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Pilates is incredible (but yes, its stimulus has limits)

Pilates is exceptional for mobility, core strength, posture, and mind–body connection. It builds stability and control in a way traditional gym training often doesn’t. And that’s coming from someone who has spent most of their life lifting weights, happily avoiding the Pilates mat. When I finally added it in, it quickly exposed the gaps in my training; weaker stabilising muscles, postural imbalances, and a lack of muscular endurance that heavy lifting alone hadn’t addressed.

But, of course ‘IF’ your main goal is to build muscle or improve things like bone density, from a purely physiological standpoint, traditional Pilates alone will not provide the external load required to maximise muscle growth or bone density long term.

Does that mean you can’t see results from Pilates? Not quite.

What the research actually says about load, reps, and results

The internet often frames strength training as “heavy or nothing.” The research paints a more nuanced picture.

Work led by Brad Schoenfeld shows that muscle hypertrophy can occur across a wide range of loads, provided two key conditions are met:

• Sets are performed close to muscular failure
• Total training volume is appropriately matched

In practical terms, this means lighter weights lifted for higher reps can produce similar muscle growth to heavier lifting, as long as the reps are taken close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017). But heavier loads do tend to be better for strength development compared to lighter loads.

So, if you can take your muscle close to failure in your workout (even in Pilates), the chances are you can also build muscle. It is is important to understand however, that over time, there will be a point where lifting lighter weights for more reps, close to failure starts to become more difficult to achieve as you adapt and harder to recover from.

Why lighter-load training isn’t automatically “easier”

A common assumption is that lighter weights are gentler and easier to recover from. Research suggests that isn’t always the case.

Studies have shown that lighter-load exercise performed to failure can produce greater acute and prolonged fatigue than heavier loads when total work is matched.

High-rep sets:

• Increase time under tension
• Create greater metabolic stress
• Place higher demand on the nervous system

So while the load is lighter, the physiological cost can actually be higher, often requiring more recovery, not less (Farrow et al., 2021). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just an important consideration when planning your training and recovery in your week. 

What’s even more interesting, is that response does also seem to be individualised.

As you will see below, some people will prefer and perform better with lighter load training than heavy, even with this added demand.

Why some people thrive on lighter loads (and others don’t)

Another element missing from most online debates is inter-individual variability.

Genetic research highlights that people respond differently to the same training stimulus.

Some individuals:

• Adapt well to lighter loads and higher reps
• Recover quickly
• Struggle with injuries and recovery etc. with heavier loads

Others:

• Respond better to heavier loads and lower reps
• See greater strength and muscle gains with fewer sets
• Take longer to recover and suffer with muscle soreness longer from higher reps and lighter loads

Neither approach is better or worse.

The best approach is the one your body responds to (Pickering & Kiely, 2017).

So where does that leave Pilates, strength, and everything in between?

The biggest flaw in the debate is the assumption that everyone is training for the same reason.

At Therapy Fitness we see it every day:

• Someone chooses our Hot Pilates class, Connect for an emotional release after a tough week.
• Someone steps into Breathwork because their nervous system is fried.
• Someone chooses Cycle to clear their head more than hit a pace.
• Someone Lifts because showing up for themselves is their therapy.

All of those reasons are valid.

People move for SO many reasons beyond “building muscle”

Strength is an important piece of the health puzzle, but so is movement that strengthens your functional movement, prevents injury, improves energy, supports downregulation, mood and resilience.

⁠It’s not Pilates vs Strength – it’s Pilates and Strength

This is where the online debate loses us.

It tries to reduce fitness to a binary ‘one size fits all’ best approach.
You’re either “team Pilates girlie” or “team lift heavy.”

But the best training programs in the world?
They combine modalities, not eliminate them.

At Therapy, we intentionally built a studio where you don’t have to choose just one, you can ebb and flow with where your current focus, interest (and enjoyment) lies:

RunLift or Lift Club

For strength, cardio conditioning and progressive overload that builds muscle and supports bone density.

Connect Strong

For a strength-based mat class that challenges muscles in a different, complementary way, with control, stability, and time under tension

Connect Yang (Hot Pilates)

This class combines traditional mat pilates with somatic movement for emotional regulation, stability, and a mental reset.

Connect Yin (Hot Yoga Fusion)

This class combines yoga flows, with deep stretches and held poses to support recovery and rest.

Cycle (Our Rhythm-based spin class)

Because cardiovascular health is still important for overall health! And what better way to do this than riding to the beat of your favourite tunes. It’s a euphoric, endorphin-fuelled release that supports both body and mind.

Heal (Breathwork + Sound healing)

Because nervous system recovery and downregulation is a key part of health puzzle (and getting stronger).

Together, these modalities give you something the online debate never accounts for:

A balanced body and a regulated mind.