Is Pilates Strength Training?
Posted originally on October 20, 2024
One of the questions I get most often from friends, clients and Pilates newbies is: Does Pilates count as strength training?
Ask a Cross Fit coach and they’ll say nope. No way. Most definitely not.
Ask a Pilates Instructor and they’ll say yes. Absolutely. 100%. Have you even done Pilates?
My floaty Pilates Instructor ex-Engineer answer?
Yes.
And No.
What Is Strength Training, Anyway?
When we talk about strength training, most people think of lifting weights, doing push-ups, or any exercise that’s about building muscle and power. For me, strength training is about developing the overall strength and function that we need for everyday life—like being able to lift your groceries, move furniture, or just feel stronger in your body as you perform your normal daily tasks.
Traditional Strength Training focuses on:
Explosive Strength: Think of movements like jumps or quick powerful lifts
Raw Strength: how much weight you can move or resist
Big Motor Skills: engaging large muscle groups in a coordinated way, like with squats, deadlifts, or bench presses
How Does Pilates Fit In?
Pilates has a similar goal—helping you feel stronger and more functional as you go through your daily life—but it goes about it a little differently. Pilates is all about:
Deep Core Strength: Those smaller, often overlooked muscles that support your spine and pelvis
Control and Precision: Moving with intention and focus, which makes all those little muscles work harder
Fine Motor Skills: Building stability, balance, and a greater awareness of how your body moves
Bone Density
One important aspect of strength training—whether it’s traditional weights or Pilates—is its impact on bone density. For those concerned about osteoporosis or simply wanting to maintain healthy bones as they age, weight-bearing exercises are crucial. When muscles pull on bones during exercise, it stimulates bone-forming cells, helping to maintain or even improve bone density.
For those concerned about bone density, it’s not an either-or situation—it’s more about finding the right balance:
Pilates offers a low-impact way to get some of those benefits. Exercises like planks, bridges, standing balance work and using the jump board in Pilates are all weight-bearing, which means they can help stimulate bone growth. Plus, Pilates places a strong focus on alignment and posture, which can be especially valuable for those with osteoporosis to prevent fractures and maintain a healthy spine.
Traditional Strength Training may provide an extra edge when it comes to building bone density. Lifting heavier weights creates a greater stress on the bones, which can lead to more bone-building activity. This makes traditional strength training particularly effective for those who need to combat bone loss.
Hybrid Approach: Mixing Pilates with weightlifting can provide the best of both worlds—fine-tuned movement patterns + the progressive resistance that builds muscle and bone density.
When Worlds Collide
Where Pilates and Traditional Strength Training Meet
Joseph Pilates was a body builder, so a lot of the classical Pilates exercises actually look pretty similar to traditional strength moves. For example:
The Push-Up Series in Pilates is a great match for the standard push-up progressions in the gym.
Mountain Climbers on the Chair match up well with box jumps or step-ups, while the many variations of lunging exercises on the Reformer and Chair emulate traditional lunges, side lunges, Bulgarian squats and curtsey lunges.
Footwork, Squats on the Reformer or Chair and Plies all lump into the squat category. While Pelvic Curls, Bridges and Single Leg Bridges on the mat or equipment are very similar to those weight-room glute bridges using body weights, off of a bench, or using an exercise ball.
The Rowing Series on the Reformer and Cadillac has a pulling motion that’s very much like a seated row you’d do in the gym (with a lot of extra choreography that also incorporates hamstring flexibility and core strength).
The Back Series with the Roll Back Bar is essentially a series of lat pull downs, single lat pull downs, and bicep curls.
And then of course, we have all of the rotation and stability work in Pilates that may feel similar to ax chops, pall-off presses, Russian twists or medicine ball oblique work. Not to mention swimming = super mans, swan = back extensions, the endless side plank and clam shell variations, and aaaaalll of the core exercises that feel simultaneously familiar and strange when they move from the gym to Pilates.
Making Traditional Strength Moves More Challenging
One of the things I love about Pilates is how it can take traditional strength exercises and spice up the challenge. For example, planks are a staple in both Pilates and strength training. But in Pilates, we make it even more challenging by adding movement and springs into the mix:
Planks on a Reformer can involve sliding the carriage back and forth, engaging stabilizing muscles even more.
Plank variations on the Chair involve pushing down on the pedals, turning a static hold into a dynamic balance challenge.
Side Planks on the Cadillac can be done with resistance from the springs, adding an extra element of control and strength to the movement.
These variations force you to stabilize in multiple directions, making the muscles work harder. So, rather than just holding a plank, you’re moving in and out of the position with control, creating a deeper connection to your core and the smaller supporting muscles.
What About the Springs?
If you’ve ever tried the Reformer, Cadillac, or Chair, you know those springs aren’t just for show. They create a kind of resistance that’s like lifting weights—but with a smoother feel. It’s a great way to challenge your muscles through a full range of motion and some of those spring loads can be extremely challenging.
But here’s the thing: Springs have their limits. Unlike free weights, where you can keep adding weight, the tension in the springs is fixed. At some point, if you are focused on raw strength and gross motor, you might want more resistance than Pilates springs can offer.
When working with extremely strong clients who can easily muscle through the springs, our Pilates focus is on all of the other things that make the movements challenging: stability, flexibility, control, coordination, breath work, and functionality.
Is Pilates Enough for Strength Training?
Yes. But also no. It all depends on what you’re looking for:
If your goal is to feel strong, balanced, and able to move through life with ease, Pilates is definitely a form of strength training.
If you’re looking to build large muscles, lift heavy, or specifically focus on maximizing bone density, you might want to mix in some traditional weightlifting for that added challenge.
Where Pilates Shines
A Safe Transition from Injury to Strength Training
One of the standout features of Pilates is its ability to serve as a seamless transition for individuals recovering from injuries back into normal activity. Most of our clients come to us after Physical Therapy, looking for a safe and effective way to regain strength and mobility so they can return to the gym. Here’s how Pilates fits into that recovery journey:
Pilates exercises are controlled, low-impact and holistic or full body. This helps folks regain strength without putting undue stress on healing bodies while also requiring the use of the recovering areas in complex compound movements.
A lot of pain and injuries stem from a weak core. Pilates emphasizes core strength, which can help support and stabilize the spine and pelvis, reducing the risk of re-injury.
The use of springs and resistance in Pilates allows for a gradual increase in difficulty. Clients can start with lighter resistance and increase as they gain strength and confidence, bridging the gap between rehab and full strength training.
Pilates encourages body awareness and alignment, which are crucial when transitioning back to more traditional strength exercises. By improving how the body moves and training proper alignment, traditional strength training exercises become safer and more effective.
Pilates can help maintain the strength built during PT or rehab while also addressing any lingering imbalances or weaknesses.
Strength is not solely defined by how much weight you can lift.
Strength is the balance between functionality, stability, mobility and power.
While Pilates may not fit the conventional definition of strength training, it does make you stronger by developing overall functionality, stability, balance, core strength, bone density and mobility. Plus, it allows you to access greater power when doing things like heavy lifting.
So yes. Final answer. Pilates is a type of strength training.
Cheers to whatever gets you moving this week-
Rubecca
No pain. No Gain.
Posted on June 14, 2023 by pilatesnative
No pain, no gain.
These words are on nearly every gym wall in the country. On t-shirts. Motivational posters. Popping out of every fitness instructor’s mouth when things get tough.
No pain, no gain.
But who equated pain with progress?
Since the dawn of time, humans have pushed our bodies to their very edges. Pheidippides, a Greek messenger ran 300 miles in 3 days to successfully deliver his message, before keeling over and dying. The Tarahumara Indians of the Copper Canyon in Mexico hunt by chasing their prey until the deer die of sheer exhaustion. Ballerinas en pointe are frequently pushed to the point of blood, foot bone disfunction and severe muscle instability to create the shapes required by their sport. Rhabdomyolysis, a once obscure condition of excessive and toxic muscle breakdown that can cause kidney injury or death, has become well known thanks to Ultrarunners and Cross Fitters who push their bodies to the literal point of failure.
For fitness hobbyists like myself, pulled muscles, strains, tears, and pain are accepted as just par for the course. Spending hundreds (if not thousands) on the latest recovery tools, PT programs, massages, and gear is seen as a badge of honor. It’s normal for fitness folks to circle for a pre or post workout pissing contest, sharing battle stories of how they got various injuries and how they pushed through despite their body’s resistance to continue.
But why?
Why are we so conditioned to push our bodies to the point of failure, for fun?
I’ve been an athlete for over 35 years and running for more than 25. I can tell you that dealing with a super intense level of training and the aftermath of injuries is anything BUT fun. Along with my physical health, my mental and emotional health suffered, and so did my relationships. There are certain injuries that I ignored, dismissed, or never properly healed that have haunted me for years, through muscle imbalances, compensations, and mental state.
When I finally backed off and really started to focus on healing and having fun, rather than pushing through to another PR, I learned a few things.
First, “no pain, no gain” is bullshit.
Pain is the body’s way of very very clearly communication that something is wrong. If you are actively in pain before, during or after a workout, something is very very wrong. If a trusted fitness pro is pushing you to work out through actual legitimate pain, they are doing something very very wrong and they are actively causing damage to your body. If YOU are pushing your body to work out through actual legitimate pain, YOU are doing something very very wrong and YOU are actively causing damage to your body.
Pushing through actual pain isn’t admirable, heroic, or badass. It’s dumb and it’s toxic for us to keep buying into a culture that keeps us chained to an injury treadmill.
Second, “no pain, no gain” doesn’t mean what we’ve been brainwashed to think it means.
When a really good fitness instructor talks about “pain”, they aren’t talking about physical hurt or body damage. They aren’t talking about running so far you puke or lifting so heavy you tear muscles or herniate disks. They aren’t telling us that we need to push so far past our limits that we break our bodies down with irreparable damage.
They are talking about the pain of dedication, the pain of consistency, the pain of starting at the bottom and working to the top of our ability. They are talking about the pain of prioritizing, the pain of making decisions and the pain of following through. They are talking about the pain of building emotional stamina and breaking through mental barriers. They are talking about the pain of starting something and not giving up.
They are not talking about physical, mental or emotional pain. They are talking about the discomfort that comes with growth.
Unfortunately, “dedication, consistency, priorities and discomfort from growth” isn’t catchy and it doesn’t rhyme with anything. It’s not exactly inspiring and it’s a terrible catch phrase for marketing.
If you’re tired of being in pain all of the time and bouncing around between injuries but you also aren’t ready to quit training, I get it. I full intend to run until I die.
At Pilates Native, I can teach you how to work with your body, instead of against it.
I can teach you how to get strong without sacrificing mobility, how to get mobility without sacrificing strength. I can teach you how to tap into your nervous system to help heal the physical, mental and emotional damage caused by your sport. I can teach you how to protect your body from further injury when you are going full throttle.
If you’re ready to step out on pain and try on “dedication, consistency, priorities, and discomfort from growth”, come on over. I got you.
-Rubecca