Is Pilates just stretching? How classes build strength
Pilates builds strength too. How body weight creates resistance, why slow movements take effort and the difference between muscle strength and endurance.
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Stretching can be part of a Pilates class, but it isn't the only work involved. Lifting your pelvis, moving a leg against gravity or holding a position also takes muscular effort.
Strengthening happens when muscles work against a sufficiently challenging resistance. That resistance can come from your own body weight, small equipment or larger apparatus.1
How do you build strength without weights?
In mat Pilates classes, your body weight can create resistance to movement. For example:
- In a bridge, the muscles work to lift and lower the pelvis;
- Lying on your side, lifting a leg requires the hip muscles to work against gravity;
- In an exercise supported on your arms, the upper-limb muscles help hold up part of your body weight.
The demand depends on the position, the range, the points of support and each person's ability. An exercise can be challenging for a beginner and become less demanding with continued practice.
Why can small or slow movements take effort?
The size and speed of a movement don't, on their own, show how hard the muscles are working.
When you perform a movement in a controlled way, you have to produce force to carry it out and to control the return. There can also be muscle work when you hold a position, even without visible movement.
That's why a calm sequence can include demanding exercises. However, doing a movement slowly doesn't, on its own, guarantee greater strength gains.
Are strength and muscular endurance the same thing?
They are related but different capacities. Strength is the ability to produce tension to overcome or sustain a resistance. Muscular endurance is the ability to maintain or repeat that effort over time.
Both can be worked on in a class. Repeating movements or holding positions can challenge muscular endurance, while exercises with greater relative resistance can place more demand on producing force.
The effect depends on the programme. In a study of young women, improvements in strength measures were observed after a Pilates programme that included strengthening exercises, both with and without stretching at the start of the sessions.2
How can the work keep being challenging?
As an exercise becomes easier, it may be necessary to adjust the resistance or the way it's performed to keep building strength.
That progression can involve equipment, a variation of the exercise or changes in the volume of work. It doesn't necessarily mean removing support or seeking more unstable positions.
Pilates can contribute to strengthening, but not every class offers the same stimulus. A session focused on stretching has a different purpose from a class with a greater strength component.
At DUO
We combine strengthening, mobility and stretching exercises according to the goal of each class. The demonstrations and on-screen cues help you tell apart the moments of movement, holding a position and rest.
Our sequences are organised to distribute effort across the areas worked, with stable support and alternating sides in single-sided exercises.
Discover the strength work that is also part of Pilates.
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