Can Pilates Build Glutes? Here’s the Real Truth

Let’s face it, having a big butt is still considered an aesthetic completion to the appearances of both men and women. You’ve probably tried different exercises that strengthen and grow your glutes. But is having a big tush a matter of beauty? 

Not exactly. Amping your glute muscles is about improving your daily functions, such as walking, running, lifting, jumping, or sitting. The stronger your glutes are, the lower the risk of injury, not only during sport performance, but also in other activities of daily life (1).

Pilates is popular due to being an accessible and versatile activity that strengthens your entire body through low-impact movements. But can Pilates build glutes? Here’s the real truth. 

This review can help you unlock prolific Pilates butt exercises, whether or not it’s effective for growing your glutes, and whether it’s better than the gym. 

Can You Build Muscle Just Doing Pilates?

Can Pilates grow muscle? This is probably the second most-asked question among Pilates newbies. There’s no specific answer to this question though. 

On the one hand, Pilates is an excellent workout for improving your muscle strength. According to a systematic review in 2022, Pilates may be effective for strengthening your muscles (2).

It is believable, as many Pilates movements require resistance and some of them may be performed with additional props, such as weights or on the special Pilates reformer. 

Mat Pilates, for example, is more limited in resistance, which requires more hard work, but the outcomes aren’t going to be the same as with including a reformer. 

Reformer Pilates or mat Pilates with additional weights can elevate the chance for muscle build-up. 

As Harvard Health Publishing states, weight training is the foremost way to increase muscle mass (3).

This means that Pilates workouts could also be efficient for building muscle as long as there’s progress in performance and more resistance. You need to add extra weights (if possible) to your exercises or take advantage of the Pilates reformer. 

Read more: Static Glute Bridge Abduction: Benefits You Can Expect

Are Glutes Hard to Grow?

Yes, generally, growing your glutes is a long-term process that requires a proper balanced diet and an active lifestyle. However, there are many effective ways to grow your glutes. 

A study from 2024 suggested that acceleration-specific exercises are the best options to activate your glutes (4). This would indicate that this form of exercise would be ideal before performing glute strengthening exercises. 

The top strength training exercises that boost muscle excitation, according to a 2020 study, are the step-up, followed by deadlifts, hip thrusts, and squats (5). If you’re curious about glute bridge vs hip thrust, check out our earlier article.

Growing your glutes takes a longer time, from several months to a few years. So, with consistent training and weighted progress, you can attain stronger and peachy glutes.

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Can You Grow Glutes from Pilates?

Does mat Pilates help you enhance your butt looks? Does reformer Pilates grow glutes?

In short, yes. But as was referenced already, mat, wall, and reformer Pilates require progress to achieve glute growth. 

Mat Pilates simply uses your body weight and activates your glute muscles through a variety of exercises. Adding weights to some of them could accelerate your chances. Reformer Pilates is also great for developing your butt as it provides upgraded levels of resistance. 

The best bodyweight glute exercises are already the part of Pilates sessions that offers core stability and improved flexibility, and a stronger butt. They aren’t just lower-body focused. 

But is it possible to grow your booty by doing only Pilates? Well, with all the aforementioned benefits, you can’t expect impressive results by only doing this activity. Incorporating acceleration-specific exercises before strength training and then performing exercises such as the step-up, deadlift, hip thrust, and squat can all contribute to increasing the size of the gluteal muscles.

Which Exercise Builds Glutes the Most?

There are many exercises that will work to grow the lower body. One research article found step-ups to be the most effective way to grow the glutes. Below, we’ve listed some other lower-body exercises that you can use to grow your glutes and your entire lower body:

1. Side plank leg abduction
2. Prone resisted hip abduction
3. Single leg bridge
4. Hip thrusts
5. Lateral step-ups
6. Sumo squats

Side Plank Leg Abduction

How to perform the exercise:

1. Lie on your side and prop yourself up by your elbow directly beneath your shoulder, with both feet stacked.
2. Keep your hand on your hip to support your body and elevate into a side plank.
3. With your lower leg on the ground, lift your top leg as high as possible without moving your hips.
4. Hold for a few seconds at the top, then bring your leg down slowly.

Prone Resisted Hip Abduction

How to perform the exercise:

1. Lie on your stomach with a resistance band around your ankles, legs together.
2. Slowly press your legs out against the band, keeping your legs straight.
3. Control your movement as you return your legs to the starting position.

Single Leg Bridge

How to perform the exercise:

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. 
2. Lift your left knee to a tabletop position. 
3. Press through the right foot on the floor to raise your hips off the ground. 
4. Keep your hips square while squeezing your glutes to help you lift.

Hip Thrusts

How to perform the exercise:

1. Lie down on your back with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent. 
2. Rest your shoulders on the bench, keeping your head slightly off the edge. 
3. Thrust: Drive your hips up until your body forms a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
4. Return to the starting position by driving your hips down and repeat. 

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Lateral Step-Ups

How to perform the exercise:

1. Place one foot on a box or any other safe prop with the other on the floor alongside the box.
2. Using the raised leg, push through the whole foot to lift yourself to a standing position on the box.
3. Step back down into the starting position, trying to maintain control. 

Sumo Squats

How to perform the exercise:

1. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart, hands at your sides. If you want to add weight, you can hold a dumbbell at your chest.
2. Engage your core and keep your back flat as you start to shift your weight into your heels. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower into a squat.
3. Drive through your heels to stand in the starting position and squeeze your glutes at the top for 1 rep.

Our previous post goes into great detail about the best glute workout.

Is Pilates Better than the Gym for Growing the Glutes?

Pilates may be more of an additional training aside from your gym sessions. Although a Pilates butt is attainable via weighted exercises and the use of a reformer, the gym offers more variety for hypertrophy. The use of exclusive machines that target your glutes and then the increased ability to progressively overload any exercise typically makes the gym a better option for pure muscle growth.   

However, that doesn’t mean that Pilates isn’t worth your time. You already learned that this activity can strengthen your glute muscles, which ultimately may lead to growing your butt. Pilates training is also helpful for flexibility, core strength, body awareness, breath control, stability, and balance (6).

There’s no doubt that with all the overall perks, you’ll be strong enough to complete more difficult exercises that focus on your booty growth and strength.

If it’s possible and affordable for you to attend the gym, go for it and complete Pilates sessions at home between your strength workouts. People who can’t afford a gym session or simply have no time for it could shift their focus to perform more Pilates exercises with other loads and props. 

Either way, individuals who actively do Pilates exercises gain something more than a well-shape butt. They increase their potential to boost their strength, reduce back pain (especially those who sit a lot), and overall improve their physique. All of this can combine to create a fit body and make improvements to your mental well-being. 

What Body Shape Does Pilates Give You?

Practicing Pilates regularly can give you a toned, leaner body shape. Your posture can get better too as Pilates is a key exercise for improving posture and reducing back pain (6).

Regarding weight loss, Pilates could potentially reduce obesity in obese people, according to a systematic review (7). However, with any form of exercise, you’ll need to pay close attention to your food intake. Fat loss comes when the body burns more calories than it consumes. Add Pilates to increase your daily calorie burn and then find healthy food options that keep your body in a calorie deficit. 

According to another study, Pilates combined with a weight loss diet has more prolific effects on body composition than Pilates alone (8). This makes a lot of sense. If you want to lose weight or tone up, it’s important to look at your diet first. 

Pilates alone won’t bring weight loss benefits if you keep abusing processed foods, alcohol, sugary beverages, and sweets. Having them once in a while or at least in smaller amounts could drastically affect your weight. 

Read more: Workout For Lower Butt: Exercises For A Firmer, Perkier Bum

Does Pilates Make Your Thighs Bigger?

Having bigger thighs takes a longer time, the same as getting a bigger butt. 

It’s no secret that Pilates overall adds strength to your entire body through core engagement and body stability. However, if you’re aiming to bulk up, it’s important to combine Pilates with weight training sessions. One study highlights that the best way to maximize muscle hypertrophy is by inducing resistance training exercises with additional loads (9). This is the principle of progressive overload.

People who simply want to tone up their legs without bulking can benefit from Pilates. Whether or not you’re new to Pilates, try to work on your technique first rather than focusing on a higher number of repetitions. Ideally, Pilates newbies could reach better results when doing it under a Pilates instructor. They: 

1. Can control whether or not you breathe well throughout the entire movement
2. Can prevent you from arching your back
3. Can help you perform each move with proper form, ultimately reducing the risk of injury

Understandably, Pilates sessions may be costly, which pushes people to use online sources. If you’re taking this route, make sure to find a reputable resource that’s been fact-checked through scientific research. 

Frequently Asked Questions

• What causes flat buttocks?

There are many reasons for flat buttocks. The most common are genetics and age. As you age, your butt may flatten due to lower amounts of fat and loss of skin collagen. Other reasons include sitting for too long and leading a sedentary life in general. 

• How can you tell if your glutes are growing?

One of the potential ways to tell that your glutes are growing is if your clothes fit better or differently. In addition, if you’re able to do more reps of the same glute exercise than you were before, this is a great indicator that you’re gaining strength and ultimately muscle mass size.

• Is cycling good for the glutes?

Yes, cycling is great for the glutes, but it doesn’t build them. If you want to grow your glutes, you’ll need to do specific weighted exercises to see results. However, cycling is a good way to activate your whole body as it’s a cardio workout. 

• Can Pilates replace the gym?

That entirely depends on your goals. If you want to bulk up, then Pilates can’t replace the gym. However, if you want to get toned, flexible, reduce your back pain, and improve your posture and strength, then Pilates is at your service. 

The Bottom Line

Can Pilates build glutes? Here’s the real truth. In reality, Pilates is a fundamental activity that helps people get stronger, more flexible, and healthier. Studies have shown that Pilates can help build muscles in your glutes as well. 

When it comes to growing your booty through Pilates workouts alone, there’s a possibility to do so, but only if you use a Pilates reformer or additional weights for your exercises. A peachy and juicy butt can be attained via different strength training exercises that target this region. Pilates here ends up being a key element to help you perform more advanced workouts easily. 

Pilates, gym training, and other physical activities help with gaining a stronger and well-shaped butt. Even simple walking daily for an hour or so already has an impact. Pilates is also effective for weight loss goals, but regardless of the type of exercise that you choose to commit to, a proper diet will play an important role. 

In relation to bulking up, Pilates can help you tone up, but won’t affect your hypertrophy. To do this, you need to aim for weighted workouts and progressive overload. 

To summarize, Pilates is an ideal low-impact activity for people who want to enhance their well-being, improve their flexibility, and modify their physique a bit.