{"id":394,"date":"2019-01-31T08:17:08","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T08:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp\/?p=394"},"modified":"2019-01-31T08:17:08","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T08:17:08","slug":"is-pilates-strength-training-yes-definitely-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lisajohnsonfitness.com\/is-pilates-strength-training-yes-definitely-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Pilates Strength Training? Yes, Definitely! Here\u2019s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n
I was training my clients this morning in my Pilates studio, watching sweat soak through their clothes, watching their bodies tremble with the effort of moving through challenging positions. I was listening to them breathe heavily as they moved seamlessly from one exercise to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My clients have been with me for years and they are, for the most part, intermediate and advanced level. We\u2019ve developed a shorthand; they know my cues and can move quickly from one exercise to the next with very little down time. They sweat\u2014not the hard sweat of running a 5K\u2014but they definitely have their heart rates elevated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For readers who don\u2019t already know, I achieved a 500-hour certification through Stott Pilates and have also developed my own Pilates training school which features a 500-hour training course. I have been teaching Pilates since 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I was quite surprised today to see the folks over at SparkPeople<\/a> say that Pilates isn\u2019t resistance training. What?? That just doesn\u2019t make sense. I was talking about this with my clients this morning and here are some of their responses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPilates is the only thing that has changed my body. Weight training didn\u2019t do it for me.\u201d<\/p> \u201cHow can it not<\/em> be resistance training? I\u2019ve got muscles!\u201d (My client then flexed her biceps for me and we laughed.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I came home, frankly fuming, and started researching articles for this post. I was looking for studies that showed the benefits of Pilates and to back up my \u201ccrazy claim\u201d that, yes, Pilates is, in fact, resistance training. There are a lot of small studies out there that show different benefits of Pilates, but unfortunately there isn\u2019t one big be-all, end-all study that either debunks or supports my point of view. (I have links to over 80 smaller studies<\/em> at the end of this post though.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I went over to my equipment manufacturers website. I use Stott Pilates<\/a> machines and love them. Here\u2019s what they have to say about the springs we use in my Pilates studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Initial tension is five pounds for the first inch of tension (for full-strength springs), and then increases by approximately one pound per inch of movement per spring. Multiply the number of springs and distance traveled to get approximate tension in pounds. On a Stott Pilates Reformer, four springs are full tension and one is half tension. (Most people will simply note the number of springs used per exercise).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Yay! I grabbed my tape measure and gauged my heel-to-head distance when I was \u201cat return\u201d on the reformer and when I was pushed away with my feet. I also measured how far my hand moved for some of the arm exercises. You do have to work harder on the machines if you\u2019re taller or have longer limbs; I am 5\u20197\u2033 and have decently long arms, so the math for me will be different than for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How is this not<\/em> resistance training, folks? Obviously Pilates instructors are trained to adjust the springs to best suit the needs of a client\u2019s body. I have only had one guy in 13 years \u201crack out\u201d the Reformer doing leg work who said it was too easy for him. No problem; I just switched him to leg work on the chair and he started huffing and puffing right away. He was also a former college linebacker and his legs were ginormous!<\/p>\n\n\n\n SparkPeople also claimed that Pilates isn\u2019t cardio training and my response is \u201cit depends.\u201d At the beginner level, definitely not; you have to move slowly and develop strength while you\u2019re learning the nuances of Pilates. However, once you get into intermediate and advanced levels, there are low-level and moderate-levels of cardio that can be sustained during the workout, although it tends to dip up and down.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPilates is Math!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n