Keltie O’Connor an athlete, has been lifting weights for 15 years. She started doing Pilates five years ago. “Today, I’m ending the debate over which is better, or maybe you don’t have to choose,” she says on her YouTube channel. Dr. Stephanie Estima, a female physiologist, told us before that the two have very different applications to your muscles and therefore have different outcomes. However, since both technically fall under the resistance training umbrella, it can be hard to know which one to choose and when. This is what Keltie found out, including the pros and cons of each and how her body changed.
1. Pilates has changed the way I stand and kept me from getting hurt.
YouTube: “Pilates has helped my mobility it has helped me work on correcting my posture and using those little muscles that I don’t usually use.” It’s a way to connect your mind and muscles. It really works the smaller muscles that you might not notice when you lift weights, when you usually work on the biggest muscle groups.
You can also work on the smaller muscles when you lift weights, but for me, there are some that I never work on, and Pilates is good at using those. Pilates is less likely to cause injuries because the weights aren’t as heavy as they are in strength training If something goes wrong while you’re lifting heavy weights, it can go very wrong.
2. Pilates is a good low-intensity workout when you don’t have a lot of energy.
“When I’m in my lazy girl or slow girl phase and don’t want to work out too hard, I go to a Pilates class. It’s still resistance training but it’s not too hard.” I can sort of be half out of it and just go through the motions. It’s hard, but in a different way It’s not too hard; it’s like holding a plank, which isn’t too hard but burns.
More from Women’s Health How Kate Ferdinand Made Her Body Play video Video poster Back to Playlist Play Forward Playlist Go Fullscreen Silence
“I do Pilates a lot because it helps me relax keeps my cortisol levels from going up, and lets me check in with what hurts. It really helps me connect with my body.” It’s also a fun way to stay fit with friends. My weights are like a doctor’s order I have to do them even if I don’t want to because weight training is good for my health.
3. The social part of Pilates helps you stay motivated.
“It’s a lot of fun to go with friends. Sometimes I get excited because I wear a cute outfit and go to Pilates, and that’s what gets me there.”
4. Weight training is better for living longer
“YouTube: Weight training has made me more confident, helped me avoid injuries, and really changed my posture I still have a long way to go in my life, but I think this is what will help me have a better quality of life as I get older.”
What to Read NextI used the TheraFace Mask Glo for 12 weeks and here’s what I really thought of it. Oprah Winfrey talks about how she stays in great shape and strong at 72. How many times should you do a set to build muscle? A new study has put an end to the argument.
“We need to talk about women’s bone health in particular.” Weight training with exercises like rows, deadlifts, squats, and heavier weight bearing exercises is the best thing for this. Pilates can help with bone health but weight training is better because it stimulates bone density more.
5. It’s easier to lift weights when you don’t have a lot of money.
YouTube: “Weight training is always there when I don’t have much money and don’t want to spend that much on a Pilates class.”
Depending on which gym you go to, Pilates and weight training can both be very expensive. I think there are more affordable and easy ways to do resistance training than there are for Pilates, though. You can do Pilates for free on a mat or at home on YouTube. Just type in “Move with Nicole” and you’ll get it for free But classes can be very expensive.
My results
YouTube: “My body hasn’t really changed that much.” I do think that if I stopped weight training for months or years, I would lose a lot of muscle definition quickly. But did I get really bulky from weight training or from Pilates? No, my body doesn’t change very often.
Even though I’ve been doing more weights and Pilates, it hasn’t changed much. “I would say that if you’re just starting to work out and want to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, the only way to do it is through weight training.”
This 30-minute full-body Pilates flow will make all your muscles shake – and all you need is a mat
This is because you’re doing more progressive overload. The food you’re eating, as long as you’re eating enough, will go toward building muscle which will change the shape of your body.
“It’s hard to do this with Pilates because you don’t lift as much.” Your body says, “We’ve got to optimize these muscles; she’s lifting heavy things really heavy things—put it toward the muscles.”
But if you’re not lifting that much, your body says, “Yeah, just get rid of some fat; we don’t lift that much; we’ll deal with it.”
Your body is telling you to focus on rebuilding those muscles if you are squatting and deadlifting heavy.
“Progressive overload” means that you lift more over time. You can add more weight, more reps, or more sets The problem with Pilates is that the only way to overload is to do more reps.
We usually only have an hour to work out, so there will come a time when you can’t keep adding weight. You can just add a few weights to a barbell or pick up a heavier dumbbell.
How to balance Pilates and weight training
“You need to know how hard your Pilates is.” Are you doing more mobility work, which means you’re moving through bigger ranges of motion with light weights? Or are you taking a hard Lagree mega reformer class?
Most experts will tell you to lift weights two to four times a week. If your Pilates is just as hard as your weight training, you can switch one of your weight training sessions for Pilates.
If your Pilates is more like the soft girl era with mobility training, do two to three weight sessions a week and one to three Pilates sessions.
“Pay attention to your body, but remember that weight training should be the base. Add Pilates to your routine once or twice a week to improve your flexibility or as a break from weight training.
But as I said, only switch out a weight session for Pilates if that class gives you enough resistance training. If you hate lifting weights, Pilates is better than nothing and you can still get a lot of resistance training.”
