5 Pilates Myths – Busted!
Can Pilates help you lose weight? Is Pilates a full body workout? Do you need special machines for a good Pilates workout? Get-Fit Guy tackles the most popular myths about Pilates.
Ben Greenfield
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5 Pilates Myths – Busted!
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In the article What Is Pilates? you learned exactly what to expect from this very popular form of exercise favored by everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Madonna to seven-foot-tall professional basketball players.
But can Pilates help you lose weight? Is Pilates a full body workout? Do you need special machines for a good Pilates workout? In this article, I’m going to tackle 5 important Pilates myths so you can make an informed decision about whether Pilates will meet your fitness needs.
Myth 1: Pilates is a Good Way to Lose Weight
In the article Does Yoga Burn Calories you learned about multiple studies that have shown Yoga to be relatively ineffective in burning calories or causing significant weight loss. While Pilates has definite benefits, weight loss is not its strongest suit. As a matter of fact, a 2006 study found that body weight and body fat percentage was not significantly affected in adult females using a regular Pilates routine. A 2004 study found that while Pilates does indeed help to improve flexibility, it does not significantly affect body composition, even after 6 months of practice.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that Pilates can’t indirectly help you lose weight. Because it does such a good job strengthening your core, reducing your risk of injury, and improving your flexibility (which is why many famous athletes like it), Pilates may help you “stay in the game” longer when you’re working out, and keep you from getting sidelined with an injury. People who do Pilates regularly may also be more likely to engage in other forms of exercise, since you often find yourself visiting or joining a gym or health club to take part in a Pilates class.
But when it comes to pure calorie burning and fat loss, running on a treadmill, riding a bike, or lifting weights will be more effective than Pilates.
Myth 2: Pilates is Only for Women
Because Pilates does a good job of strengthening lower abdominal and pelvic muscles that are important for childbearing, and doesn’t involve heavy steel, grunting, or large amounts of weight, it is often perceived as a “women’s only” activity.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
Not only was Pilates invented by a man (Joseph Pilates), but many famous male athletes and action stars use it to maintain core strength, flexibility, and function, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Hugh Grant, and Tim McGraw!
Myth 3: You Need Special Machines for Pilates
There are two types of Pilates workouts. The first uses Pilates apparatus – strangle looking contraptions with unusual names like the Reformer, the Cadillac, and the Wunda chair. And while these collections of springs, bars, pulleys, and straps can give you a fun and productive workout, they’re not essential.
That’s because the other type of Pilates workout is done on the floor with minimal equipment, except a mat. All of the fundamental movements and basic exercise principles of Pilates can be incorporated into a mat exercise program – without you having to find a special Pilates studio or invest in complex or expensive exercise equipment.
Myth 4: Pilates Mat Class Will Make Your Whole Body Stronger
Because you will spend a great deal of time in a Pilates class performing abdominal, lower back, and core specific exercises, Pilates will significantly improve your abdominal muscular endurance, and if you have not been exposed in the past to weight training or strength training for your core, will also help to develop your muscular strength.
But you should not rely solely upon Pilates to improve your full body strength. In order to get a muscle, joint, or bone stronger, you must expose that area of your body to a stress, such as lifting an object overhead for stronger shoulders, pushing an object with your legs for stronger thighs, or extending and flexing against resistance for stronger arms.
In many Pilates workouts that use machines, you may find yourself performing these activities and actually receive a full body workout. But the average Pilates class at a gym focuses only on your abdominal or low back muscular endurance and your flexibility – and not on full body strength.
Because of this, you should be sure to do a full body weight training routine 2-3 times per week if Pilates is your only other primary exercise method.
Myth 5: Pilates is Only for Your Abs
As I’ve alluded to a few times in this article, Pilates is certainly a fabulous way to strengthen all the different sections of your abdominals, which is an important part of getting a flat stomach.
But you’ll get some other benefits from Pilates. Here are 6 principles that you’ll encounter in a good Pilates class:
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Centering: Bringing the focus to the center of your body, which can teach you how to use your core muscles to generate athletic or forceful movements.
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Concentration: Bringing full attention to each exercise and learning how to engage in high quality focus.
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Control: Performing a movement with control and fluidity, which can teach you how to move more gracefully.
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Precision: Having self-awareness of your body’s tiny movements and knowing the alignment of one body part relative to another and how your body moves through space – all of this can help with athleticism.
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Breath: Using a very full breath in your exercises and thinking of your lungs as a bellows which strongly pump air fully in and out of your body, which you can use in other activities such as stress relief or sports.
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Flow: Performing your movements in a fluid, graceful manner, which can help you become a better dancer or athlete, or even simply improve your everyday posture and coordination.
So as you can see, if you include Pilates as a part of your workout routine, you’ll get benefits that go above and beyond a flat stomach. While you can’t expect it to help you lose significant weight or turn you into a weight-lifter, Pilates does have many advantages which make it a worthwhile addition to your fitness regimen.
If you have more questions about Pilates myths, then share them in Comments or on the Get-Fit Guy Facebook page!
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.