GALLOWAY – Pilates exercises use focused sustained postures to strengthen the body’s core. Yoga also is based on prolonged poses called asanas that boost body strength and calm the mind.

Put them together, and what have you got? An all-new and altogether different cross-training technique called PiYo, now available at Tilton Fitness, with three locations in Atlantic County: Mays Landing, Galloway and Northfield.

Unlike Pilates and yoga, PiYo is quick-moving and almost explosively energetic. It blends traditional postures (like the plank and downward-facing dog) with plyometrics (hops, jumps and bounds) plus cardio moves (like jumping jacks) for a full-body workout.

It also aids in weight loss. A one-hour workout can burn 300 to 500 calories, according to instructor Katie Thompson of Mays Landing, who is certified in the method.

PiYo can help practitioners become more limber, increase their muscle strength and build their core stability, said Thompson.

“Every move you make comes from the core. PiYo improves your range of motion and flexibility, which can help prevent injury,” she said.

The method was created by fitness expert Chalene Johnson, who also devised Hip Hop Hustle, Turbo Jam and TurboKick. Pulse-pounding music sets the pace for Thompson’s class, and some of the moves are demanding. But modifications make it possible even for beginners, older adults and people who are overweight to participate.

“If you’re tired, you go to child’s pose and relax for a minute,” Thompson said. “It gets easier the more you do it.”

Marie Nunes of Galloway recently took her second PiYo class.

“Yes, it’s challenging,” she said. “I do it after spin class; I like it because yoga was too boring for me.” The day after her first class, she felt the aftereffects in the oblique muscles of her midsection, she said.

Nunes said her biggest problem in class was coordination. Some PiYo exercises are performed while students balance on one foot; one pose, done on all fours on a floor mat, requires them to extend the left leg and right arm and hold that posture – also a test of the equilibrium. A third combines the plank with a crunch that brings one elbow to the opposite knee.

Thompson said the method is an upbeat take on two quieter, more contemplative disciplines, but the results are the same: greater strength, toning, energy and elasticity.

“Having a strong core is going to help you every day, in everything you do,” she said.

For information and class schedules see www.tiltonfitness.com.