Pilates and strength training: how to combine the two
Pilates or the gym? They complement each other. What Pilates adds to strength training in trunk control, mobility and endurance, and what it doesn’t replace.
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Strength training and Pilates can complement each other in building a stronger body with greater movement control. While a programme with weights lets you match the resistance to your goals, Pilates can add mobility, coordination and muscular endurance work.
The combination can be useful for giving attention to capacities that are also involved in strength exercises.
Trunk control during exercises
In squats, rows or pushing movements, the trunk muscles help control the body's position while the limbs produce force.
Pilates lets you work on that relationship through exercises in which you move your arms and legs or hold a position. A trial with healthy young adults found improvements in core muscle endurance and in the sense of trunk position after an online Pilates programme.1
These capacities matter for training, although improving them doesn't, on its own, guarantee you'll lift more weight.
Mobility to use the range of each exercise
The range of a squat or an overhead movement depends, among other factors, on the movement available in the joints involved.
In Pilates classes, you can explore mobility of the hips, shoulders and spine, together with control work. The aim is to use a range suited to the exercise and to you, without forcing positions just to go further.
This work can complement technical learning, which still needs to be practised in the strength exercise itself.
Muscular endurance and attention to execution
Beyond loaded repetitions, training can benefit from time spent holding positions and controlling slower movements.
In Pilates, these tasks let you notice how you organise your support, move your limbs and stay in control throughout a sequence. Research has found improvements in muscular endurance with practice.2
That preparation can help you tolerate certain tasks, but it doesn't replace the specific stimulus needed to build maximal strength or muscle mass.
Can it help me improve in strength training?
Pilates can contribute to capacities that support how you perform the exercises. If you develop greater control, muscular endurance or useful range, you may find better conditions for practising the movements in your programme.
However, that doesn't mean adding Pilates will automatically increase the loads you can lift. For that goal, strength training should keep including appropriate resistance and progression.3
How do you combine the two?
Identify what you want to add to your plan. If you already do plenty of muscle work, a mobility class can offer a different stimulus. If you're looking for more endurance and body-control work, a Pilates session with that component may make sense.
At DUO
Strength, full-body and mobility classes let you work on different components of physical preparation. Check the theme and areas worked to fit each session around your goals and the rest of your training.
Combine strength, mobility and control for more complete preparation.
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