Before I delve into the facts of whether Pilates is a ‘fat-burning’ workout  and if it can change your shape, let’s look at the basics of what it takes to actually ‘change’ your body composition. This being muscle to fat ratio plus the ability of your body to be able to ‘change shape.’

FYI – if you are new to the term ‘Pilates’ it is a form of exercise created by a man named Joseph Pilates (that’s why you will see it written with a capital P because it’s the name of a person!) who created a system of exercises designed to strengthen, align and balance the entire body while improving mental awareness.

The term ‘fat burning’ and ‘transformation’ get thrown around alot in the health and fitness industry, and the thing is different people have different meanings for all of these terms depending on if they are a fitness professional or a client wanting to get the results.

We all get caught up in these glossy ‘terms’ because they sound good, and yes of course you want to get results for your body and fitness, but let’s take a step back and look at what it takes to make ‘change’ happen.

I get asked alot: ‘Can Pilates change my body shape or burn fat?’ The short answer is yes. And no. Let me explain why.

Firstly, to make a lasting ‘transformational’ change to your body shape and fitness and release excess weight, you need to look at the different components that allow this to happen.

 

What are the components needed to change your body shape?

Healthy eating plan : this is around 75% of how you look. The effects of a balanced eating plan (not ‘diet’ as this gives the idea of a short term fix) will always have more to do with how you look than what exercise will do for you.

Exercise : this is the 25% contributing to how you look. Often people will approach exercise as the main component for change, however it will not give you any change in body shape if you are eating heavy meals that are calorie dense. For example, you may burn 250- 300 calories for a 30 minute jogging session at 8 km (5 miles) per hour, but then eat a dinner meal that’s 400 calories. Not to mention the other snacks and meals during the day that may equate to an intake of say 2000 to 3000 calories.

To make it clear you do not need to match the calories burned with calories put into your system, but you do need to eat smaller portions of fresh, whole foods to allow for regulation of your metabolism and digestion, to regulate your hormones (this is important for body shape change) and get your body into a state where the calories being used up efficiently.

In the ‘exercise’ category we also need to be mindful of doing 3 main types of exercise:

 

• Cardiovascular: for example, walking, swimming, aerobics, boxing. This will help boost fat burning, increase lung capacity, boost circulation and release ‘happy’ hormones.
• Strength training: for example, bodyweight exercises like pushups, planks, tricep dips, lunges, back strengthening and tummy exercises. I like to use Pilates-based exercises for my clients as I have found it gets results in total body strength, flexibility and mental focus with less chance of injury because of the way you engage all muscles with precision, creating smoother movements. No heavy, unsafe, mis-aligned movements here which can cause more damage than good. Also weight training is great for increasing your strength and helping to shape muscles. Strength training in general will help you ‘sculpt’ your body and boost the metabolism by increasing lean muscle tissue.
• Flexibility : for example yoga, Pilates, stretching routines. You may think that flexibility has not impact on ‘body shape’ but again, look at your approach to exercise from a holistic point of view. If you do not do flexibility training you have a higher risk of injury, your muscles will appear ‘bulkier’ (which is fine if you like that look) and you will have limited range of motion. This will inhibit your ability to perform other types of exercise to their full potential, therefore inhibit your overall results.

Mindset : With more awareness (pun intended) of ‘mindfulness’ these days, being ‘aware’ of your thoughts and beliefs certainly impacts your ability to transform your body. So we can’t quantify a ‘percentage’ of it’s effect on the body like food and exercise, but there is much research and case studies out to show you that your thoughts certainly have an effect on the decisions and actions you take regarding health and fitness.

For example: If you believe you are ‘big boned,’ do you think that will help your body to change shape? No way! That belief is set into your mind, and needs work to undo it. If you believe exercise and healthy eating is chore or painful will you do it and stick to it ? No way! Again, the mind needs to identify with reasons and motivating factors that help you shift from being driven by pain, to being driven by pleasure.

If you had always had somewhat of a negative self-image and didn’t believe you were worthy of health or a healthy body, do you think that would affect weight maintenance and body shape? Of course! Not to mention, next time you are going through a challenging emotional time, observe how your body feels. Is it heavier? Less energised? Stored up emotions cause havoc in our ‘transformation.’ You need to face your deep, personal stuff and issues, or it will get stored as toxins and fat. When you stew over things, you are stressed and hence you are creating poor inner health. Then you are back to square one. This in itself is a huge topic, so I will write about it in more depth in another post!

 

Other factors to consider when wanting to ‘change shape:’ 

• Daily activities: what do you do for work? Is it sedentary work? Are you sitting for most of the day where our body will slow down in metabolism and function? Or are you on your feet all day moving around where you would be burning more energy?
• Levels of stress: you will always hear me refer back to the effects of ‘cortisol’ (stress hormone) and the effects that this has on the body’s ability to shift weight. It’s more common today that many of you may experience the effects of this at some point due to busy and demanding lifestyles. Although we need cortisol as it helps with regulating our metabolism and blood sugar levels, the down side when we are in ‘fight or flight’ mode all the time form stress, is that you will start to gain excess fat around the tummy and have a limited ability to release weight, hence your shape will not change as you want it to even if you are exercising and ‘eating well.’ (I know all too well from going through adrenal fatigue which was caused by too much cortisol in the body, causing me to lose energy and even gain some belly fat I had not ever had before).
• Adequate rest: it’s super important to get your sleep at least 7 hours or so is great for full restoration of the mind and body. Lack of sleep causes your hormones to muck up and

 

So then, can Pilates transform your body shape?

Now that we have gotten the fundamentals laid out, let’s look at how Pilates can help you.

If we go on the premise that exercise is the 25 % of what you look like and you are eating well with low or no stress, AND getting enough rest, then YES it will transform your body.

You may have heard a few ‘Pilates’ terms being thrown around too, so let’s clear them up.

To distinguish the difference : Pilates ‘Matwork’ is done primarily using body weight exercises and sometimes small apparatus done on an exercise mat. Pilates ‘Studio’ work is done on specially designed equipment (like a reformer, trap table and wunda chair) and exercises are completed using this equipment to strengthen the body using the resistance of the equipment. Both have huge benefits and are as highly effective as each other.

To keep it simple, Matwork is great to train your strength and alignment and creates a great opportunity for the body and mind to connect by having to recognise each muscle to be called upon at different times. ‘Studio’ Pilates is great for those who cannot get up and down off the floor easily or need more rehab-specific exercises and a bit more support.

Pilates in general for this reason is fat-burning, though not in the sense of ‘cardio’ or ‘aerobic’ work where you would run around and get a huge sweat. It is taxing on the body and utilises energy in a different way, through slower, controlled, concentrated exercises that target deeper muscles in the body, rather than just surface muscles. This creates greater workload for the mind and body, hence you can burn energy while doing it.

Think about it, if you smashed out say 50 ‘situps’ as fast as you possibly could because you were being timed, your technique would be crap, you would likely be pushing your neck forward, having incorrect curves in your back, and be using your hips as momentum. (Hello, back pain!)

So yes, your heart rate may be up, but there is mainly momentum driving you, not good muscular activation. On the other hand, if you were to 10 super slow, controlled Pilates ‘roll ups,’ where your legs were anchored, your spine was long, you engaged your pelvic floor, and deep tummy muscles before moving, then went as slow as possible, do you think that would be harder? Of course!! Therefore, this is how you can end up burning fat and changing your body shape. More muscles and better technique are required for the latter.

You can get a total body workout doing matwork or studio Pilates, where you will again atrget those deeper muscles plus outer muscles to get a more balanced effect from the workout. This prompts the body to respond and burn energy.

Now if you are only doing say 1 session a week with no other form of exercise and do not eat the best, plus have a sedentary job, then you may not notice much ‘change’ in your body shape, although it can happen it will take alot longer.

There is a principle that applies to all fitness called ‘frequency.’ You must do your activity 2-3 times per week for a significant change in the body. Even 20 mins is good. This can be applied to any goal- whether it be running , flexibility, strength gains as in doing Pilates.

For greater results and build your lung capacity and fitness, you always want to be doing at least 2-3 20-30 minute cardio sessions per week to boost the metabolism further and get your breathing right. Breathing is super important in Pilates and other exercise.

My observations of my Pilates clients is:  It normally takes 2 or 3 sessions per week for say 8 or 10 weeks, then you start to see and feel changes: slimmer waistlines, taller postures, leaner muscles (arms, legs, butt), stronger core and less body pain. I’ve had so many clients come to me and show their waistline , arm and leg measurements become smaller during my programs. Some only doing 2 classes per week. I’m talking about significant change too! They feel more confident, more energised and slimmer. And that is the only exercise they have done for that 8 or 10 weeks. They were mindful with eating and were in a healthy ‘state’ for change to occur. So they did burn fat and transform purely from Pilates matwork classes.

On the other hand I’ve see people who do Pilates or gymwork or other exercise for years and never change shape, never budge an inch. Why? Their food is still out of whack, they haven’t addressed the other issues we spoke of earlier. Their approach has failed to be ‘holistic.’ You can’t do any workout then eat cake and coffee after and expect a change! Nor can you survive on energy drinks, or unhealthy mindset habits and expect to be at your ideal shape.

 

In a nutshell…

So, yes, Pilates can help you burn fat and change your shape if done minimum 2-3 times a week with good eating habits (remember that’s 75%! of it!), and at the same time it will not create much change for you if your technique is poor and you do not work through the uncomfortable feeling of the work, whether it be Pilates or fitness and choose to have poor habits in your other components to good health.

Challenge yourself, get moving, get strong and focus on creating habits you can maintain week to week. If you focus on building these habits you will by default gain positive results for your body and your mind for the long term.

*If you need support and weekly help with your health and exercise, request to join my ‘Women’s Healthy Living forum’ Facebook group here.

Hope this helps. Contact me if you have any questions, via the comment box below! Please share this post:-)

Until next time, power to your core.