Is Pilates Good for Weight Loss?
If you are trying to lose weight, then Pilates is a good weight loss exercise. The goal of Pilates is to increase lean muscle mass, which is great when you’re trying to lose weight. That’s because when people are losing weight, they are losing muscles along with it.
From Pilates Mat to Pilates exercises using an apparatus, Pilates helps you retain a healthy level of muscle mass as it’s a form of strength training or resistance training. Think of a body that’s lean and long like a dancer’s instead of bulky and compact like a bodybuilder’s.
Picture this: if you weigh about 150lbs and you do beginner Pilates for 50 minutes, then you shed about 175 calories. Our muscles continue burning off calories even after working out so, the longer you’re at it, the stronger and shapelier you get.
For best results, combine Pilates with a healthy diet and other workouts such as calisthenics or cardio exercise. You can also take up dance or movement classes like capoeira for fun. If weight loss is your goal, then read on to learn how to achieve it with Pilates Plus Singapore.
Special Pilates Introductory Offer: 3 Sessions for Only $75
First, The Pilates Process
Unlike other crushing, high-intensity exercise programs, Pilates may seem relatively passive. That’s because its focus is on the concept of control instead of seemingly endless reps and muscle exhaustion.
In Pilates, the muscles work to lift against gravity or the resistance of bands and springs. This exercise requires you to take your time, focus on the task at hand, maintain balance, and practice proper breathing.
What you learn from Pilates will provide you with a good solid bedrock for fitness and wellness. For one, full breathing exercises (which are integral to Pilates) can feed and stimulate the circulatory system. It’s a cleansing process that can help detoxify the blood and refresh the cells.
WHAT EXPERTS SAY ABOUT PILATES FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Here’s Where Weight Loss Comes In
Let’s get to the heart of how our body processes weight loss. The body loses weight or body fat by burning more calories than what is consumed. Our system burns a certain amount of calories to perform metabolic processes that are necessary to sustain life – this is called resting metabolism. We increase our resting metabolism by performing resistance training, which in turn increases muscle density. This allows the body to burn even more calories, including stored body fat.
Remember, the body can only lose weight if it is in a negative energy balance. This means that you must take in less energy (food or calories) than you need on a regular and consistent basis. When this happens, the body must rely on its stores of fat, glycogen, and muscles as fuels. The result is the loss of body weight.
More on Pilates and Weight Loss
A study published in the Journal for Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness found that “8 weeks (of doing) Pilates exercises have positive effects on body composition in sedentary overweight and obese women. Pilates exercises can be applied for improving body composition.”
Changing your body composition by adding muscle and reducing fat will positively influence your basal metabolic rate. The more muscle you build, the more calories you burn at rest. You will burn more calories at rest simply by adding lean muscles to your body—and there are Pilates resistance exercises to help you achieve this.
Pilates gives you a total body workout by initiating the muscles to work in synergy with each other – the way that the body is designed to be used. Another study, published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science, showed that Pilates increased muscle mass, decreased body fat, and also strengthened deep muscles in the abdomen and back.
RESEARCH shows Pilates has a positive effect on improving body composition
More on Pilates and Weight Loss
Now that you’ve reached your goal and successfully shed off the excess pounds, how do you maintain your ideal weight? Continuing with your Pilates workouts can fine-tune your form and sculpt your muscles without bulking you up—so why stop now?
A proper Pilates workout requires that one master a series of bodyweight exercises on the mat or using the different Pilates apparatus such as the Reformer. The resistance training you get through a Pilates workout can boost your weight loss results.
You might get a good enough workout with a 3-times-a-week schedule. But if you really want to build strength, flexibility, and endurance, make that your minimum, not your ideal goal. In fact, founder Joseph Pilates suggested in his book, Return to Life, to do Pilates Mat at least four times a week.
STUDY shows Pilates can help increase body mass and decrease body fat
Pilates for Weight Loss at Pilates Plus Singapore
Flabby abs, chubby arms and legs, bulky hips and backsides are why most people are driven to exercise. Luckily for us, Pilates targets the body’s powerhouse—abdominal and lower back muscles, glutes, hips, and pelvic floor.
Although traditional Pilates was designed as a low-impact workout meant to build up strength gradually, research shows it’s also effective in lowering BMI and calorie count, and results in a slimmer waist, flatter abs, and leaner hips too.
Pilates Plus Singapore is the only Pilates and movement studio in Singapore that offers the Strength Pilates Series for both Mat and Reformer classes. The program is specifically designed to give you actual results in strength gain with our whole-body workouts.
And we’re offering a sweet deal for first-timers to Pilates Plus Singapore: a one-time-only introductory group package to the following beginner-friendly sessions:
- Strength Pilates Matwork
- Pilates Mat Plus
- Calisthenics Class
- Calisthenics Fundamentals
- Capoeira Class
- Handstand Class
- Movement Class
For only $75, you can enjoy 3 group sessions from any of the classes on the list. Available in both International Plaza and UMove Safra Mt. Faber branches, the promo is valid 30 days starting from your first booked session.
