If you have spent time on TikTok lately, you have probably seen someone raving about their Pilates lifestyle. The rise of the Pilates princess aesthetic is displayed with cute pastel workout sets, minimal mat workouts, a toned look, and has become part of the soft girl vibe. On the other end of TikTok, is the muscle mommy aesthetic, which blends feminine energy with serious strength and power. What started as a low-impact workout has become a full-on lifestyle for many women. But beyond TikTok, can Pilates replace your gym workouts?
Background
Pilates was created by Joseph Pilates as a form of contrology and to increase muscle strength through bodyweight. Pilates can be done on a yoga mat or with reformers, but there has to be an emphasis on precision, concentration, control, and fluidity. However, today Pilates is currently advertised more for core strength, balance, coordination, and flexibility purposes. There is research that shows the benefits of Pilates, like decreasing body fat and increasing muscle endurance. One of the most studied results is that Pilates effectively relieves lower back pain. However, when comparing Pilates with other forms of exercise, there is no significant difference. There is limited research on whether Pilates substantially increases muscle strength, whether through a reformer with elastic bands or through mat Pilates using body weight.
Is Mat Pilates or Reformers more Effective?
Reformers may be more effective because they have adjustable resistance bands, which allow progression and also support. On the other hand, mat Pilates can feel more difficult for beginners, since they have to stabilize and control the exercises with no assistance. Initially, bodyweight exercises can feel challenging. However, with mat Pilates, there is not much resistance, which can cause progress to plateau unless resistance is introduced. With reformers, Pilates can become a lot more challenging over time because additional resistance will be added, which can easily apply to progressive overload. This added difficulty over time increases the amount of progress over time. Regardless, both forms of Pilates can be equally effective depending on your fitness level, goals, and resources.
Benefits: Muscle Strength and Muscle Endurance
Currently, what is known about Pilates is that this form of exercise can increase muscle strength, especially in stabilizing muscles, like the core, back, and glute muscles. Additionally, muscle endurance is improved, which is a great strength. Pilates is all about doing exercises with high repetition and low resistance! Many exercises in Pilates are repeated movements with light resistance from the reformer’s bands or from body weight. This builds a lot of muscle endurance, and in many Pilates classes, after high repetitions of an exercise, the instructor asks the class to hold the position. This is known as an isometric hold, which contracts the muscle without movement. This inherently trains the muscle to resist fatigue over time. This can be illustrated by doing exercises, like planks, daily. If you were to hold a plank every day till failure, over time, the plank time will increase. Secondly, in many Pilates exercises, there is also core endurance and breathing control. Breathing control is helpful so that muscles get more oxygen as you move. This breathing control allows performance and stamina to be enhanced, which can lead to higher repetitions.
Cons: Muscle Mass
While Pilates helps with muscle tone, it is not ideal for building muscle mass. Muscle mass is the size and magnitude of the muscle. Muscle mass is also known as muscle hypertrophy. While Pilates can tone your muscles, it cannot vastly increase muscle mass in comparison to weight training. Generally, to grow muscle mass, a caloric surplus and progressive overload are necessary. Pilates does not use heavy weights to grow or strengthen muscles. Instead, Pilates uses light resistance with high repetitions, which overall aids more in muscle strength and muscle endurance. Progressive overload would be considered the opposite of Pilates because it has lower repetitions but is high intensity. This is why Pilates is not good for hypertrophy, as it cannot produce large amounts of muscle through maximum strength. Hence, Pilates can create a toned look, but with a proper diet and muscle training with progressive overload, it can potentially create more of a bulky look.
Can Pilates Create Abs Faster, since it targets the core?
Pilates incredibly targets and strengthens the core, including muscles like the transverse abdominis. This, in turn, helps with posture and back pain. This is because Pilates, in comparison to traditional crunches, uses less pressure when working the abdominal muscles. Pilates with low resistance can create a flat and toned stomach, but cannot build thick abdominal muscles. Secondly, to gain abs, body fat percentage has to be low, so cardio and proper dieting, like being in a calorie deficit, are both factors that can affect how the abdominal muscles are shown. Similarly, weight training can help grow the size of your abdominal muscles, but without fat loss, the muscles will stay hidden under the fat on the stomach. The only way to have abs is for the body fat percentage to be low. This can be done through a variety of cardio exercises, like running, jogging, cycling, etc. Low body fat percentage can also be accomplished through lifting weights, whether low or high intensity, while also being in a calorie deficit.
My Experience
I have been weight training for over a year, but recently I wanted to try Pilates to see if I would like it. I started with mat Pilates at home, which is affordable and convenient. All I needed was a yoga mat, ankle straps, and dumbbells. At first, Pilates was challenging using only my body weight, especially for my core. However, over time, I got used to the movements and increased weight. My flexibility and my strength also improved. However, I realized I will not be able to build a lot of muscle from Pilates because it is low weight and high repetition. Usually, when I do Pilates, it is for arms and abs because I would rather weight train for legs to gain more muscle. Pilates fits well in my schedule because the videos are typically 20-30 minutes of light exercise, yet are still effective. I enjoy both Madeline Abeid and Izzy Samuel’s Pilates on YouTube. Madeline Abeid Pilates is great for core exercises with low intensity, and Izzy Samuel’s Pilates has higher intensity workouts with weights that I enjoy as well. With this combination, I feel like I can achieve my fitness goals, but also get a variety of different types of exercises!
Pilates is a powerful tool to build endurance, flexibility, and strength. While it is not ideal for muscle hypertrophy, there are many other physical benefits. Whether you choose mat or reformer Pilates, the key is consistency and pairing it with a lifestyle that sustains your fitness goals.