10 Benefits of Pilates: Why it’s Good for You

Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced fitness enthusiast, there are 10 benefits of Pilates you can enjoy. One thing about this type of exercise is its nature. It’s suitable for seniors, beginners, athletes, and all ages. 

In addition to what we’ve mentioned, as a low-impact exercise, it is also highly adaptable and can be tailored to suit your fitness goals or needs. Of course, with Pilates, you can start with the very basic exercises if you’re a beginner, then advance progressively to the more challenging ones. 

In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits that you will get by engaging in Pilates exercises and related insights. If you’re new to this type of exercise, we’ve already discussed a great deal in this area, and you may want to check on the Pilates basics just to get a glimpse of what it’s all about. 

Before we look into the benefits, the main focus of the exercises is to enhance core strength, improve posture and body awareness, and enhance flexibility and balance. It operates on the 6 Pilates principles that are: 

• Concentration – engaging mind and body to focus on each movement. 
• Control – focuses on results and effectiveness rather than speed or intensity of the exercises. 
• Breathing – it is part and parcel of the exercises as it helps with relaxation and oxygenating the muscles. 
• Centering – this is where the Pilates movements begin or originate – the center of the body or the core muscles. This is where the center of gravity lies. 
• Flow – Pilates movements should flow continuously and be smooth. 
• Precision – focuses on being attentive to every detail of the exercise. This involves doing more quality movements and correct form rather than quantity. 

Now, let’s move on to what this article is all about – the benefits. 

What Are the Main 10 Benefits of Pilates?

The 10 benefits of Pilates include: 

Builds Strength and Endurance 

Building core strength and endurance is one of the main benefits you get by engaging in Pilates exercises. Pilates targets the muscles in the core, glutes, the smaller stabilizer muscles, shoulders, lower back, and abdomen muscles. 

As Pilates works on multiple muscle groups at once, it strengthens all muscles, which results in increased physical strength over time. A study to determine the impact of Pilates on the health of women revealed that Pilates improves muscle strength and abdominal muscle endurance (3). 

Therefore, if you’re looking for a type of low-impact exercise that can work different muscle groups at once for overall strength and endurance, you should try Pilates. It provides at least 10 benefits.

Improves Posture and Stability 

When your postural muscles or the underdeveloped muscles of the back and core are strengthened, your body’s alignment can be corrected. Remember, these underdeveloped or neglected muscles are the ones that usually cause you to slouch.

In addition, Pilates doesn’t only focus on the core muscles, it also enhances the range of motion of the joints and strengthens the muscles needed for balance and stability. The regular practice of exercise can also improve the stability of the spine. 

With proper posture and stability, it’s easy to conduct your daily activities and reduce the risk of injury. 

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Enhances Flexibility and Mobility 

With repeated moves or stretches that come with Pilates exercises, your flexibility can be improved. This also enhances the range of motion of your joints. 

Being flexible is important when it comes to performing daily activities. Simple activities that only require bending down or flexing a bit wouldn’t be possible if you weren’t flexible. When you’re flexible, the risk of injury completing your daily activities can also be reduced. 

It’s important to also note that the stretches and moves in Pilates enhance joint mobility. This enhances your movement. 

Good for Pain Relief 

If you have injuries, back pain, or any physical limitation, Pilates can be a good exercise for you. It’s a type of low-impact exercise that’s gentle and suitable for people with injuries or back pain. However, make sure to contact a medical professional before you get started on a new exercise program. This is particularly important if you have pre-existing injuries. 

Pilates exercises strengthen the core muscles that are essential for supporting the hips and the lower back. 10 Pilates benefits include stabilizing the body and easing pressure on the legs. In addition, the flexibility you get with Pilates exercises is good for releasing tension in the leg muscles. This also helps enhance circulation and recovery. 

The other thing we should mention is that it corrects body alignment. Poor alignment may cause leg pain, but this can typically be solved when you have proper alignment. 

Improves Mental Well-being 

A study to determine the effectiveness of Pilates training on cognitive function, mental well-being, and students’ hope for education showed a significant increase in the mental health of the students (6). 

As previously mentioned, Pilates centers on six principles. Breathing is one of the principles and is the key to calming the nervous system. The exercise also focuses on body awareness and mindfulness, which are also essential for improving focus and concentration. 

The idea behind concentration and mindfulness is that you’re motivated to focus on the present moment – just like in mindfulness meditation. All this results in improving your mood and emotional balance and reduces stress levels.

Helps in Improving Balance and Coordination 

There is sufficient evidence that shows Pilates has 10 benefits and is an effective exercise for improving balance and coordination. One study has suggested that it’s good for improving balance and minimizing risks of falls in older women (2).  

Another recent study confirmed the effectiveness of Pilates exercises in improving static and dynamic balance in older adults. It also indicated that with greater training volumes, you get more improvements in dynamic balance and posture (4). 

As previously mentioned, when you have a strong core, you become in control of your body’s center of gravity. In addition, 10 Pilates benefits help align the body properly and keeps you balanced. 

Read more: What Do You Need for Pilates? The Equipment You Should Know About

Good for Weight Management 

Although it may not be as effective as cardio exercises, it has been proven to help with weight reduction, body fat percentage, and BMI in adults who are overweight and with obesity issues (5). One study also revealed that Pilates combined with a proper diet reduces fat mass in obese women (1). 

With Pilates exercises, you burn more calories, although not as much as with cardio or other high-intensity exercise. In addition, this type of exercise is good for stress relief, which in most cases comes with overeating. 

It’s important to note that when you’re stressed, the body triggers the release of cortisol. This hormone increases appetite and you tend to eat a lot as a result. Therefore, as exercise reduces stress, you’re not likely to engage in stress-induced overeating. 

Reduces the Risk of Cardiovascular Issues 

As previously mentioned, Pilates involves low-impact exercises that are focused on the principles of concentration, breathing, precision, flow, centering, and control. The nature of these exercises and 10 Pilates benefits promote circulation and also help with blood circulation. 

In addition, with controlled breathing, there is sufficient oxygen that goes to the lungs as you perform the exercises. Also, when you’re properly aligned and your posture is stabilized, less stress is exerted on the heart. Reduced stress levels that are vital in cardiovascular health are also achieved with this kind of exercise. 

Good for Overall Body Fitness 

Pilates engages all the muscle groups of the body. This is essential for achieving overall body fitness. All the benefits we’ve mentioned include strengthening the core muscles, enhancing flexibility and posture, and improving the overall health and well-being of the body. 

Improves Sleep 

As with some other types of exercise, Pilates has been discovered to be effective for improving sleep quality (1). Pilates exercises promote body awareness, relaxation, and reduced stress. These are the contributing factors to having a quality night’s sleep. 

As also mentioned, 10 benefits of Pilates includes relieving pain. When you’re not in pain, you’re likely to have better sleep quality than you would when in constant pain. 

Is Pilates Better than the Gym?

It’s difficult to say. The answer lies in what you hope to accomplish through exercise. Both will help improve overall fitness, but deciding which is better is up to the individual. For example, Pilates is good for building core strength, improving flexibility, and improving posture, among other 10 benefits that we have discussed. On the other hand, going to the gym is beneficial for building muscle strength and creating a muscular physique. 

Perhaps it should also be noted that Pilates is low-impact and reduces the risk of injury. This makes it suitable for people with back pain, injuries, or other physical limitations. On the other hand, the gym is more heavy lifting and high-intensity cardio training, which comes with an increased risk of injury. 

Therefore, what’s better between Pilates and gym is dependent on the goals you want to achieve. 

What Are the 10 Benefits of Pilates?

As previously mentioned, the benefits of Pilates are building strength and endurance, improving posture, enhancing flexibility and mobility, improving balance and coordination, and pain relief. 

Read more: Pilates For Posture: How It Works And The Best Exercises To Do

How Will 10 Pilates Benefits Change My Body?

When you practice Pilates consistently, you’re likely to see all 10 benefits, results or changes in your body. Pilates can change your body in a number of ways, including improved core strength, better posture, increased body awareness, improved balance and stability, and reduced stress and tension. In addition, it tones your muscles and can also result in weight loss. 

All the benefits we’ve discussed above are the changes you’re likely to witness in your body. 

Is 10 Minutes of Pilates a Day Enough?

Yes, 10 minutes of Pilates a day can be enough. The quality of the exercises can yield better results than quantity. Therefore, if you commit 10 minutes each day to Pilates exercises with proper form, you’ll reap all the benefits that come with it. 

As we mentioned in our previous post, Pilates 101, studies have shown that a 10-minute exercise each day can be beneficial in a similar way to 30 minutes of exercise. 

How Long Until I See 10 Benefits from Pilates?

Typically, you can expect to see the results of Pilates within a few weeks of conducting consistent exercises. It’s important to note that the time it may take for you to see results can vary from one individual to another. Some other factors that may affect the time it takes to see results include: 

• The frequency of your exercises – the more frequent, the sooner you’re likely to see the results. 
• Your starting fitness level – beginners will likely see increased strength quicker than those at advanced fitness levels.  
• Type of Pilates exercise and moves – not all types give results in a similar amount of time. 

Your goals – the results you want to see also dictate the time it takes. You’ll start to see the benefits, but not all at the same time. For example, if you want to lose weight, you may not see the results immediately, but you’re likely to see other benefits earlier.

FAQs

• What happens if I do Pilates every day at home?

When you do Pilates every day at home, you can start to see the results or benefits. You’re likely to start seeing improvements in your core strength, muscle tone, flexibility, posture, and overall body fitness, among the other benefits we discussed above.

• How many calories do you burn in 30 minutes of Pilates?

On average, you can burn between 120 – 240 calories through 30 minutes of Pilates. However, this isn’t the same for all individuals. The number of calories you can burn is also dependent on your body weight, intensity of the exercises, level of fitness, and age. 

Therefore, if you want to burn more calories, you need to perform the right Pilates moves that are more challenging or more intense. This is because more challenging movements will work your body more than the basic maneuvers. This can help determine the number of calories your body will burn in a given workout.

• Can you get fit with only Pilates?

Getting fit involves a number of factors and for that reason, Pilates isn’t enough on its own. Although it comes with a number of benefits that we’ve discussed above, you need to incorporate other exercises and diet practices for overall health and fitness. Of course, if you’re looking for the benefits that we have mentioned, Pilates can give you them. 

However, if you want to lose some significant weight, you’ll need to combine it with a healthy diet that involves a calorie deficit and potentially other forms of exercise in order to increase your overall daily calorie expenditure.

• Can Pilates grow the glutes?

Yes, Pilates can grow your glutes. Reformer Pilates, for example, is a form of Pilates that focuses on the glutes and other muscles. Therefore, it’s helpful for engaging all the muscles of the lower body and even the upper body. 

It’s also important to understand that some Pilates moves, including leg lifts, lunges, and heel beats, will target the glute muscles even more. So, with the right Pilates program, you’ll be able to grow your glutes over time.

• How often should you do Pilates?

How often should you do Pilates? was discussed in our previous post, It depends on your fitness level and goals. If you’re a beginner, you may need only a few sessions a week, compared to someone who is at an advanced fitness level. An optimal range of 3-4 times a week is typically recommended. For beginners, 2 times a week could be ideal. What’s most important is that you’re consistent with your exercise. Find what works for you and try your best to stick with it.

The Bottom Line: 10 Benefits of Pilates

There’s no doubt that Pilates exercises are good for improving strength, flexibility, balance and coordination, posture, and weight management. These, together with other benefits that we’ve discussed, show that Pilates is an ideal form of exercise.

In addition, if you’re new to these exercises,  a senior, someone with physical limitations, or a person with back pain or injury, you can benefit a great deal from this type of exercise. However, it’s important to remember to contact a medical professional before you start a new exercise program. This is particularly important if you fall into any of these listed categories. A doctor or physical therapist will be your best resource to ensure your body can handle these movements. 

We recommend that you review the basic Pilates moves in our previous post. This will help you learn the right moves that could be suitable for your fitness level or physical condition.