Pilates guide
Pilates can add useful things to an athlete's training: trunk endurance and control, mobility, balance and a lower-load session for lighter days. In small trials it improved trunk endurance, flexibility and balance, and in one trial of trained runners two mat classes a week cut 5 km times. But no trial has shown that it prevents sports injuries, and it doesn't replace the strength, power and sport training that do.
So Pilates sits beside your sport, your coach and your strength and conditioning, never in place of them. This guide covers what Pilates offers and what it doesn't, what the trials in athletes and the wider core training research show, injuries and rehab, recovery and training load, mat or reformer, and how to fit it into your week, with a 30-minute class for any sport and links to our sport-specific Pilates guides.
Pilates trains trunk endurance and control, mobility and balance at low load, and the NHS counts it as muscle-strengthening activity. It doesn't supply the heavy loads, speed, power or fitness your sport needs.
By our count there are about 16 small studies of Pilates in athletes, many without a proper comparison group, and one review of 12 of them that didn't pool their results. The strongest is in runners: two 1-hour mat classes a week for 12 weeks cut 5 km time by about 2.4 minutes, against 0.7 minutes with running alone.
Across 31 studies in athletes, trunk training improved trunk endurance most, and strength, jumps, sprints and sport skills a little. Older reviews called the benefit marginal, and results for sprint speed conflict.
We found no study that counted sports injuries after Pilates. Strength training cut sports injuries to under a third and balance training to about half; stretching didn't help. Warm-ups with several parts, including trunk work, are the tested prevention.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says poor management of training load is a major risk for injury. A hard reformer class is a session, not a rest day.
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The trials used 2 or 3 sessions a week for 6 to 12 weeks, and trunk training did better after more than 18 sessions. One or two sessions a week of 20 to 60 minutes, on lighter days, is our suggestion.
Trunk endurance and control while your arms and legs move (the hundred, dead bug, leg pull and side bend), hip strength in side-lying and bridging positions, back-extension endurance (the swan and swimming), upper-back rotation, balance on one leg, and every move done on both sides. It's also a lower-intensity session that suits a lighter day (our reading).
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Heavy, progressive strength training (the training that cut sports injuries most), jumps and landing practice, sprinting and fast changes of direction, sport skills and aerobic fitness. Trunk training did least for sprint speed.
The core training trials used planks, side planks, bridges, dead bugs, curl-ups, back extensions and rotation work, sometimes on wobbly surfaces. Many are Pilates-like, but they weren't Pilates, so when this guide carries their results over to Pilates, it's our reading.
Mat Pilates needs only a mat; studios use spring-loaded equipment such as the reformer. Teacher-training schools run athletic conditioning courses on the reformer, aiming to "Improve strength, power and agility". In the one trial that compared them in athletes, footballers did slightly better on 3 tests after reformer Pilates than after mat Pilates.
Most of these studies are small and short, many have no proper comparison group, and none counted injuries.
A 2023 review found 12 studies of Pilates in athletes, lasting 4 to 14 weeks, and reported gains in balance, agility, strength, flexibility, core strength and endurance, but it didn't pool the results or rate their quality. Our own count, including newer studies, is about 16, in runners, footballers, volleyball, basketball and baseball players, dancers and archers.
In 32 trained runners, two 1-hour classical mat Pilates sessions a week for 12 weeks, alongside running, cut 5 km time from 25.65 to 23.23 minutes, against 25.33 to 24.61 minutes with running alone, and made running more economical. One small trial; our Pilates for runners guide has more.
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In 30 amateur footballers, 8 weeks of mat or reformer Pilates in place of half their team sessions improved many tests within each group, but against the comparison group (players from another team) only a hop, an agility and a passing test differed, and jumps, balance, flexibility and sprints didn't. In 15 youth players, 5 weeks of mat Pilates increased knee strength, though the comparison group improved too.
In 30 young female volleyball players, reformer Pilates 3 times a week for 8 weeks improved how they landed from jumps. In 45 basketball players, jump training plus Pilates raised vertical jump most, but the groups differed at the start. In 16 volleyball players with no comparison group, plank endurance improved.
In 22 hip-hop dancers, 12 weeks of mat Pilates improved tummy-muscle tests but not jumps or balance, and the authors say their results "do not establish efficacy". Dancers' posture and flexibility, archers' balance and baseball players' trunk strength improved in small studies, most without a proper comparison group.
Clinical Pilates improved movement screening scores in 40 recreational runners, with no comparison group, and a 12-week home mat programme didn't change how much novice runners' knees caved in while running.
In 47 young women (not athletes), mat Pilates for an hour twice a week for 8 weeks improved flexibility, tummy-muscle endurance and balance. A review of hamstring flexibility found results in athletes were contradictory, that at least 3 sessions a week for 6 weeks were needed for a large change, and that the gains faded from the second week after stopping.
Across 11 trials (not in athletes), Pilates was no better than other exercise for strength, balance or flexibility, with very low to low certainty. Our guide to Pilates and strength has more.
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Across 31 studies with 693 athletes, trunk training improved trunk muscle endurance by a large amount, and strength, leg power, sprints, changes of direction and sport-specific performance by small to moderate amounts. More than 18 sessions did better; sessions of 30 minutes or less did better for sprint and agility, and longer sessions for sport-specific performance.
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Core training improved balance and vertical jump with moderate certainty across 22 studies, but not throwing speed. In team-sport athletes it improved balance most, with more than 2 sessions a week doing better for balance.
In 37 studies of footballers, core training improved jumps and agility tests but not 20 or 30 m sprints, and another review found no significant effect on speed; a third found small improvements in sprints in team-sport athletes.
"Targeted core stability training provides marginal benefits to athletic performance", one review concluded, and another noted that few studies had seen performance improve despite better core stability. A review of core training and sport skills found low-quality studies.
In 39 elite youth footballers, core training on stable or unstable surfaces gave similar results.
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Across 25 trials with 26,610 people, strength training cut sports injuries to under a third, balance training to about half and programmes with several parts by about a third, while stretching made no difference. In 6 strength training trials, more training volume meant more protection.
Some core measures were linked with later leg injuries, but the findings were inconsistent: in one group of students a model including core endurance predicted overuse injuries only 53% of the time, in another no core measure predicted sudden injuries, and across 21 studies most trunk and hip measures weren't risk factors for knee injuries.
In 277 college athletes, poor control of the trunk after a sudden push predicted knee ligament injuries in women, but not in men.
"Definitive evidence demonstrating an association between core instability and injury is lacking", but prevention programmes with several parts, including core exercises, do reduce leg injuries. The tested programmes are sport warm-ups such as the FIFA 11+ and the SHRed basketball warm-up, on our sports pages.
We found no study that counted injuries after Pilates in athletes. In one survey of young elite athletes, speed skaters who did Pilates had more back pain, most likely because people with back pain take up Pilates. Like any exercise, Pilates can cause injuries: a Dutch survey of injured gym-goers included people hurt in yoga or Pilates.
In 88 men with sports hernia (long-standing groin pain), adding Pilates 3 times a week for 6 weeks to laser and ultrasound treatment improved function and hip scores, though the extra pain relief was too small to matter.
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In 50 adults with a partial ACL tear, 12 weeks of mat Pilates 3 times a week improved thigh muscle strength against no treatment.
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In 51 college footballers with unstable ankles, Pilates and balance training both helped; players chose their group, so it wasn't a randomised comparison.
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A well-known study in elite Australian footballers is sometimes cited for Pilates, but Pilates was what the comparison group did; the tested treatment was a physiotherapist's motor control programme.
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Pilates fits rehab when your physiotherapist builds it in. Follow your injury's guide first: our sports hernia, ACL and ankle instability guides, and our clinical Pilates guide.
We found no trial of Pilates as active recovery or for muscle soreness in athletes. In 10 active women, 4 weeks of gentle mat Pilates didn't change lactate. Claims that Pilates flushes out lactic acid have no trial behind them. A gentle session can be a pleasant way to move on a lighter day; that's all we can say.
The IOC says poor load management is a major risk for injury, including sudden changes in training and competition, a crowded calendar, stress and travel. Count a hard Pilates or reformer class as a session, and keep gentle sessions for easy days.
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Don't do a hard trunk session in the hour before training or competition. Gentle breathing and mobility can go in a warm-up; longer holds and harder trunk work suit a separate, lighter day or after training, as our yoga for athletes guide suggests (our suggestion).
These are our editorial suggestions, from the trials' doses: no trial has tested how athletes should fit Pilates in.
One or two sessions a week of 20 to 60 minutes, for at least 6 to 8 weeks before you judge it. The trials used 2 or 3 sessions of 50 to 60 minutes a week for 6 to 12 weeks, and trunk training did better after more than 18 sessions.
On lighter days or rest-day mornings, not straight before power or speed work. In competition weeks, keep it gentle: breathing, mobility and balance.
Keep your strength training: it's what builds strength and power and cuts injuries. Pilates is extra trunk, hip and mobility work.
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The US National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) warns that young athletes are at risk of overuse injury from high volumes of competition without preparatory conditioning. Pilates can be part of that conditioning, within sensible total hours; our Pilates for teenagers guide has more.
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Our sport-specific Pilates guides have the moves and a class for each sport. For sports without one yet, the sports page has the warm-up and training.
In sports that arch the back, such as gymnastics and cricket fast bowling, back pain that is worse arching back and doesn't settle can be a stress fracture of the spine and needs checking. Keep Pilates back-extension moves small until it has been.
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They often start as a mild ache after activity and become a sharp pain in one spot each time the bone is loaded, with pain at night or at rest later on. Don't train through bone pain you can point to.
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Eating too little for the training you do (relative energy deficiency in sport) harms bone and health in women and men. Missed periods or repeated stress fractures need a GP or sports doctor; our eating disorders guide has help lines.
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Hundred, 50 beats building to 100; leg pull front and side bend, 3 to 5 each side; criss-cross, 6 each side slowly (the move's page for each). Dead bug, 2 sets of 8 each side, and side plank, 2 holds of 20 seconds each side with your knees down to start (our skiers class).
3D demoHundred (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment
3D demoLeg pull front (Pilates leg pull down)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoSide bend (Pilates)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoCriss-cross (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipmentSide kick, 8 each side; inner thigh lift, 10 each side; clamshell, 10 each side (our sports Pilates classes); side plank with leg lift, 2 holds of 20 seconds each side, or a knee side plank (our footballers class).
Shoulder bridge, 3 to 5 kicks each leg; single-leg kick, 6 to 8 each leg; swimming, 2 to 3 sets of 20 to 30 seconds; swan, 5 to 6 (the move's page for each). Keep them small if your back is sore when you arch.
Spine twist and saw, 3 to 4 each side (the move's page); thoracic rotation, 6 each side (our sports Pilates classes). Keep the saw's reach small after a hamstring strain.
Single-leg stand, 2 holds of 30 seconds each leg, eyes closed or on a cushion once it's easy; hip airplane, 5 slow turns each leg holding a counter (our skiers class).
Swap the hundred, leg pull and side planks for breathing, mobility and balance only (our suggestion).
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Keep the swan, swimming and single-leg kick small, and get it checked if it lasts.
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Keep reaches small in the saw and spine stretch, as the move pages say, and follow our hamstring strain guide's stages.
Use forearm versions, or leave out the leg pull front and side bend, as the move pages say.
Work in the middle of your range rather than hanging into it, as the move pages say.
Your sport's own Pilates class comes first if we have one. Our 30-minute class suits any sport. The strength and classical mat classes add variety, and the sport warm-ups are the tested injury prevention: Pilates doesn't replace them.
A 30-minute Pilates class for athletes in any sport: trunk endurance, hips, the back of the body, rotation and one-leg balance, done equally on both sides.
30 minIntermediate18 movesA wallA 30-minute mat Pilates workout for runners, adapted from one small trial's programme: the abdominal series, side kicks for the hips, planks and balance.
30 minIntermediate18 movesA wallA 25-minute Pilates class for footballers: trunk control, the groin and outer hips, hamstrings with the hip extended, and balance, for recovery days.
25 minBeginner17 movesOther / check instructions, A wallA 25-minute Pilates class for basketball players: planks and side planks, trunk control, hip strength, calf and ankle work and one-leg balance, for lighter days.
25 minBeginner15 movesA step, A wallA 25-minute Pilates class for tennis and padel players: trunk endurance, rotation both ways, shoulder blades, hips and single-leg balance, on a mat.
25 minBeginner19 movesA band, An anchor pointA 25-minute Pilates class for golfers: upper-back and hip rotation, trunk control, side-hip strength and one-leg balance, done equally on both sides.
25 minBeginner19 movesA wallA 25-minute Pilates class for climbers: trunk tension, hips for high steps and turning in, shoulder blades and pushing, with no hanging or gripping.
25 minBeginner18 movesNo equipmentA 25-minute Pilates class for skiers: trunk endurance, hips and thighs, wall sits and single-leg balance, for the 6 to 8 weeks before your trip.
25 minBeginner17 movesA wall, A bandA 25-minute mat Pilates class for rowers: hip hinging and hip range for the catch, moving trunk endurance, glutes, hamstrings, upper back and shoulder blades.
25 minBeginner19 movesNo equipmentA 25-minute dryland Pilates class for swimmers: shoulder-blade control, trunk endurance, back extension, hips and rotation, built for loose shoulders.
25 minBeginner16 movesA wallA 25-minute Pilates class for cyclists: back extension, trunk endurance, glutes and side hips, upper-back rotation and the neck, the opposite of the bike.
25 minBeginner17 movesNo equipmentA 25-minute Pilates class for dancers: feet and calves, turnout control from the hip, trunk endurance and back extension, all in the middle of your range.
25 minBeginner17 movesOther / check instructions, A bench or boxA 25-minute Pilates class for horse riders: trunk endurance, pelvis and hip control both sides, upper-back rotation, balance and a two-point hold.
25 minBeginner16 movesA wallA 30-minute Pilates strength class with dumbbells or a band: Pilates trunk work plus squats, lunges, rows and push-ups, each set taken until it is hard.
30 minIntermediate15 movesA dumbbell, A bandA 30-minute intermediate mat Pilates class that follows the classical order, from the hundred to the push-up, with prep versions of the hardest moves.
30 minIntermediate22 movesNo equipmentThe opening of a classical mat class in Joseph Pilates' order: the Hundred, Roll Up, leg circles, rolling, two leg stretches and the spine stretch.
10 minBeginner7 movesNo equipmentA 25-minute mat workout built on the order of a classical reformer class, with a mat or standing version of each reformer exercise. No machine needed.
25 minBeginner16 movesA wallFIFA's 11+ injury prevention warm-up as its manual sets it out: running drills, strength, balance and jumping at three levels, then faster running.
20 minBeginner20 movesCardio machine, A wallA 10-minute basketball warm-up from a Canadian programme: runs, shuffles, line hops, jump landings, planks, Nordics, lunges and one-leg balance with a ball.
10 minBeginner12 movesCardio machine, A wallA 20-minute warm-up that trains your knees to track over your toes: side-hip strength, squats and lunges with alignment practice, balance and quiet landings.
20 minBeginner10 movesA wall, A bandThe Nordic hamstring and Copenhagen adduction programmes from the football trials: a 10-week build, three adductor levels, then once a week in season.
15 minIntermediate6 movesA wall, An anchor pointA slow 15-minute Pilates wind-down for the last hour before bed: slow breathing, small lying moves and a few minutes of stillness, with no effort or holds.
15 minBeginner9 movesFirm cushionThese match our sports, stress fracture and back pain guides. In the US, call 911 where this page says 999.
Call 999 if:
Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
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Pain in one spot on the shin or a foot bone that you can point to with a fingertip, worse with impact and later present at rest or at night: a possible stress fracture. Stop running and jumping until it has been checked.
Same day, and stop running now: groin or front-of-hip pain in a runner, sometimes felt in the thigh or knee, that builds with running, hurts with every step or at night, or hurts when the hip is turned to the end of its range. Keep weight off the leg, using crutches if you have them, and get an urgent GP appointment or help from NHS 111 the same day: a stress fracture of the hip (femoral neck) needs urgent imaging.
A stress fracture from ordinary activity, more than one stress fracture, periods that have stopped or become irregular, or worries that you're eating too little for your training: see a GP about bone health and energy intake.
Back pain that is worse arching back and has lasted more than a couple of weeks can be a stress fracture of the spine (spondylolysis): get it checked.
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Call 999 if someone has hit their head and has been knocked out and hasn't woken up, can't stay awake or keep their eyes open, has a fit, has fallen from a height of more than 1 metre or 5 stairs, has problems with their vision or hearing, has clear fluid coming from their ears or nose, has new numbness or weakness, has problems with walking, balance, understanding, speaking or writing, hit their head at high speed, or their behaviour has changed. Get help from NHS 111 if they're being sick, feel dizzy or take medicine that thins the blood. If you're told to go to A&E (accident and emergency), don't drive yourself there if you have hit your head.
With a suspected concussion, if in doubt, sit them out. The UK's grassroots guidelines say no sport for at least 24 hours, get checked by a healthcare professional or NHS 111 within 24 hours, follow a staged return, and no competition before day 21; if symptoms last beyond 28 days, stay out of sport and see a doctor. Pilates waits too: gentle breathing and mobility fit the early, light-activity stages, and trunk and strength work come later (our reading). Our concussion guide has the stages.
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Follow your injury's guide and your physiotherapist's stages before going back to classes.
The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
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No study has counted injuries after Pilates in athletes. Strength and balance training are the tested methods, and stretching didn't help.
Most trunk and hip measures didn't predict knee injuries, and definitive evidence linking a weak core with injury "is lacking".
Pilates was no better than other exercise for strength. Heavier, progressive strength training builds strength and power and cuts injuries.
It improved jumps, balance and agility a little, but reviews disagree on sprint speed.
The strongest athlete trial used mat Pilates; in the one comparison, both mat and reformer groups improved, the reformer group slightly more on 3 tests.
No trial in athletes has tested this, and one 4-week study in active women found no change in lactate.
Harder mat and reformer classes are muscle-strengthening work the NHS counts, and the IOC wants all training load counted.
It can be a useful extra: small trials show better trunk endurance, flexibility and balance, and in one trial of trained runners, two mat sessions a week for 12 weeks cut 5 km times. The trials are small and none counted injuries. Use it alongside strength, power and sport training, not instead of them.
It can improve fitness tests linked to performance, such as trunk endurance, balance and some jump and agility tests, but most trials are small and many have no proper comparison group. Core training in general helps performance a little, and sprint speed least.
It hasn't been tested. Strength training and balance training are what cut injuries in trials, and stretching didn't. Keep your sport's injury prevention warm-up and add Pilates for control and mobility.
Yes, if you like it, and teacher-training schools run athletic reformer courses. In the one mat-and-reformer comparison in footballers, both groups improved and the reformer group did slightly better on 3 tests. Mat Pilates is cheaper and is what most trials used.
Once or twice a week, 20 to 60 minutes, on lighter days (our suggestion). Trials used 2 or 3 sessions a week for 6 to 12 weeks, and trunk training worked better after more than 18 sessions.
Not a hard session in the hour before training or competition. Gentle breathing and mobility can go in a warm-up; harder trunk work and longer holds suit a separate, lighter day or after training (our suggestion).
A gentle class is a reasonable way to move on a lighter day, but no trial has tested Pilates for recovery or muscle soreness in athletes. Count a hard reformer class as training, not recovery.
Neither has been shown to be better. Both have small trials in athletes, both improve flexibility and balance a little, and neither has been shown to prevent injuries. Pilates leans towards trunk endurance and control, yoga towards flexibility and breathing; our yoga for athletes guide covers yoga.
No. Pilates builds trunk endurance and control, but it was no better than other exercise for strength, and heavier, progressive loads are what build strength and power and cut injuries.
Not on its own. Most trunk and hip measures didn't predict knee injuries, and the injury benefit of core training comes from programmes that also train strength, balance and landings.
Yes: the runner and football trials were in men. Our Pilates for men guide covers lifting alongside Pilates.
It can be part of rehab when your physiotherapist builds it in: added to treatment, it improved function after a sports hernia and thigh strength after a partial ACL tear. Follow your injury's guide and your physiotherapist's stages first.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
