Pilates FAQ

You asked, we answered! I’m rounding up 3 of the most frequently asked questions I get from students, or people thinking about starting Pilates. 

1. Will I lose weight with Pilates? The short answer–in my experience–is yes. While you can’t of course eat cake and cookies all the time, do some Pilates, and expect to lose weight, I have found that a consistent Pilates practice supports a healthy weight. When you become more mindful about how you move your body and how your body and mind work together, you become more mindful about what you put INTO your body as well. Mindful eating tends to lead to better weight outcomes. But at the end of the day, it's true what they say - Abs are made in the kitchen.  A solid nutrition program coupled with your Pilates practice will shave inches off in no time.

2. Is Pilates easy or hard? One of the things that I love about Pilates is that it uses a progressive technique of many, many different movements so it can be scaled to all levels. I’ve taught beginners with zero fitness or exercise experience all the way to professional dancers who have been doing Pilates since they were children. The foundational series in Pilates runs the gamut from basic to difficult movements in terms of strength, flexibility, and coordination, and modifications are possible in everything. Whether you find it simple or hard will be largely a personal experience. You can choose how much effort you’re willing to expend, you can scale back an exercise if you’re not quite ready for it, and it will still reward you in the end. I find Pilates to be the “good” kind of hard. Come and try it with me and see what you think!

3. Does Pilates “count” as my cardio? While Pilates is traditionally considered a strength training workout, you will elevate your heart rate in a session. There’s an adage out there that if you don’t sweat, the workout doesn’t “count.” This just simply isn’t the case. While the movements might look simple from the outside, you’re using so many individual muscles–ones you might not have used before– and this builds up the heat in your body! Pilates is quite athletic. Performing advanced mat work without stopping can burn 300 calories in a 30 minute session, which rivals many gym workouts. While you don’t need to join a separate gym to “do cardio” if you’re consistently doing Pilates, Pilates will boost the efficiency of your other workouts should you choose to do them!
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What other questions do you have? Reach out to me and let me know. Better yet- book a session and we’ll talk about them in person.