How often to practice pilates for best results?

I get this question a lot and the most simple answer is consistency is key. Your diet and lifestyle are equally important in seeing the best results from any workout including pilates. What you do throughout your day and how you eat, sleep and hydrate will all effect how toned your body will look and how strong you feel.

Practicing pilates anywhere from 2-5 times a week is the sweet spot. If you enjoy doing other forms of exercise like strength training, barre or bootcamps, incorporating pilates two times a week into your routine will improve your performance across the board in all of your physical activities. The reason being is that you are targeting muscles in pilates that you cannot reach in the gym.

If your focus is currently on cardio like running, spinning or tennis, I would encourage you to add pilates to your routine at least three times a week to counterbalance all of the cardio you are doing. Cardio is great for heart health and endurance, but it does little to build muscle that you need to increase longevity and build strength. You will also enjoy the benefits of your low impact workouts a lot more as you realize that they help restore your body for your next cardio session.

Finally, if you fell in love with pilates and can’t get enough of our unique Cadillac and reformer combination workout, you should try to come as often as five times a week. I don’t encourage working out more than that as your body needs rest days to recover and develop your muscles and strength. Without rest days, your body will be constantly in a state of stress and you may get the opposite effect of what you are aiming for - which is stagnant weight loss, soreness and an overall feeling of lethargy.

The beauty of our classes at Miami Pilates is that we target every muscle group in every class, so you never leave feeling unbalanced. Our workouts are designed in a way that they do not need to be supplemented with another form of strength training. However, I highly suggest you add some form of cardio into your routine for heart health. A low impact walk is the perfect addition to any pilates routine.

No matter how many times a week you practice, or how busy your schedule gets, always prioritize exercise and taking care of your body. It’s the only one you have.

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