Can Pilates Build Muscle? The Benefits and Best Exercises

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A close look at the pros and cons of Pilates for muscle gain
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Pilates has become a popular low-impact exercise for beginners and gym enthusiasts, but can a simple mind-body regime help you build muscle? The short answer is yes—to a certain extent. If your primary goal is to build muscle, Pilates is an excellent addition to your strength training routine. It can help you improve your muscle strength—especially your core—making lifting weights easier. In this guide, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about getting strong with Pilates!

Can Pilates Help Build Muscle?

Yes, Pilates can help build muscle, but only to a certain extent. Pilates is great for toning, posture, and strengthening muscles, but you likely won’t see as much muscle gain as you would from strength training.

Section 1 of 6:

Does Pilates build muscle?

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  1. Pilates is an excellent low-impact exercise focusing more on improving muscle tone than building muscle. However, many Pilates first-time triers and enthusiasts have experienced muscle growth, especially around the upper and lower body and abdominal muscles, in the beginning before hitting a plateau. [1] With the right exercises and consistency, Pilates can increase muscle strength and give participants a slim, lean look.
    • If your primary goal is to build muscle, opt for an alternative workout regime, like strength training. Use Pilates with strength or weight training, especially on active rest days.
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Section 2 of 6:

Benefits of Pilates

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  1. You don’t need to engage in Pilates daily to reap its many physical and mental benefits. A study showed that taking a Pilates class once a week can improve your skeletal muscle mass, flexibility, balance, core- and abdominal muscle strength, and body awareness. [2] Similarly, additional benefits include: [3]
    • Increased lung capacity and circulation
    • Enhanced muscular control and strength
    • Stabilization of the spine
    • Injuries prevention
    • Increased relaxation in the upper body
    • Improved concentration
    • Enhanced body awareness
    • Stress management
Section 3 of 6:

Best Pilates Exercises for Building Muscle

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  1. Start by lying faceup on an exercise mat or similar surface. Lift both legs towards the ceiling, then lower them halfway so they’re at an angle. Health and Fitness Specialist Greg Maurer recommends, "Crunch[ing] up slightly and press[ing] your lower back firmly into the ground. Lift your shoulders and head. Reach your arms alongside your body, palms down. Pump your arms up and down in a small amplitude. Inhale for five counts, exhale for another five." Repeat this pattern until you reach 100 counts.
    • Modifications: If you have neck issues, keep your head on the ground and have your legs on the ground or at a tabletop position with both legs at a 90-degree angle. [4]
    • Targeted Muscles: The Pilates One Hundred is a dynamic warm-up for the abdominals and lungs. It targets the abdominal muscles, scapular, and trunk.
  2. Lie on the side of your body with an elbow resting against the floor beneath the corresponding shoulder. Extend both legs and stack your feet. Place your free hand on your hip. Engage the core and ground through your elbow and the side of your foot. Lift hips and knees. Gaze forward as you slowly lower your hips to the floor. Drive through your elbow and foot to return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times for 3 sets and switch to the other side. [5]
    • Modifications: Get into a regular plank position with your forearms flat against the mat. Keep your shoulders and elbows stacked and twist to alternating sides to dip. [6]
    • Targeted Muscles: Obliques, transverse adominis, and shoulders.
  3. Lie on your back with your feet on the floor and arms at your side. Bring your knees up to a 90-degree angle. Slowly bring your feet down so your toes can tap the floor. Bring your knees back to a 90-degree angle to return to the starting position. Exhale as you drop your legs, inhale as you bring them back up. Repeat 10 times for 3 sets. [7]
    • Modifications: Alternate one leg at a time or extend your legs straight out to make it more challenging.
    • Targeted Muscles: Glutes, hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, calves, and core.
  4. Start in a tabletop position with your wrists stacked under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Extend your right arm forward and left leg back. Ensure your back is flat and keep your hips square to the floor. Squeeze your abs and draw your arm and leg to meet at the center of your body. Do the same on alternating sides of the body. Repeat 10 times for 3 sets. [8]
    • Modifications: Hook a resistance band securely over your hand and foot to make it more difficult.
    • Targeted Muscles: Back, abdomen, and glutes.
  5. Place your hands directly under your shoulders to get into a high plank position. Tighten your core, quads, and glutes, and keep your hips square to the mat or floor. Slowly lift one leg off the floor as high as possible, but not past your shoulder height. Keep your entire body aligned. Exhale as you lift; inhale as you drop your leg down. Repeat 10 times on each side. [9]
    • Modifications: Instead of keeping your arms straight and your palms on the floor, perform a plank on your elbows.
    • Targeted Muscles: Shoulders, glutes, hamstrings, and abs. [10]
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Section 4 of 6:

Pilates vs. Strength Training

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  1. Pilates focuses on the concentration of specific movements, especially around the abdomen and lower back muscles, through precise movement and controlled breathing. It combines some of the ideas and movements of Yoga and Barre to strengthen specific muscles to become more flexible and balanced.
    • While Pilates is a form of strength or resistance training, what makes it different is the lack of outside resistance. While you may add weights, you can only add so much.
    • In the 1920s, personal trainer Joseph Pilates created a series of exercises to strengthen overused muscles to prevent injuries. [11]
  2. The older you get, the more muscle mass naturally diminishes. One way to replace muscle is by strength training. This exercise can help you gain muscle , manage your weight and chronic conditions, and improve your overall life quality. [12]
    • Strength training uses body weight, resistance bands, free or machine weights, and cable suspensions to create external resistance. Add 5% to 10% more weight each week to get stronger. [13]
    • Compound exercises target multiple muscle grounds at the same time. Think of squats, which activate the core, quads, hamstring, glutes, calf muscles, and hip flexors. [14]
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Section 5 of 6:

The 6 Principles of Pilates

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  1. Joseph Pilates believed in fusing the mind and body to achieve your body’s optimal balance, strength, and health without thought. Many refer to the five essentials of Pilates, which include breathing, cervical alignment, rib and scapular stabilization, pelvic mobility, and utilizing the transverse abdominis. [15] But, to accomplish this fusion, consider these key six principles of Pilates: [16]
    • Centering: The core, or “powerhouse” of the body, is where all the energy begins and radiates outward to the other parts of your body.
    • Concentration: Focus your mind on the entire body with every exercise. Consider how it moves, how you’re holding the position, and most importantly, how you’re breathing.
    • Control: It’s important to keep a tight core when moving in and out of different positions to get the most out of every movement.
    • Breath: One movement, one breath. Pilates believed each exercise should be done with full and rhythmic breathing to “purge all cellular waste.” [17] Exhaling can help activate your muscles deeper.
    • Precision: Instead of doing a bunch of movements half-heartedly, focus on a select few and execute them correctly.
    • Fluidity: Pilates aims to seamlessly link your moves with your breath so you can easily flow from one exercise into another.
Section 6 of 6:

Types of Pilates

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  1. This form is a common, beginner-friendly option that’s accessible and requires little to no equipment because it’s dependent solely on your body. All you need is a comfortable yoga or exercise mat. Mat Pilates consists of the 50 groundwork Pilates moves created by Joseph Pilates to improve core strength and flexibility. [18]
    • Mat-based Pilates may give new users slight muscle gain. However, you can only gain so much without added resistance, such as resistance bands or weights.
    • Common mat Pilates exercises includes one-hundreds, double-leg stretches, planks, leg circles, and teasers.
  2. In Pilates, a reformer is a large piece of equipment with springs, ropes, pulleys, and a sliding carriage that requires you to work against the tension. You can increase or decrease tension for a full-body, strength-building workout. This form of Pilates is ideal for any level of experience. However, if you’re looking for a high-intensity workout, add additional springs and increase the resistance. [19]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5005852/
      2. ↑ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27195456/
      3. ↑ https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/pilates-health-benefits#types-of-pilates
      4. ↑ https://www.verywellfit.com/how-to-do-the-pilates-hundred-2704677
      5. ↑ https://www.self.com/gallery/pilates-exercises-that-work-your-core
      6. ↑ https://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/ab-workouts/side-plank-variations
      7. ↑ https://www.tummee.com/yoga-poses/supine-toe-taps-flow/how-to-do
      8. ↑ https://www.self.com/gallery/pilates-exercises-that-work-your-core
      9. ↑ https://www.self.com/gallery/pilates-exercises-that-work-your-core
      1. ↑ https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-do-leg-lifts
      2. ↑ https://health.clevelandclinic.org/everything-you-want-to-know-about-pilates
      3. ↑ https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/strength-training/art-20046670
      4. ↑ https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/strength-training/art-20046670
      5. ↑ https://columbiaassociation.org/gyms-fitness/what-are-compound-exercises/
      6. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3666467/
      7. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445206/
      8. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445206/
      9. ↑ https://www.onepeloton.com/blog/mat-pilates/
      10. ↑ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/fitness/a41936033/reformer-pilates-benefits/

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