Does Pilates Get You in Shape?

Pilates builds measurable fitness across several dimensions, including core strength, flexibility, balance, and muscular endurance, though it is weaker at delivering the calorie burn and raw strength gains you would get from running or heavy weight training. Whether Pilates “gets you in shape” depends on what shape you are aiming for. If your goal is a stronger, more flexible, more stable body with better posture and less back pain, the research strongly supports it. If you are after large muscles or marathon-level cardio, Pilates alone will leave gaps.

What Pilates Does Best: Core Strength

The foundation of every Pilates workout is the deep stabilizing muscles of the trunk. Research shows that core-stability training in the Pilates mold produces meaningful improvements in the thickness and activation timing of the transversus abdominis and internal obliques, the muscles that act like a corset around your midsection.¹ Even the Pilates breathing technique on its own has been shown to increase electrical activity in these deep abdominal muscles in people who had not trained before.² This matters because the deep core is the first layer of muscle that fires before you move a limb. A stronger, better-timed core translates into better posture, more efficient movement, and a lower risk of back injury.

A study in sedentary women found that a Pilates mat program produced significant gains in both abdominal and lower-back strength, as well as abdominal muscular endurance, compared to a control group.³ In post-menopausal women, a Pilates program improved upper-body, lower-body, and abdominal strength, with the 30-second chair stand (a common test of lower-limb power) improving by roughly 23%.⁴ So Pilates does build real strength, especially in the trunk and lower body. The catch is how that strength stacks up against heavier forms of resistance exercise, which we will get to.

Flexibility Gains Are Substantial and Fast

If you have ever felt stiff touching your toes, Pilates is one of the more reliable ways to change that. In a controlled trial, a Pilates group improved their sit-and-reach score from about 28 cm to nearly 35 cm over eight weeks, while a control group showed no change at all.⁵ A nine-month program in adolescents showed significant increases in hamstring extensibility and improvements in spinal curvature, with effects ranging from moderate to very high depending on the test.⁶ And in adults with chronic low back pain, Pilates improved both hamstring flexibility and lumbar flexion range.⁷

The flexibility gains are not just cosmetic. Being able to move your spine, hips, and legs through a full range of motion is one of the strongest predictors of staying injury-free and maintaining independence as you age. And unlike aggressive static stretching, Pilates achieves flexibility through controlled movement, which tends to preserve joint stability rather than compromise it.

The Cardio Question: Where Pilates Falls Short

The most honest thing to say about Pilates and cardiovascular fitness is that it helps, but not as much as actual cardio does. A systematic review and meta-analysis found a moderate improvement in VO2 max (a standard measure of aerobic capacity) from Pilates training, regardless of whether participants were healthy or managing a health condition.⁸ That is a real finding and worth acknowledging: Pilates is not zero cardio. But the metabolic data puts it in perspective.

The most methodologically rigorous estimates from a recent meta-analysis suggest a typical Pilates session burns about 3.0 METs and roughly 2.9 calories per minute.⁹ For reference, 3 METs is the threshold between light and moderate activity; brisk walking sits around 3.5 to 4 METs. A direct comparison of mat and Reformer sessions found that the Reformer burned about 2.6 calories per minute while the mat session burned about 1.9, and neither one significantly elevated heart rate or blood pressure above resting levels.¹⁰ So if your primary goal is burning a lot of calories or training your heart and lungs to handle high-intensity effort, Pilates on its own will not get you there. You would need to pair it with running, cycling, swimming, or another dedicated aerobic exercise.

Does Pilates Change Your Body Composition?

The body-composition picture is mixed. A meta-analysis looking specifically at people who were overweight or obese found that Pilates significantly reduced body fat percentage, but did not change lean body mass or waist circumference compared to controls.¹¹ That is an interesting combination: some fat loss without gaining muscle mass, which suggests Pilates can modestly shift body composition but is not a muscle-building powerhouse. If you want visible changes to your body shape, Pilates may help trim fat but it probably will not add the kind of lean mass that resistance training does.

This makes sense given the metabolic data. At under 3 calories per minute, a 50-minute Pilates class burns somewhere around 150 calories. That is a real contribution to a calorie deficit when combined with reasonable nutrition, but it is a fraction of what you would burn in 50 minutes of vigorous cycling or running. The fat-loss benefits from Pilates likely come from a combination of modest energy expenditure and the metabolic ripple effects of better muscle activation, not from Pilates being a high-burn activity.

How Pilates Compares to Weight Training for Strength

A systematic review comparing Pilates head-to-head against other exercise types found no statistically significant difference in dynamic strength, isometric strength, or muscular endurance.¹² That might sound like Pilates matches weight training, but the comparison deserves a caveat. The evidence certainty was rated low across all comparisons, and the “other exercises” category was broad, including everything from basic fitness programs to traditional resistance training. In practical terms, Pilates absolutely builds strength compared to being sedentary, and it may roughly keep pace with moderate-intensity general exercise for overall strength. But if you are specifically trying to maximize leg press numbers or bench press weight, progressive overload with external resistance (barbells, dumbbells, machines) has a mechanical advantage that body-weight and spring-based Pilates cannot replicate at the higher end of the strength spectrum.

Where Pilates has a genuine edge over conventional gym training is in neuromuscular control. The deliberate, slow, breath-coordinated movements in Pilates develop proprioception and coordination in ways that standard weight training does not prioritize. Pilates exercises require maintaining a stable posture while coordinating breathing rhythm and limb movement simultaneously, which builds the kind of body awareness that transfers to daily life and sport.¹³

Pilates Versus Yoga

Since many people weigh Pilates against yoga, the research here is worth noting. One trial comparing Pilates, yoga, and a control group found Pilates more effective at improving functional movement scores and self-reported quality of life than yoga or doing nothing.¹⁴ However, an eight-week trial in stressed adults found that both Pilates and yoga produced similar improvements in flexibility, balance, autonomic nervous system function, and mental health.¹⁵ The honest read is that both are effective for flexibility, balance, and stress management, with Pilates possibly having a slight edge on functional movement. Neither is dramatically superior to the other; the best choice depends on what you enjoy enough to keep doing.

Mat Versus Reformer: Does It Matter?

If you have been to a Pilates studio, you know the Reformer (the sliding carriage with springs) looks and feels quite different from a mat class. The research shows some differences, but they are smaller than you might expect. A study in elderly women found that mat and apparatus Pilates produced similar improvements in upper and lower limb strength, aerobic endurance, flexibility, and agility.¹⁶ A trial in people with multiple sclerosis found both formats improved balance, mobility, core stability, fatigue, and quality of life equally, with the only difference being slightly greater trunk flexor strength in the Reformer group.¹⁷

Where the Reformer does pull ahead is in more athletic, power-oriented outcomes. A study in soccer players found that Reformer Pilates was better than mat Pilates for single-leg hop performance and agility.¹⁸ The adjustable spring resistance on a Reformer allows for more progressive loading, which explains why it can create slightly larger strength and power adaptations. But if cost or access is a concern, mat Pilates delivers the vast majority of the same benefits. You do not need a Reformer to get in shape with Pilates.

Balance, Falls, and Aging

One of the strongest and most consistent areas of evidence for Pilates is its effect on balance and fall risk in older adults. A systematic review and meta-analysis found that Pilates had a moderate effect on balance, strength, flexibility, and overall functional ability, and a large effect on fall risk reduction compared to inactive controls.¹⁹ Another review confirmed that Pilates improved functional mobility, postural balance, gait, and even fear of falling in healthy older adults.²⁰

Specific trials reinforce these findings. A Pilates mat program in elderly women reduced body sway speed more than a standard upper- and lower-body strengthening routine.²¹ A 12-week program improved the Timed Up and Go test (a standard clinical measure of mobility), balance in multiple directions, and gait parameters like step timing.²² For anyone over 60 looking for a single type of exercise that addresses the most dangerous age-related fitness decline, Pilates is hard to beat. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in older adults, and the combination of core strength, balance training, and flexibility that Pilates packages together maps directly onto the risk factors for falling.

Back Pain and Rehabilitation

Pilates has become a mainstay of low back pain rehabilitation, and the evidence supports that reputation. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that Pilates training led to clinically meaningful reductions in pain and disability in people with chronic non-specific low back pain, and that those improvements persisted at six months after the program ended.²³ An earlier randomized trial found that a Pilates-based exercise group had significantly less disability and lower pain intensity than controls, with the disability improvements lasting up to 12 months after treatment.²⁴

Interestingly, a recent trial compared high-intensity and low-intensity Pilates for chronic back pain and found that both worked equally well. The differences in pain and disability outcomes between the two intensities were negligible at the end of the program and remained negligible at 6 and 12 months.²⁵ That is good news for people with severe pain who worry they cannot handle an intense program: gentle Pilates works too.

Bone Health

This is an area where the evidence is more nuanced than the marketing suggests. A systematic review found that Pilates did not significantly improve bone mineral density compared to inactive controls when looking at all studies pooled together. However, when researchers analyzed just the before-and-after data within Pilates groups (without the comparison to controls), they found a small significant improvement, especially in postmenopausal women.²⁶ A clinical trial in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis found that bone mineral density increased in the Pilates group while it decreased in the control group.²⁷ And a randomized trial comparing Pilates to whole-body vibration therapy found both were equally effective at increasing lumbar spine and hip bone density compared to controls, with large effect sizes.²⁸

The takeaway: Pilates probably helps slow bone loss and may modestly increase density, particularly in the spine and hip, particularly in postmenopausal women who are otherwise sedentary. It is not a substitute for weight-bearing or high-impact exercise if bone density is your primary concern, but it is far better than doing nothing and may be the best option for people who cannot tolerate high-impact activity.

Blood Sugar, Cholesterol, and Metabolic Health

Pilates produces some surprising metabolic effects that go beyond what you would expect from a low-calorie-burn activity. A meta-analysis of randomized trials found that Pilates significantly reduced post-meal blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (a marker of long-term blood sugar control), total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol compared to inactive controls.²⁹ However, a subgroup analysis revealed an important detail: these metabolic benefits were concentrated in people with diabetes, while non-diabetic participants did not see significant changes. A separate study in healthy young women found that eight weeks of Pilates raised HDL cholesterol (the protective kind) but did not significantly change other lipid markers, and also showed changes in a muscle-damage marker that suggests meaningful muscular stress was occurring.³⁰

For people managing type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, this positions Pilates as more than just a stretching class. The blood-sugar improvements likely come from the consistent muscular contraction patterns that increase glucose uptake, even though the overall calorie expenditure is modest.

Mental Health and Why People Stick With It

A systematic review and meta-analysis of Pilates and mental health found a statistically significant positive effect on quality of life and self-esteem, though the evidence for reducing depression and anxiety symptoms specifically was limited or inconclusive.³¹ A six-month study in women found that Pilates improved life satisfaction, perception of physical appearance, perception of functionality, and overall physical self-concept.³²

This psychological dimension matters for a practical reason: the best exercise program is one you will actually do consistently. Qualitative research in people with chronic musculoskeletal conditions found that a 12-week Pilates program helped participants manage their condition more independently and that the psychological and social benefits increased motivation to keep going.³³ The mind-body focus of Pilates, the instructor-guided classes, and the visible progress in control and form seem to foster a sense of achievement that keeps people coming back. That adherence factor is arguably one of Pilates’s biggest practical advantages over exercise forms that are technically superior for a given fitness metric but feel boring or punishing.

Postpartum Recovery and Pelvic Floor Function

For new mothers dealing with abdominal separation (diastasis recti), Pilates has shown specific promise. A trial in first-time mothers found that Pilates reduced the gap between the abdominal muscles, decreased waist circumference, and improved abdominal endurance.³⁴ A narrative review of the broader evidence found that Pilates may support perinatal rehabilitation including reduced labor pain, decreased abdominal separation postpartum, and pelvic floor outcomes comparable to conventional pelvic-floor training, though it cautioned that the evidence base is still small and protocols vary widely.³⁵

Pilates for Athletes

Pilates is increasingly used as a training supplement for competitive athletes, not as a replacement for sport-specific training but as a way to shore up movement quality and reduce injury risk. An eight-week Pilates program in young female volleyball players improved knee functional performance and movement patterns, leading researchers to recommend it as a valuable tool for injury prevention.³⁶ The Reformer-based Pilates program that improved agility and single-leg hop performance in soccer players provides further evidence that the spring-resistance format can translate into athletic power outcomes, at least when used alongside a sport-training program.¹⁸ For recreational athletes or weekend warriors, adding one or two Pilates sessions a week addresses the mobility, stability, and motor-control gaps that sport-specific training often neglects.