Reformer Pilates classes are hugely popular right now, and weight training is said to be the fastest-growing sport among women! Naturally, with more people doing both, more people are comparing both. A question I am being asked more often is, “Can Pilates build muscle?” The short answer? Yes… but with a caveat.
My story: from dumbbells to the reformer (and back again)
I started lifting weights in The Gym when I was ~16 and I became a certified personal trainer before I trained as a Pilates instructor. In fact I started regular Pilates classes when I was ~19 because I felt it filled in the gaps I had in my training programme at that time. I tended to skip core and stretching and I couldn’t skip those in a Pilates class! So, I’ve had a foot in both worlds for quite a long time.
For the last several years, my own workouts were centred around the Pilates apparatus with a little additional weights. But recently, I’ve been reintroducing much more weight training back into my own routine.
Why? Because just like my clients, I want to future-proof my body and reduce my risk of bone density issues later in life. Women are particularly at risk of bone loss post-menopause, and I’d rather be proactive now than deal with fractures etc later. I also just really enjoy weight lifting!
Pilates has yet to show “statistically significant” benefits to bone mineral density. However, strength training is considered the gold standard to increase muscle mass and for improving or preserving bone density, especially in women as they move through perimenopause and beyond.
That balance — Pilates for joint mobility, core strength, and stability, plus weight training for bone and muscle strength — feels like the best of both worlds for me.
How Pilates Builds muscle
Pilates is brilliant for building muscle strength — particularly core strength, and also stability, endurance, balance, and mobility. It challenges your muscles in ways that traditional strength training sometimes overlooks, it depends on your programmes goal. How?:
- Bodyweight Calisthenics– Many Pilates movements use your own body weight to create strength challenges. Planks, push ups, pull ups, dips, squats and lunges are all a part of the Pilates repertoire.
- Spring Resistance (Apparatus) – The adjustable springs on the Reformer, Tower and Wunda Chair add resistance to push and pull against, allowing for progressive overload.
- Time Under Tension – Pilates focuses on slow, controlled movements, which increases muscle engagement and endurance.
- Eccentric Training – Many Pilates exercises emphasize the lengthening phase of muscle contraction, which increases muscle strength and function.
Both Pilates and weight training are strength training, so some of their benefits and even some of their moves, carry over from one to the next. There are plenty of overlapping exercises (e.g., push ups, hip bridges, planks) and movements (e.g., hip hinges), which are nice to explore in different contexts.
For many people (especially beginners or those returning to movement), Pilates is more than enough to see positive changes. Where Pilates really shines is in improving balance, physical function, posture, and quality of life, all of which reduce fall risk, which is half the battle when it comes to preventing future bone fractures.
But if your goal is to build significant muscle mass or improve bone density, Pilates on its own might not always deliver enough of the load and progression your body needs.
Where resistance training comes in
Muscle and bone growth both thrive on something called progressive overload – gradually increasing demands (load, reps, volume, time under tension, or reducing rest) is essential to drive strength, hypertrophy, or adaptation. There are two common focuses:
- Hypertrophy training focuses on increasing muscle size through moderate weight and higher repetitions, leading to muscle fatigue. This increased muscle mass and the associated repetitive stress on the bones can also contribute to bone growth and density.
- Strength refers to increasing the amount of external force your muscles can move. For maximizing strength and preventing fractures, focusing on heavy, low-rep strength training is particularly beneficial.
In the weight room, it’s easy to track progressive overload: you add plates to the bar, or lift a heavier dumbbell. In Pilates, progressive overload doesn’t have to be only about “lifting heavier weights.”
For many clients (especially beginners, those who’ve been sedentary or with movement limitations), I create overload via increased reps, time under tension, reducing assistance, altering body position/leverage, slowing tempo, etc. These can be more accessible and less intimidating than lifting very heavy.
However for intermediate to advanced Pilates clients or well trained individuals, there’s often a ceiling to how much you can load with these methods. And when it comes to building (and protecting) bone density and muscle mass, higher loads are especially important.
Both Pilates and weight training are incredible exercise modalities on their own, but they also complement each other beautifully. Quite often my my physically strongest clients are attending Pilates sessions as cross training. Utilising it for core strength, injury prevention and management, joint mobility, as well as improved proprioception that carries over into their weight training.
You don’t have to choose one or the other.
How I support clients
- In my Private 1:1 sessions, I’ve begun incorporating both apparatus training, calisthenics and weight training for my private clients who want to actively protect their bones and build more muscle. My clients love that it still feels like Pilates—controlled, mindful, joint-friendly—but with an extra layer of challenge that supports long-term musculoskeletal strength.
- We use resistance bands in my Pilates Flow class as they recreate the spring system of the Pilates reformer on the mat. Just like the reformer does an excellent job of making exercises more difficult, bands also make exercises more achievable and effective for your body. These are so versatile, they not only help deepen your stretches but also provide resistance to enhance muscular strength, improve joint mobility and transform many movements into full body exercises.
- For those who can’t attend my studio, inside my online coaching programme, I’ve built a full strength training plan so women can combine the benefits of both approaches, no matter where they are. It’s designed to be progressive, doable from home or your gym, and built with metabolic shifts (e.g. change in body composition) in mind.
Final thoughts
So — can Pilates build muscle? Yes, absolutely. I see it all the time in my studio. However, the best muscle building results often come when it’s paired with progressive weight training. Combining the modalities can help keep your body strong, stable, and agile for years to come.
And remember—no matter which workout you choose, Fitness is fitness. Movement is movement. Being active, that’s what’s most important, because that’s what your body needs to thrive!
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