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Is Pilates good for weight loss?
Discover the many benefits of Pilates for weight loss and general health in this post
No matter where you are on your health journey, consistent physical exercise and activity is a critical part of losing weight and improving your general health.
Finding an exercise class that meets you where you are can be daunting. Walking into a class is intimidating, especially if you’re new to fitness or getting back into a regular routine.
Are you on the hunt for a low-impact workout that you can perform consistently? Pilates is an effective workout for beginners, long-time athletes, and everyone in between. The exercises done in Pilates are challenging for the muscles but easy on the body as a whole.
If you’re working on losing weight, Pilates is an excellent tool to add to your fitness routine. This post highlights the benefits of Pilates for weight loss and general health, types of Pilates to try, and much more.
We’ll help you set realistic expectations about what this popular form of exercise can bring to your life, so you can enjoy the movement and health benefits it provides.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is a form of exercise originally developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates.
This muscle-building and body-conditioning exercise consists of small, technical movements that improve muscle tone and core stability. The movements in Pilates are designed to lengthen and sculpt muscles for a stronger body.
As a low-impact exercise, Pilates focuses on strength, mobility, and alignment within the body. The primary muscle at play here is the core; Pilates focuses primarily on strengthening and stabilizing the core and then training other muscles in the process.
How Pilates Works
Pilates is performed on an exercise mat on the floor or through the use of an apparatus called the Reformer. Designed to target posture, balance, and flexibility, seven general types of Pilates are taught and performed.
Pilates participants experience a full-body workout via around 50 repetitive exercises designed to increase muscle strength. At first, these movements won’t seem that difficult, but as the class continues, they may become very challenging as your muscles become tired.
If you’re new to Pilates, don’t stress. Most instructors provide modifications to each exercise should you need them at any point.
Is Pilates good for weight loss?
There’s a certain stigma that when exercising for weight loss, a person has to be out of breath and dripping with sweat. This is nowhere near true or accurate. Take walking, for example.
Consistent walking is widely embraced as an effective form of exercise that contributes to weight loss. Walking promotes a faster metabolism, burns calories, and improves cardiovascular health; all of these help with healthy weight loss. While you may not work up a sweat on a brisk walk, your body is working hard.
The same goes for Pilates. Pilates is a stellar example of a highly effective weight loss exercise that won’t result in you panting or sweating. Because it’s a low impact exercise, Pilates puts less stress on the joints and muscles, making it a great introductory exercise for those new to working out.
Pilates for weight loss is highly recommended if you have limited mobility or are new to this type of exercise because it’s not a highly intensive workout. Make no mistake - you will be sore later, but soreness is normal.
For weight loss, in particular, Pilates is gaining in popularity. While you won’t burn hundreds of calories during a class, Pilates can help you lose weight through the following:
- Increased heart rate
- Sweating
- Improved body function
- Building lean muscle (which helps burn fat)
This 2021 study revealed that for adults with obesity or who are overweight, Pilates significantly decreases body weight, BMI (body mass index), and body fat percentage.
Weight loss comes with its own complications, and navigating the number on the scale is one of the most significant for so many. However, it’s crucial to remember that while losing weight may be your goal, you will also gain lean muscle from Pilates.
While the number on the scale may not drop in the way you expect, you’ll start to notice muscles you didn’t have before, and then you’ll build on those with muscle definition and sculpting.
In time, Pilates will help you create your own vision of what your body should look like rather than focusing on the numbers on the scale.
So, does Pilates help you lose weight? When paired with healthy eating and cardiovascular exercise, Pilates can absolutely contribute to weight loss.
Can you lose weight doing Pilates everyday? Yes! While Pilates is considered low-impact, every form of exercise should be done in moderation. If you’re just starting, try doing Pilates three days a week. You can add more Pilates workouts to your daily routine as you build strength and endurance.
Benefits of Pilates Beyond Weight Loss
When paired with other forms of exercise and lifestyle changes, Pilates can significantly impact your health journey, no matter where you’re at right now. Aside from weight loss, here are a few of the impressive benefits of Pilates.
Improve Muscle Tone
The core muscles consist of the abdominals, lower back, and hip muscles and are emphasized in a Pilates class. After consistent practice, participants notice significant toning and strength in the abdominal area and other muscles in the body, including the glutes, inner thigh muscles, and upper back.
Increase Flexibility
While Pilates movements work to strengthen muscles, they also mobilize the joints and improve muscle flexibility. As your body builds strength, stretching and activating the muscles in this stretched state promotes flexibility. Your muscles will slowly but surely warm up early in a class, and as they do, they become actively engaged, so you can stretch further.
Boost Stability & Endurance
Performing more reps at a lower weight is Pilates' bread and butter, and this action slowly builds muscular endurance. Some classes and instructors will add resistance training to their classes, which adds to the endurance you’re building on.
Promote Healing
Many Pilates participants use the exercise as a form of healing and recovery. Because it’s both low-impact and weight-bearing exercises, Pilates is ideal for those working through injuries and improving joint mobility and control. The exercises don’t cause any stress or tension to the body, allowing muscle groups to heal and strengthen.
Improve Posture
As you better align and strengthen your core in regular Pilates classes, your posture will naturally improve. Sitting correctly at a desk all day takes concentration and effort, but with strengthened core muscles, you’ll sit taller and potentially experience less back pain or fatigue from sitting or driving.
Manage Stress
While nearly every form of exercise helps to decrease stress, Pilates takes it a step further. The practice is designed to improve the mind and body connection and increase mindfulness in every participant. You’ll learn to focus on the current moment rather than stress about your to-do list and gain clarity for the day-to-day.
Improve Sleep
As you learn to relax and center yourself in Pilates, your sleep habits may also improve. This is likely because Pilates relaxes the body and the mind, promoting longer and better sleep.
Performing specific exercises at night, like Pilates, can help the mind wind down and relax the body. Low-impact movements release tension, help us relax, and re-center the body for sleep.
Increase Energy
Aside from physical movement, Pilates heavily emphasizes breath control and the mind-to-body connection. As you learn to control your breath, your body’s circulation and lung capacity will improve. Deep breathing can also stimulate the spine and your core muscles, increasing your overall energy level.
Convenient Form of Exercise
Pilates is a fantastic workout you can complete at home if you’re busy and getting to the gym is out of the question some days.
All you need is a mat, some space on the floor, and a positive attitude to get your workout done. At-home workouts are great for parents, those who travel often, or people who prefer to avoid the gym or classes – you can definitely enjoy Pilates at home.
Realistic Expectations: What Pilates Can and Can't Do
If you have high hopes for Pilates and what it can bring to your healthy lifestyle, we highly recommend jumping in and getting started! Half the challenge of exercise is finding the motivation to work out and sticking to a routine that works for you.
Consistent Pilates practice can help with weight loss, muscle strength and definition, and various other health benefits. However, some unrealistic expectations about Pilates need to be debunked. These include the following:
1. Pilates alone will achieve your weight loss goals
No weight loss plan recommends one single action to meet an individual’s goals. A combination of diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes gets the job done. Anyone who says all you need to do to lose weight is perform Pilates daily is incorrect. It can certainly aid in the process, but it’s not a magic tool (unfortunately!).
2. Pilates will give you a 6-pack
While core strength and stability are at the foundation of Pilates, few participants see quickly-toned abdominal muscles after taking Pilates classes. Many see muscle definition in time, but Pilates focuses on strengthening the core muscles to improve your overall stability, flexibility, and posture. Building a 6-pack takes proper nutrition, burning belly fat, and consistent core workouts. Pilates can help you get to that point, but your diet will be the most significant factor in achieving those toned abdominal muscles.
3. Pilates is not a cardio workout
Taking a Pilates class is not the same as going for a long run or walking. You won’t challenge your cardiovascular system as much as you would while performing aerobic exercise.
Types of Pilates to Try
One of the best things about Pilates is how versatile it is for any health journey. There are seven types of Pilates you can try, and most of them can be performed at home or in the gym if you don’t have access to a class.
Mat Pilates
This is the most popular and accessible form of Pilates, as all you’ll need is a mat and floor space to complete the workout. You’ll use your body weight for resistance, but some choose to add light weights or resistance bands to make it more challenging.
Reformer Pilates
The Reformer is an apparatus that is controlled by springs to target specific muscle groups and add resistance to movements. The Reformer is increasing in popularity for Pilates classes and many prefer it to classic mat Pilates.
Megaformer Pilates
The Megaformer is an advanced version of the Reformer with additional attachments and features for more advanced Pilates movements. The Megaformer focuses on high-intensity exercises while the Reformer utilizes low-impact movements.
Hot Pilates
Similar to hot yoga, hot Pilates is a great way to increase the intensity of your workout and get your sweat on by adding heat. These classes are a bit different from classic Pilates because they work to get the heart rate up, heating up the muscles faster, and improving flexibility.
Clinical Pilates
This form of Pilates focuses on body alignment and core strength. It’s ideal for people of all ages and fitness levels because of its low-impact nature. Clinical Pilates improves coordination, balance, and flexibility while enhancing overall physical health.
Classical Pilates
Classical Pilates follows Joseph Pilates’ original teachings, involving six principles that help to center the body and mind. Participants will focus on core strength, alignment of the spine, and joint mobility.
Contemporary Pilates
This modernized form of Pilates leverages traditional Pilates movements with treatments from physical therapists who utilize Pilates for their patient’s recovery. Participants will focus on breathwork and relaxation techniques during this practice.
Achieve Your Health Goals With Evidation
Making the most out of your workouts is one of the most effective ways to ensure you stick to your exercise routine. It’s critical to know where you’re starting, your progress, and your goals for the future.
Creating a healthy lifestyle is all about building sustainable habits, and that’s where Evidation comes in. Get rewarded for healthy actions, access personalized health content, and more. Download the Evidation app today and utilize essential health data and trends to your advantage. Get started today!
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Hear from Us About the Future of Health
Evidation partners with the world’s leading healthcare companies and enables everyone to participate in research.
Our CEO, Deborah Kilpatrick, recently spoke on a podcast about the importance of everyday behavior data and the future of health. After working in the medical technology space, she joined Evidation Health in 2014. Evidation partners with the world’s leading healthcare companies and enables everyone to participate in research. We’re focused on helping people measure everyday activities. We’re also invested in connecting our community to opportunities that will help them better understand the conditions that impact them and their loved ones. Listen more on this podcast here.
Together We Can Achieve More
At Evidation, we’re focused on meeting people where they are and helping them along their health journey.
At Evidation, we’re focused on meeting people where they are and helping them along their health journey. Our engaged community of members represents 96% of U.S. counties and includes individuals across ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This community puts us in a unique position to learn from one another and contribute to meaningful health research.
With a mission of helping people participate in better health outcomes, we're committed to identifying opportunities that are inclusive of all and educating ourselves on the social issues that are impacting the world. To truly achieve our mission of helping people participate in better health outcomes, we recognize we have more work to do. Our commitment going forward:
- Provide our members with educational content around health and race curated by our team of researchers.
- Put in place more inclusive study opportunities for members to participate in.
- Do our part as a research company to participate in inclusive clinical research practices to ensure diverse and generalizable results through diverse participant recruitment and participation.
- Hold ourselves accountable by reporting our progress out to our members.
We’re committed to supporting long-term systematic change and stand in solidarity with our Black teammates, Evidation Members, and the entire Black community. We know this is only the beginning of the conversation, and we need to continue to fight for equality. We’ll continue to listen, educate ourselves, take action, hold ourselves accountable, and pledge to do our best to support all communities to participate in better health outcomes.
An immediate change we’re pleased to share is that Evidation Members can now donate their rewards to these charities:
American Civil Liberties Union
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Evidation Health and BARDA Partner on Early Warning System for COVID-19
On June 4th, Evidation Health announced a new effort to develop an early warning algorithm to detect symptoms of COVID-19 and to understand susceptibility to infection, funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Here at Evidation, we’ve been identifying opportunities to contribute to COVID research. THe Evidation app is a product of Evidation Health, and has a community of over 3 million and members all around the United States. With an engaged research population representing a variety of zip codes and demographics, we’re uniquely positioned to help researchers and organizations conduct meaningful research about the pandemic.
On June 4th, Evidation Health announced a new effort to develop an early warning algorithm to detect symptoms of COVID-19 and to understand susceptibility to infection, funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Many infected individuals are asymptomatic but still able to spread the virus, making efforts to prevent and slow transmission of COVID-19 difficult,” said Luca Foschini, Ph.D., Evidation’s co-founder and chief data scientist. “This initiative will use novel behavioral and physiological data to more effectively identify when and where people may contract COVID-19, and can potentially enable real-time interventions to limit spread and monitor outcomes.”
The analysis, performed in collaboration with non-profit 4YouandMe, will use de-identified data generated by self-reporting and wearable devices to track symptoms of COVID-19 in those at particularly high risk, including health care workers and other first responders, in order to better understand susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. One potential outcome of this work is an early warning algorithm to help individuals better understand and monitor their respiratory disease symptoms and take precautions against their spread.
“The ability to self-monitor and be informed of health status will empower Americans in their decisions to help slow the spread of this pandemic and improve health outcomes for people with COVID-19,” said BARDA Acting Director, Gary Disbrow, Ph.D. “This pilot study is not only an early step in demonstrating the utility of models developed using person-generated health data but also may provide data to better understand the varied symptoms of COVID-19.”
This program follows Evidation’s work with BARDA to monitor individuals for respiratory infections, such as influenza. Evidation’s existing research on influenza utilizes person-generated health data and population-based models with the goal of improving real-time respiratory infection monitoring at the individual and population level. BARDA is contributing a $720,000 award as part of BARDA’s COVID-19 Rapidly Deployable Capabilities program to identify and pilot near-term innovative solutions for COVID-19. Support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is from the $250 million the foundation has committed to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
How Evidation Members Rallied Together Through COVID Pulse Survey
Through this challenging time, we we've been inspired by our members who responded to many questions with great empathy and creativity as they have adapted to new routines
We’ve been continuing to monitor sentiment in the community around the coronavirus through an Evidation Survey called COVID Pulse. Since kicking off the survey on March 12th right after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, we’ve been sending out a weekly survey to our members.
We wanted to quantify participation and interest and share some of the latest trends from our most recent surveys. After we released the first survey, we received over 120,000+ responses in five days from over 20,000 United States zip codes. The highest percentage of responses came from the age groups in the range of 30–39, followed by the 18–29 age range, and lastly, the 40–49 range. Though, we did see representation from members ages 18–80+! We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of members who have continued to check in week over week to share their sentiment surrounding coronavirus. In fact, 11% of survey respondents have completed all five COVID Pulse Surveys to date and 22%+ completed four out of five COVID Pulse Surveys.
Most recently, we saw that over 85% of respondents said that if social distancing and stay at home orders were lifted today, they would know what to do to reduce chances of contracting the coronavirus. We also saw that members would continue to take the necessary precautions even if social distancing guidelines and stay at home orders were lifted. Over 60% would continue to stay at home and maintain social distancing behaviors. Additionally, nearly 70% said they would continue to start to wear protective equipment (for example a face mask) in public settings. For those who responded in locations where shelter in place has been lifted, only ~25% of respondents said that they were attending small social events.
Through this challenging time, we were also inspired by our members who responded to many questions with great empathy and creativity as they have adapted to new routines. In fact, when asked about their concerns if they were to be diagnosed, 75% of respondents expressed concern over getting others sick in their worries. This fear was followed by 60% of respondents expressing their worry over the physical discomforts of getting sick. Regarding ways to minimize changes to physical and mental health, we’ve seen an uptick in individuals sharing the importance of maintaining whatever routines possible, avoiding or taking breaks from the news, and a continued connection through video chats with friends and family. In fact, maintaining connection through social media scored high for Evidation Members as a method to socialize with others. Both last week and this week, 70% of respondents said they used social media to socialize with other people.
Get Your Cooking Game On
We know that being stuck indoors can be tough, but hopefully getting creative in the kitchen continues to be a fun pastime for many.
As we continue to be home during the coronavirus, we wanted to share another collection of snack ideas that you can make at home. We know that being stuck indoors can be tough, but hopefully getting creative in the kitchen continues to be a fun pastime for many.
- Try your hand at making a sweet or savory dip at home! Check out this greek cucumber yogurt dip from the Today Show or this three ingredient Healthy Honey Mustard Dip from the blog Cupcakes and Kale Chips.
- Experiment with no-bake bars like this No Bake Chocolate Oat Bar from All Recipes.
- Make your own cup of Dalgona Coffee (the Coronavirus trend that’s bringing out everyone’s internal barista)
- Test out the dessert that’s on the rise — make this three ingredient crème brûlée.
- Bring Disneyland to your home with Disney’s official homemade churro recipe.
- In the absence of a trip to Benihana’s, learn how to make this chicken fried rice at home.
- Check out Wacky cake. It’s an old favorite that came from the Depression when there was less access to ingredients. This cake only takes a few, simple ingredients.
- Have some Nutella handy in your pantry? Make these DIY Nutella pops with two other ingredients and a popsicle stick.
- Eat breakfast like one of the royal family by trying out Prince Charles’ famous cheesy baked eggs
- If you’re feeling fancy, you can also give Queen Elizabeth’s drop scones a try.
Oura Ring + Evidation = Match Made in Heaven
We know a big part of your Evidation experience is connecting apps and wearables to your account. Did you know here are more than 15 apps you can connect to help you earn points faster?
We know a big part of your Evidation experience is connecting apps and wearables to your account. To date, there are 15+ apps that you can connect to Evidation to track different activities that you take. For a reminder of which apps are available and where you can connect these apps to your experience, check out the Connect Apps page here.
We’re pleased today to share that the Oura Ring is now available to connect to Evidation. To connect your OURA ring and app, please follow these directions below:
- Log into the Evidation app or website > middle tab (apps section)
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2. Connect > Oura > Log in to OURA account
Note: it may take a few minutes to sync. If the app shows ‘not yet synced’
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Please go back to the middle tab and click down to refresh the app. If all dates did not retroactively sync, we recommend to disconnect the app from Evidation and reconnect.
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Can a furry friend help you cope with COVID?
You may be wondering, can owning a dog help you live a bit healthier? It turns out that new dog owners in general are a promising sign of better health!
We know that the last few months have put everyone into a new funk. Work, lifestyles, and exercise are all uniquely different than they may have been back when 2020 started.
That’s why we decided to look at how Evidation Members were resting and perhaps coping with some of these changes. To better understand our community, we decided to look at members who logged fitbit data in 2019 and 2020 between January and April to see if the pandemic was causing people to change up their nap schedule (hopefully for the better). Total number of naps per user per day were counted and the average nap count per day was calculated across our Evidation population. See the figure below:
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It appears that members are indeed napping far more than they were in 2019, beginning at about the time shelter in place orders began (which was around March 15, 2020, see grey in graph). On average, after shelter in place began, Evidation Members napped 14.37% more compared to the previous year during this time period. That’s many more naps! And hopefully, people are using this time to rest and recuperate.
We know that being mindful of sleep is one way people can take care of their health. However, we also observed in the news that fostering dogs has been at an all time high. It has become so popular that there’s even a waitlist.
So, in addition to users napping far more compared to last year, we delved more into what other things users are doing differently during this uncertain time. We released a survey a few weeks ago asking our members about their dogs, what type of relationship they have with their pets, and their activity habits with their pets. We received over 35,000 responses!
The first thing we wanted to know about our members and their pets was whether they had recently fostered a dog. It turns out that many people have begun to foster dogs, likely due to the pandemic. In total, 1,500+ Achievers indicated that they fostered their dog in between February and April of this year. Compare that to only 450+ Achievers during that time period last year. It definitely appears that the pandemic is causing people to go out and lend a helping hand to a homeless dog.
Of the people who recently fostered a dog, 55% indicated that they are now working from home due to the coronavirus. 39% said that they are still going into work, and 5% indicated that they had worked at home prior to the pandemic. These newly remote workers appear to be helping keep these shelters empty.
You may be wondering, can owning a dog help you live a bit healthier? It turns out that new dog owners in general are a promising sign of better health! For those that got their dog in 2019 or 2020, we found that members walk on average about 350 steps more per day, comparing the 30 days prior to getting a dog with the 30 days post getting a dog. Even in pandemic times (though members are walking far less than their 2019 dog owner counterparts, by about 1000 steps per day for those that got their dogs in March and April), members with new dogs are getting a 200 step increase in steps pre vs post dog ownership! Of course, this is expected, and we’re happy to report that dogs can help you get more steps. This trend turned out to be especially true for the older folks in our population. The 50+ population increased their steps by about 500 steps on average, compared to the ~200 step increase for those who are less than 50. Take a look:
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Another interesting question we asked our members was whether or not they sleep with their pets and how often per week they sleep with their pets. While we didn’t see a necessary difference in sleep quality or total time when our members had their dog buddies snoozing with them, we did see many people report that they sleep next to their dogs. In fact, 73% of Evidation Members said they nap or sleep next to their dog, at least once per week. For members who said they nap or sleep next to their dog, over 19,000 reported to nap or sleep next to their dog at least 4 times a week! This may sound surprising for the folks who may not have furry pals, but many can attest that sleeping next to their dogs can be a comforting ritual.
The last thing we wanted to explore was whether we could learn anything about our members who had reported that having a dog had helped them manage with their health-condition (heart condition, limited mobility, etc). We found that 1000+ members agreed that having a dog helped. It seemed as though having a furry friend was very helpful for emotional support and well being. We did not find any concrete information around managing conditions, but were glad to hear that those who had self reported with many conditions (specifically anxiety, asthma, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and migraines) and who had a higher resting heart rate found having a pet to be supportive.
5 Ways to Live a Climate-Friendly Lifestyle While Sheltering In Place
5 tips to help you lead a more climate-friendly lifestyle all while safely sheltering in place!
This week, we celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd. While this year brought a fresh perspective on the day, we still found some great ideas on how to be involved even if some swaps to celebrations meant staying indoors.
We hope that these tips will help you lead a more climate-friendly lifestyle all while safely sheltering in place!
- NASA created all kinds of resources online to give Earth Day the proper 50th year celebration it deserved. Check out everything from satellite views of the planet to global archives of photos capturing hurricanes, wildfires, icebergs and more!
- Try planting something and create a little garden. For simple tips, read more in this USA Today Article.
- Experiment with a plant based meal. If you have a sweet tooth, check out these quick, easy swaps.
- Make a grocery list via any of these apps (AnyList, Mealime, Bring! to name a few) to more easily keep track of home food needs.
- Small actions can have a big impact! Switch to paperless bank statements where you can and make sure to unplug electronic devices and appliances when you aren’t using them around your home.
Give the Happiness Project Podcast a Listen
Check out The Happiness Lab podcast by Dr. Laurie Santos
Given how tumultuous a time it has been for all, we found this podcast with episodes that will lift your spirits. The Happiness Lab podcast is narrated by Dr. Laurie Santos who is a Yale professor who teaches a class called “Psychology and the Good Life.” Through various episodes, Dr. Santos references the latest, relevant scientific research and relates them to everyday experiences and some unusual moments.
In this specific series, she’s curated a variety of content related to coping with the coronavirus. We found a lot of the commentary relatable and useful.
The content specific to coronavirus includes the following:
- Beat Your Isolation Loneliness
- Coach Yourself Through a Crisis
- Rising to a Challenge
- Calm Can Be Contagious
- Help Others to Help Yourself
- Keep Your Relationship Happy
- Checking in with Susan David
Susan David is a Psychologist at Harvard Medical School who offers ways to manage fear and panic through healthy strategies that anyone can adopt. - Laurie’s Personal Tips