Incorporating cardio exercises into your routine, along with Pilates, can help support your fitness goals for a leaner and toned physique.
Another way that Pilates may help you to have the appearance of becoming more toned is by improving the way that you carry yourself. As you become more aware of your body you may naturally alter your posture to look longer and leaner.
Pilates focuses on slow, controlled, flowing movements which helps with coordination. It focusses on precision which means that the forces produced during movement are equally distributed between joints and muscle groups. This reduces the likelihood of imbalance between muscle groups.
Pilates can help build lean muscle mass, but if it’s covered by excess body fat, those defined muscles won’t be as visible.
Anna Bartter is a freelance journalist who writes about health, fitness and women's lifestyle for publications including Stylist, Metro and Psychologies, among others.
The result is strength without bulk. Muscles become more firm and defined, especially when combined with consistent training and healthy habits outside the studio.
It gives me step by step video with warm up/cool down. I need someone to tell me what exercises to do- LOVE it! This may be 15 minutes but it works me out good! Some of the exercises kick my tail though!
Take note though – not all fat is bad. We need body fat for vital biological processes and to provide a protective layer around our most precious organs. Women naturally have more body fat than men. A healthy percentage of body fat is not less than 14% for women and not less than 10% for men.
Muscular Balance and Symmetry: If you work out too much or too little on certain muscle groups, you could end up with muscle imbalances. Pilates, on the other hand, helps fix these problems.
Not all Pilates exercises are created equal. Some moves are especially powerful for building strength, endurance, and definition. Here are my top picks:
Pilates is great for improving general body awareness and this is helpful for improving your form and technique when you are doing other types of exercise.
The truth is, neither approach is automatically “better” for toning. What matters most is how you’re practicing: the quality of movement, consistency muskegon lakeshore fitness over time, and the level of challenge being applied.
Whilst Pilates theoretically is not the quickest route to increasing muscle mass, anecdotally many people do feel that they look more ‘toned’ when they do Pilates. There are a few reasons why this may be.
Unlike workouts that isolate just one area or rely on heavy weights, Pilates uses controlled resistance and intentional movement to engage muscles deeply and evenly. The result? Better posture, more definition, and a stronger, more stable body overall.