traditional Pilates is better than the simpler Mat Pilates. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. And it is basically up to the individual which they prefer to work with in the long run. Always select the movement that is within your comfort zone. If working with expensive machines and utilizing various movements is not your cup of tea then mat Pilates simpler movements might be more in tune with your taste.