Every few months my feed fills up with posts comparing Pilates to lifting, all trying to prove that one is better than the other. As someone who teaches and trains both, here’s my two cents: they aren’t competing. They’re teammates.
What Pilates does well
There are a lot of levels to Pilates, but the general idea is to build core strength and improve posture so you can move through everyday life in your most neutral, tension-free state. It’s low-impact, with a strong emphasis on slow, controlled movement, and it often doesn’t need much (or any) added load.
The benefits are real: better posture, muscle tone, flexibility, balance, and body awareness.
More resistance isn’t always more challenge
One of my favorite reminders on the reformer: never let a blue spring fool you. A lighter spring often means less help, which means your muscles have to do more of the work to control the movement. Heavier isn’t automatically harder. Control is the challenge.
What weight training does well
Weight training means moving your body against resistance, built around specific reps, sets, tempos, and loads to improve strength and endurance. It’s one of the most efficient ways to build muscle, and it supports heart health, bone health, and long-term strength.
What “use your core” actually means
If you’ve ever taken a class or worked with a trainer, you’ve heard “use your core” and probably thought, “but what does that mean?”
Your core isn’t just your abs. It’s the lumbopelvic-hip complex: 25+ muscles including your hips, abdominals, pelvic floor, and back. Core training means keeping your spine stable while you add movement on top of it, like marches, mountain climbers, or carries. Just because it doesn’t move doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Ab training only trains one part of that system.
Strong abs ≠ a strong core. And this is exactly where Pilates and lifting meet: Pilates teaches you how to stabilize, and lifting lets you load that stability.
So which one should you do?
Their goals are different, and both are great ways to move your body. Do your research, figure out what makes your body feel good, and pick the movement that fits your lifestyle and goals. Or do what I do and use both.
Because the best exercise you can do is the exercise you will do.
Curious how Pilates could fit into your training? Book a call.