Have you ever felt stuck in your fitness routine, wondering if there’s something more out there? As a personal trainer and CrossFit coach, I’ve spent years chasing intense workouts and heavy weights. But when a hip injury forced me to slow down, I discovered a whole new approach to movement. I’m passionate about helping others find joy in fitness and feel at home in their bodies. This article delves into the potential of a 30-day Pilates regimen for weight loss, exploring its benefits, various styles, and practical strategies to achieve optimal results.
Introduction to Pilates
Pilates is a popular low-impact exercise. It’s effective for toning up, building lean muscle, and improving posture. Practicing Pilates can be beneficial for your health and help you maintain a healthy weight.
Originally a set of exercises performed by founder Joseph Pilates whilst he was POW during World War One, Pilates began as a way to keep strong in confinement and help rehab injured soldiers back to health. His method combined resistance-from hospital bed springs-with his knowledge of Zen Buddhism, yoga, and breathwork. Based on six key foundation principles (concentration, control, centre, flow, precision, and breathing), it was only after Pilates (the man) travelled to America that his method solidified into the practice we know (and struggle through) today.
Pilates vs. Cardio for Fat Loss
Running and cycling have traditionally been known for their hefty calorie expenditure during a workout. Pilates, however, has a much weaker fat-burning edge, although when used regularly there is a unique advantage. Here’s how they stack up:
| Factor | Pilates | Cardio |
|---|---|---|
| Calories Burned (30 mins) | 180-250 | 250-400 |
| Core Strength & Toning | Medium | Low |
| Stress Recovery Capability | High | Average |
| Key Benefit for Weight Loss | Encourages fat loss over time by improving muscle tone, posture, lowering cortisol (belly fat storing stress hormone), and improving fragile tailored physiques. | Burns more calories from a single session. |
The "Pilates Effect"
The “Pilates effect” is the idea that practicing Pilates can lead to improved posture, muscle tone, and a toned core area. The result of this “effect” is that it may appear you have lost weight. That’s because if you’ve gained or toned up your muscles, you may look more fit overall, even if you haven’t lost weight.
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Wall Pilates
Wall Pilates utilizes traditional Pilates movements and combines them with the added resistance of a wall. You’ll still see moves like Pilates 100s and bridge pose as part of a wall Pilates workout. The main difference is that foot placements may be up against the wall rather than grounded or extended.
By pressing against a wall while performing different Pilates positions, the wall provides the resistance that a traditional reformer foot bridge would. The result? Better strength building.
“In Pilates, the only resistance you have really is the force of gravity. Using a wall for static resistance, you can actually exert the force,” Heather A. Milton, exercise physiologist supervisor at the NYU Langone Health’s Sports Performance Center, tells TODAY.com.
“This is a type of resistance training known as isometric training,” Milton explains. “Essentially, you can choose to exert force at varying levels of your maximal effort.”
Benefits of Pilates
Pilates offers a multitude of benefits that extend beyond just weight loss.
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Physical Benefits
- Improved Core Strength and Stability: Pilates focuses on strengthening the deep core muscles, which can lead to a stronger and more stable core.
- Enhanced Muscle Tone: Pilates is effective for toning and building lean muscle.
- Better Posture: Pilates can lead to improved posture, muscle tone, and a toned core area.
- Increased Flexibility and Mobility: Completing the 28-Day Wall Pilates Challenge can help to increase your mobility and flexibility. This is because your muscles stretch and lengthen when doing Wall Pilates exercises. The emphasis on slow, controlled movements in Pilates helps to strengthen the stabilizing muscles around the joints, which plays a crucial role in improving stability and reduces the risk of injury over time.
- Injury Rehabilitation: There’s also promising research from 2015 that showed that Pilates may be effective for chronic low back pain management and other injury rehabilitation.
- Low-Impact Exercise: Pilates is a low-impact exercise, making it suitable for all levels of fitness.
- Improved Balance: Wall Pilates is great for improving stability, balance, strength and control.
- Increased Circulation: Unlike traditional Pilates, your feet are typically elevated throughout most of the workout, so you may experience increased circulation, improved digestion and sleep and reduced muscle cramps.
- Strength Building without Stressing Joints: According to Milton, this research indicates that a workout like wall Pilates would be ideal for strength building without adding unnecessary stress to joints.
Mental Benefits
- Stress Reduction: I’m a real believer in doing exercise for the joy of moving, not to lose weight or burn a certain number of calories.
- Mind-Body Connection: By completing this 30 day Pilates challenge, you have improved your physical strength and flexibility and developed a deeper mind-body connection.
Is Pilates Effective for Weight Loss?
Pilates is a popular low-impact exercise. It’s effective for toning up, building lean muscle, and improving posture. Practicing Pilates can be beneficial for your health and help you maintain a healthy weight. Yet, Pilates may not be as effective for weight loss as other cardio exercises, such as running or swimming. That’s because you’ll burn fewer calories in traditional mat Pilates classes than if you did other cardio exercises.
Research on Pilates and Weight Loss
The research on Pilates for weight loss is mixed.
- One small study in 2017 observed 37 overweight or obese women ages 30 to 50. The researchers found that practicing Pilates for eight weeks was effective for: weight loss, lowering BMI, toning the waist, decreasing abdomen and hip circumference. It made no difference in lean body mass (body fat weight subtracted from total body weight) though. This was compared to a group doing no exercise during this time.
- Another 2015 study observed postmenopausal women aged 59 to 66 years old. It found that 12 weeks of practicing mat Pilates resulted in no change in body composition. But the participants did significantly increase abdominal, upper, and lower limb strength. Researchers suspect there was no change in body composition because the women in the study didn’t alter their diets.
Calorie Expenditure in Pilates
The amount of calories you will burn in Pilates depends on your current weight, if you’re doing a mat or reformer class, and the level of difficulty of the class. For someone who’s about 150 pounds, one 50-minute Pilates mat class at a beginner level burns approximately 175 calories. An advanced 50-minute class burns approximately 254 calories. You’ll burn more calories in a Pilates reformer class or any Pilates workout where you elevate your heart rate.
Combining Pilates with Other Exercises
If your goal is weight loss, try combining Pilates with a healthy diet and other forms of exercise. Alternate Pilates with strength training and other forms of cardio exercise such as walking, swimming, running, or cycling. If you’re trying to lose weight, participate in these types of combination classes a few times a week for best results. You can also alternate Pilates classes with strength training sessions (with weights) and cardio exercise. Combining Pilates with other forms of cardio exercise and strength training, plus eating a healthy diet, is an effective way to tone your muscles and help you achieve your weight loss goals.
Different Styles of Pilates and Their Calorie Burn
To achieve optimum fat burn within a 30 minute workout, these styles should be picked:
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| Pilates Style | Calories Burned (30 min) | Intensity |
|---|---|---|
| Mat Pilates | 150-250 | Moderate |
| Reformer Pilates | 200-300 | Moderate-High |
| Cardio Pilates/Jumpboard | 250-400 | High |
Smart Tip: Try Reformer Pilates with jumpboard cardio intervals in studios like Pilatiq Fitness Studio, Abu Dhabi for high calorie burn and low impact workouts.
Maximizing Fat Burn During Pilates
To achieve fat loss during the Pilates exercise, here are strategies from the professionals:
- Deliberately focus on contracting your core. Don’t just show up.
- Stick with busy flows - use planks, teasers, and leg pull fronts.
- Use light resistance - bands, balls, or the Reformer can be used.
- Be consistent - 5-6 times per week is ideal.
- Measure results using photos and measurements, not the scale.
30-Day Pilates Challenge
Sample Schedules
Here are a few sample schedules for a 30-day Pilates challenge:
Schedule 1
- Monday: Full-body for beginners (27 mins)
- Tuesday: Quickie ballet abs (16 mins)
- Wednesday: Blogilates total body (14 mins)
- Thursday: Full-body sculpt (46 minutes)
- Friday: Core burner (13 mins)
- Saturday: Quickie booty (18 mins)
- Sunday: Morning workout with MickiPhit (11 mins)
Schedule 2
- Monday: Full-body Pilates workout (30 mins)
- Tuesday: Glutes and abs (32 mins)
- Wednesday: Dynamic Pilates (30 mins)
- Thursday: Intermediate full-body (20 mins)
- Friday: Beginner full-body (10 mins)
- Saturday: Pilates with weights (30 mins)
- Sunday: Quick core (10 mins)
Wall Pilates Exercises for Beginners
Interested in trying wall Pilates at home? Jardine and Mowatt offer a few foundational movements to get your wall Pilates practice started. An important note to wall Pilates first-timers: Listen to your body. “Take breaks and modify exercises as needed, and don’t beat yourself up if it feels difficult at first,” says Jardine. “That’s usually the case for everyone!”
1. Leg Raises (Renée Mowatt)
- Start lying flat on your back facing the wall with both legs extended vertically and arms stretched alongside the body.
- Rest both heels against the wall, then lift each leg one at a time toward your body at around a 45-degree angle.
- Alternate for 20 repetitions.
2. Elevated Hip Bridge (Callie Jardine)
- Start by lying flat on your back facing the wall, with your feet about one foot away.
- Bring your feet hip-width apart and set them on the wall, so that your calves are parallel to the floor and your thighs are at a slight diagonal. Let your arms rest by your side on the mat.
- Then, tuck your hips under and press through your heels to slowly peel your back off the mat into a bridge position.
- Slowly lower back to the starting position.
- Repeat for 10-15 reps.
3. Wall Sits with Calf Raises (Callie Jardine)
- Stand with your back flat against the wall.
- Slowly walk your feet away from the wall as you sit down into a squat, bending your knees to a 90-degree angle.
- Make sure your ankles are directly below your knees.
- Roll through the balls of your feet to lift the heels off the mat while staying in the wall sit.
- Lower the heels back down.
- Repeat for 15 reps.
Important Considerations
- Consult with a Professional: If you have any current injuries or chronic pain, it’s best to consult with your doctor or physical therapist before engaging in a 30-day Pilates challenge. If you have any medical conditions, it’s essential to consult with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine.
- Prior Pilates Experience: Knowing at least some foundational Pilates movements will help you feel more comfortable practicing wall Pilates. However, prior Pilates experience isn’t required to start a wall Pilates workout routine.
- Proper Form: During certain exercises, it’s important to practice Pilates with the correct form and keep the lower back pressed into the mat at all times - arching your lower back can put pressure on your spine. If you do suffer from back pain, it’s worth talking to your instructor beforehand.
Personal Experience and Reflections
When I first embarked on this experiment, to be completely honest, my CrossFit-coaching, triathlon-dabbling, spin-class-teaching brain thought I was essentially giving myself a month “off” from intense exercise. I was on a mission to heal a persistent hip injury (more on that later) and was curious if Pilates, along with Physical Therapy exercises and light activity like walking, could speed up the healing process.
A few months ago, while training for a triathlon and trying to maintain CrossFit and strength training in my routine, I injured my hip. I’d had some smaller injuries in the months prior- a sign that I was overworking and under-recovering. But this injury was different. It wasn’t just a minor setback- it felt like my body was hitting the brakes hard after I’d been ignoring its warnings to slow down. The injury made walking painful. With a job as active as personal training, I felt like it had knocked me down.
One day, feeling particularly unmotivated, I decided to try a group Pilates class instead of lifting. In my first Pilates class, the instructor asked about injuries. I mentioned my hip, and she, also a physical therapist, said she had dealt with a similar injury in the past. She gave me a few modifications, but surprisingly, I didn’t need them. I went in with every intention to modify as needed, but my hip felt fine in every movement.
For 30 days, Pilates became my primary workout-not active recovery or “extra” movement. Walking was still uncomfortable, so I swapped out my daily walks for light indoor biking or the elliptical, typically while listening to a podcast or doing computer work. I stayed consistent with my PT exercises and took two full rest days each week. By the end of week one, I felt great-better than I had since far before the injury.
By the end of 30 days, I was amazed at how my body responded. My hip felt stronger and a lot more stable. My pain had completely subsided. Something I’ve known for a while is that I am hypermobile: my joints often lack strength at the end ranges of motion. Rather than the emphasis on passive flexibility that some may associate with Pilates, I felt like the approach was all about working to develop control within more vulnerable ranges of motion, something that is often lacking in those with hypermobility. I wasn’t just stretching deeper; I was learning to engage my muscles and develop control through these deeper ranges of motion, creating a foundation of stability that I could build on across other fitness modalities.
Overall, this experience has been transformative in my approach to fitness-both for myself and with my clients. Something I’ve reflected on a lot these past couple of months is the importance of diversifying our fitness identities. I’ve become more aware that true strength comes from stability, resilience, and consistency-not just heavy weights. Pilates has helped me embrace the idea that movement can be fun and restorative-not about burning calories or PR-ing all the time. It reminded me that it’s okay to slow down and explore new things-especially the things that initially seem scary or unfamiliar. I’ve been practicing letting go of some of my perfectionist tendencies, and learning to embrace fun over fear in fitness.
As I’ve reincorporated heavier weights and some CrossFit classes, I’ve seen the benefits of Pilates carry over into my other movement modalities. I feel more in tune with my body-I’ve learned to trust its signals, whether it’s needing a rest day or wanting to switch from an upper body lift to a Pilates class, or vice versa.
Three Key Lessons from a 14-Day Pilates Experiment
- It's not the 'easy' option: Just because it's a workout done by tween influencers, A-listers and grandmothers alike, the strength and control it takes to perform the exercises correctly with proper form is unparalleled. Saying that - there are options. If you're new to Pilates, a beginner session will be just as challenging as an intermediate workout for those better-versed in the discipline.
- A lot of the moves are fairly similar: Pilates focuses a lot on building strength throughout the entire core (that includes your pelvic floor and all abdominals, btw), which meant a lot of the exercises were repeated across workouts. Planks, glute bridges, single-leg isolation exercises, crunches and table-top movements were big hits in most of the sessions, whether the workout tackled full body or focused on a specific muscle group.
- Not enough can be said for a strong core: A strong core is integral for any type of exercise you do. Whether that's learning how to strength train or smashing out HIIT workouts at home, it's your core that provides the powerhouse to make it happen without injury. From squats to deadlifts, pull-ups to planks, strengthening your trunk (horrible word for your core but roll with it) is essential. Pilates is fantastic for that. After two weeks I feel more stable lifting heavy weights, speeding through burpees or performing jump lunges.