Pilates for Weight Loss?

Our Front Door

As clients know, my studio is in a group of buildings with several small businesses, including a couple of salons. I was outside the other day and a salon client flagged me down. She had an "apple" body shape -- most of her weight in her torso, and yes, overweight. She asked, "Will Pilates help with weight loss?" We started talking, but the questions she asked were along the lines of, "Will Pilates magically melt the fat off my body?" Did I mention she was outside smoking a cigarette?

 Many clients and prospects are looking for a silver bullet or magic wand -- show up for an hour a week, and in a month, lo and behold, back to the svelte figure they remember having in high school. While I don't want to discourage anyone, there is no silver bullet, and I don't know any fairy godmothers. Clients still have to do the work, and make no mistake, Pilates is a work out. (If you don't feel like it's a work out, you're probably not doing it right.) Working out one or two hours per week will help, but not changing any other habits most likely will not result in a dramatic transformation.

Front Support - Mat

"Physical fitness can neither be acquired by wishful thinking nor by outright purchase."
   -- Joseph Pilates, Return to Life Through Contrology

Can Pilates help with weight loss? Yes, definitely. But so can walking, swimming, yoga, strength training, eating a healthy and balanced diet, and controlling portion sizes. With a comprehensive plan that includes cardio, strength training, and a healthy diet (based on the correct caloric intake), weight loss is almost guaranteed. The key is finding something that works for you, start there, and then build on it. And be prepared for a gradual transformation. Chances are, it took years to get where you are now, so it will take time for your body to change and time to change the lifestyle that brought you to this point.

How can Pilates help with weight loss? While it's not cardio like cycling, running or swimming, your heart rate is elevated and all the muscles work, so there is a caloric burn. (For clients that don't like being all sweaty, however, Pilates won't leave you dripping the way cycling or running will.) Clients use their body weight and/or equipment spring tension to build lean muscle mass, like strength training. Will you look like Arnold Schwarznegger? No. Will you develop long, lean muscles throughout the body with better definition and tone? Definitely. Pilates works all muscles groups, including very small muscles that most strength training programs never reach, which is one of the reasons why it's so different. Because all exercises can be modified for anyone, and there's no impact, any client -- no matter their age, size or current physical shape -- can do Pilates. It's a great way to start an exercise program after a long hiatus. Our studio features raised, platform equipment (NO Yoga mats on the floor), so even clients who have difficulty getting up and down are able to get on/off the equipment safely and easily. Pilates focuses on developing a strong and stable core, which is important for good posture, protecting your back, and improved balance.

Shoulder Bridge - Tower

"Contrology [aka Pilates] develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind, and elevates the spirit."
   -- Joseph Pilates, Return to Life Through Contrology 

If you'd like help with a comprehensive fitness plan, Any Body's Pilates' instructors are also certified personal trainers and we'd be happy to help you with that. Clients can completely change their bodies (and their lives) with Pilates, but it's the ones who do the work and stick with it who achieve the transformation, not the ones who wait to be struck by a silver bullet.

Pilates for Strength Training

There are four primary benefits of Pilates: stamina, stretch, stability, and strength. Yes, Pilates can and does build strength. This is an eye-opening surprise to many new clients.

Teaser on Tower

Most clients come from a gym background and believe the only way to build strength is to lift weights, and the heavier, the better and more challenging. During Mat Pilates, clients build strength by lifting the weight of their body. Anyone who has done push-ups, pull-ups, tricep dips, chin-ups or any other difficult exercise requiring the individual to lift their body weight, knows how challenging this can be. With a good instructor, the client will also learn proper form and balance within the body (so one side isn't doing more work than the other). No more push-ups with a sagging belly, or tricep dips with hunched shoulders, or downward-dog-style (i.e. booty in the air) planks -- the client develops the strength to perform the exercises properly.

Front Suppo

 With Pilates equipment, in addition to the weight of the client's body, spring tension is added. (On the Reformer, the client lifts his/her body weight, plus spring tension, plus the additional weight of the carriage.) The spring tension is similar to a weight, or exercise band, in that the client must use muscle strength to create tension on the springs and engage muscle strength to release the tension. In Pilates, the release is more important than the pull, as the release requires more control. The exercises must be done with proper form and alignment, which requires concentration and muscle strength in the core and other parts of the body to stabilize for the working muscles. This requires strength in the major muscle groups usually addressed with weight training, as well as much smaller muscles that are normally ignored in most weight training programs.

Twist on Wunda Chair

Pilates is designed with exercises in lying, sitting and standing positions. At times, the client has the help of gravity, at times less help, and at other times, in addition to lifting the client's weight, plus added spring tension (resistance), the client is also defying gravity. This requires a great deal of strength, balance (stability), concentration and control.

So, before assuming that Pilates is only for stretching, try a Mat class or an equipment session. Not only is Pilates great for strength training, it's much gentler on the joints and spine than traditional weight training and is accessible to those who are out of shape or uncomfortable with weight machines or free weights. It's a fun and challenging way to develop muscle strength, using a different form of resistance training.