Pilates guide
CrossFit and other functional fitness classes mix lifting, gymnastics moves and conditioning against the clock. Most injuries are to the shoulders, lower back and knees, and previous injuries, switching between scaled and full loads and more training hours go with more of them. Pilates can add what a hard workout doesn't: trunk control while you breathe, shoulder-blade and upper-back work for overhead and hanging positions, hips and a steady single leg, and a genuinely lighter session. Only one small study has looked at Pilates in people who do CrossFit, and it lasted one session.
So Pilates sits beside your coach, scaled and progressive training and your strength work, never in place of them, and it isn't a recovery treatment or a substitute for rehabilitating an injury. We're not connected with CrossFit or any brand, gym or governing body.
This guide covers Pilates breathing against bracing, the shoulders overhead, the lower back, hips and landings, leaking with jumps, rest days and rhabdomyolysis, Pilates vs CrossFit, a 25-minute class and the warning signs.
The only Pilates study in people who do CrossFit-style training tested a single session, with no comparison group described, and we could read only its abstract. No trial has tested Pilates, or core training, for CrossFit performance or injuries.
About a third of people who do this kind of training have been injured at some point, at about 4 injuries per 1,000 hours, similar to weightlifting. Shoulder injuries come mostly in gymnastics moves and back injuries in heavy lifts.
Bracing raised the pressure inside the abdomen far more than drawing the belly in, and a held breath raised blood pressure far more than breathing out. Pilates breathing suits conditioning work and a Pilates class; a brief braced breath belongs to heavy lifts.
In surveys, about a third to nearly a half of women who do CrossFit reported leaking, mostly with jumps, and in a trial, daily pelvic floor training improved it for 64% against 8%.
Muscle breakdown with dark urine was seen mostly in beginners, but not only. After a single episode, NHS Scotland's pathway puts stretching-based exercise such as Pilates first, before gym work and running.
Do Pilates after a session or on a rest day, not in the hour before heavy lifts, and count a hard reformer class as training, not rest.
Each note keeps its own measure; most studies are surveys that rely on memory.
Researchers call the wider method high-intensity functional training (HIFT), which "emphasizes functional, multi-joint movements that can be modified to any fitness level". Workouts are hard: after a short benchmark workout, jump height was 8% and plank endurance 46% down in 20 trained athletes, and the authors say recovery can take more than 24 hours; heart rates of 90% of predicted maximum or more were measured across three workouts. In the Compendium of Physical Activities, kettlebell swings are 9.8 METs (multiples of resting energy use), against 2.8 for Pilates in general.
Across 28 studies of 11,089 adults, 36% had been injured, at 4.3 injuries per 1,000 hours, and 9.9 in the five prospective studies. Injuries were to the shoulder (26%), back and spine (26%), knee (14%), wrist, hand and fingers (12%), arm and elbow (10%) and ankle and foot (6%). A second review found 8.7% of injuries needed surgery, and a third judged every study at high risk of bias. Weightlifting has 2.4 to 3.3 and powerlifting 1.0 to 4.4 injuries per 1,000 hours, and a review of three cohorts found CrossFit's risk comparable to weightlifting, running and other sports.
In 386 US participants, shoulder injuries came most often in gymnastics moves and lower back injuries in powerlifting moves, and having a trainer involved went with a lower injury rate. In 288 Portuguese practitioners, injuries came mainly in gymnastics exercises and 46.1% were to the shoulder. In 308 German athletes, the snatch and clean caused 36.3% of injuries and the box jump the highest single share (14.3%).
Switching between the prescribed and a scaled load went with 3.5 times the odds of injury, and a previous injury with 3.2 times. 168 novices in an 8-week start-up programme had 9.5 injuries per 1,000 hours, and in 3,049 people a short time in the sport went with 1.82 times the odds. A 2011 military consensus warned of a disproportionate injury risk from these programmes, particularly for novices, but newer surveys disagree on beginners: in Libya, experienced athletes were at higher risk, and in Czechia younger, higher-volume athletes and competitors.
Pilates can train trunk endurance and control while you breathe, the shoulder blades, rotator cuff and upper back for overhead and hanging positions at low load, wrist strength, hip strength and one-leg control, and the pelvic floor, in a session that is genuinely lighter (our reading). It can't replace coached, scaled training and steady progression, strength work, the lifting brace for heavy lifts, or rehabilitation of an injury, and it isn't a recovery treatment. Across 11 trials, Pilates built strength no better or worse than other exercise, at very low to low certainty.
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Pilates for CrossFit is untested apart from one single-session study. Core training improves trunk endurance in athletes, and almost nothing that prevents CrossFit injuries has been tested.
In Brazil, people taking part in an extreme conditioning programme did one Pilates session; its abstract reports that a sit-and-reach test and a wall-ball test improved straight afterwards and perceived effort fell. The abstract describes an observational study, gives no numbers of people or results and describes no comparison group, and we couldn't open the full text. Our searches on 1 November 2026 found no other Pilates study, and no randomised core training trial, in CrossFit or functional fitness athletes.
In 148 recreational adults from Greek gyms, the CrossFit and mixed-training groups had higher aerobic fitness (maximal oxygen uptake, or VO2max, of 44.97 and 44.03 mL/kg/min) than the Pilates group (33.90) and less fat; flexibility didn't differ. In 60 Turkish adults, people doing CrossFit had better trunk endurance than gym-goers and inactive people, and in Brazil CrossFit athletes had stronger trunk extensors than sedentary people. In 103 young women, pelvic floor symptoms didn't differ by main type of exercise. People chose their own exercise, so none of this shows what either does.
In 34 gym members, 8 weeks of unsupervised mat Pilates thickened the deepest tummy muscle only during a Pilates move, not at rest, sitting or standing, and strength training thickened the muscle above it more. Pilates instructors had a thicker deep muscle than resistance exercise instructors in a small snapshot. In lab models, bracing the whole trunk, not the deepest muscle, gives the spine its stiffness.
Across 31 studies, trunk training improved trunk muscle endurance most, with smaller effects on strength, power and sport performance. In 29 trials, core training improved core endurance and balance but not sport performance overall, and in 22 studies it improved jumping but not throwing or hitting speed. An older review called the benefits to performance marginal.
Across 11 trials, Pilates built strength no better or worse than other exercise, at very low to low certainty. Keep your strength training.
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A Cochrane review of 10 trials (510 people) found "low to moderate quality evidence that Pilates is more effective than minimal intervention for pain and disability", but no better than other exercise for disability. In 118 trials (9,710 people), Pilates ranked among the most effective exercise for chronic low back pain, alongside strength, core-based and mind-body exercise. That is back pain in general, not in CrossFit athletes.
Almost nothing has been tested. The one prevention trial, mobility and stability exercises in the warm-up for 10 weeks in 32 recreational athletes, found no difference, with far too few injuries to show anything; in 502 Israeli athletes, those who warmed up reported more injuries, probably because people with pain warm up more. The links point to coaching, steady scaling, rehabilitating old injuries and building up gradually. Across sports, strength training cut injuries to about a third.
Bracing raised the pressure inside the abdomen by 116.4 mmHg against 9.9 for drawing the belly in, and in a lab model bracing stiffened the spine by 32%, while the deepest tummy muscle alone added 0.14%. In 24 CrossFit athletes, drawing in thickened the deep trunk muscles more and bracing activated the surface muscles more. A review of 22 trials found both improve trunk stability measures, with few direct comparisons.
A held breath raised blood pressure to 311/284 mmHg at a maximal leg press in 10 athletes, against 198/175 breathing out; a review says "The health risks associated with the VM during resistance exercise remain unconfirmed." (VM is the Valsalva manoeuvre, a breath held against a closed throat).
Pilates breathing (out on the effort, at low load) suits conditioning work and a Pilates class; a brief braced breath belongs to heavy lifts (our reading). Our Pilates for weightlifters guide and our guide to breathing when lifting set out bracing, belts and who shouldn't hold their breath.
Shoulder injuries come most often in gymnastics moves. In 187 surveyed athletes there were 1.94 shoulder injuries per 1,000 hours, and 38.6% were flare-ups of injuries from before CrossFit. In 68 uninjured South African athletes, 76% reported some shoulder pain, mostly mild, with function preserved.
In 11 athletes, kipping added hip and knee swing and more abdominal and hip flexor work to a pull-up compared with strict pull-ups: a whole-body, trunk-heavy movement.
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Soft tissue work plus a cross-body stretch for 4 weeks improved shoulder rotation in 21 athletes, and the stretch added nothing. Athletes with shoulder pain had less rotation, poorer upper-body balance reach and less lower trapezius activity, which are links, not causes. A trial comparing two shoulder programmes is registered with no results, and its protocol says "no consensus exists on the most effective exercise intervention".
Shoulder-blade, rotator cuff and upper-back work at low load: scapular push-ups, outward rotation with a band, the open book and thoracic extension (our reading). Strict pull-up and handstand strength are built in coached training, as our CrossFit guide says, and a sore shoulder needs the shoulder hub's lines below.
The back and spine take about a quarter of injuries in this kind of training, and back injuries come mostly in heavy lifts.
In 15 volunteers doing 100 lifts, the back muscles tired, the spine bent further and the estimated bending load on the lower back rose by 36%. In 40 men squatting heavy loads to failure, trunk muscle activity rose through the set, more in novices. These are lab studies of lifting, not CrossFit, but form fades late in a workout done for time, which is a reason for scaling and coaching, not something a Pilates class fixes (our reading).
Trunk endurance against bending, arching and turning while you breathe (the dead bug, side plank, Pallof press and bird dog), and hip hinge practice. For back pain from deadlifts or burpees, our pain guides have the stages.
The knee takes about 1 in 7 injuries, and in one survey the box jump caused the largest single share of injuries.
Hip strength and one-leg control for landing, at low load: the clamshell, side-lying leg circles, hip airplane and one-leg stands. In team-sport athletes, core training improved balance moderately and jump height a little, at low to very low certainty. Jump and landing training belong to your coach.
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Across 13 surveys of 4,823 women who do CrossFit, 44.5% reported leaking urine, mostly stress leaking, and "Exercises based on jumps were commonly associated with urine leakage." (poor to fair quality studies); a second review gave 32.1%. Double-unders (47.7%), skipping and box jumps were the commonest triggers among 105 CrossFit women.
In the only trial (47 women in functional fitness with stress leaking, in Norway), 16 weeks of home pelvic floor training, "3 sets of 8-12 maximum pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contractions daily" with weekly reminders by phone, improved leaking for 64% against 8%. Across 19 studies of leaking during exercise, only pelvic floor training has trial evidence.
No study has tested Pilates for leaking in CrossFit athletes. A Pilates class can include pelvic floor training, but it's the training, not the class, that has the evidence (our reading). Our Pilates for the pelvic floor guide has the squeezes, and a pelvic health physiotherapist can assess you.
In 10 active women, 4 weeks of gentle mat Pilates didn't change lactate in a running test, and in 34 people, daily slow breathing added nothing to recovery after 4 weeks of sprint intervals, although slow breathing raises heart rate variability in the moment. After a hard benchmark workout, recovery can take more than 24 hours whatever you do. A Pilates class can feel good on a rest day; it is a lighter session, not a treatment.
The International Olympic Committee's consensus says "Emerging evidence indicates that poor load management is a major risk factor for injury", so a hard reformer class counts as a session, not a rest day.
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At one US hospital, 11 of 523 people treated for CrossFit injuries (2.1%) had rhabdomyolysis; more than half were beginners, and "The most common presenting symptom was dark urine (90.9%)". It follows "unaccustomed exercise (especially with eccentric/muscle-lengthening contractions)", and across 772 athletes most cases followed running or weightlifting. Fewer than 1 in 10 people with it have all three classic signs (pain, weakness and dark urine), and an experienced coach aged 45 developed it after a routine workout.
After a single episode with a clear trigger, NHS Scotland's pathway says activity "should be phased in gradually, first with stretching based exercise, e.g. pilates, before returning to gym-work and running". Our rhabdomyolysis guide has the stages; do Pilates only within them, and with your doctor's agreement.
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CrossFit-style training builds fitness, strength and power: a 2025 review of 19 studies found this kind of training improved strength, power, speed, endurance and agility in healthy people, but not flexibility. In one comparison of gym-goers, those doing CrossFit had much higher aerobic fitness than those doing Pilates, though people chose their own exercise. Pilates adds control, mobility and trunk endurance at low load: 2.8 METs for Pilates in general against 7.5 to 9.8 for kettlebell circuits and swings.
Do Pilates on a rest day or after a lighter session, not in the hour before heavy lifts or a hard workout. Long static holds just before hard efforts cost a little performance (3.7% on average, more with holds of 60 seconds or longer), and an expert panel advises against long static stretching before maximal efforts. Count a hard reformer class as training.
Neither promises a particular body shape, and we don't compare bodies. Our Pilates for weight loss guide covers weight loss.
The double-leg stretch (close to a hollow body), single-leg stretch and criss-cross for trunk control while you breathe, the leg pull front for a long plank, and the dead bug, side plank and Pallof press against bending, arching and turning. Trunk training improves trunk endurance most. The workouts themselves, and core work under load, stay in your CrossFit sessions.
Lateral breathing, 5 to 8 breaths at the start of every session (the move page's dose); pelvic floor training, 8 slow holds of up to 10 seconds and 8 quick squeezes, three times a day (from the move page's dose); pelvic floor relaxation, 5 to 10 slow breaths, 1 to 3 times a day (the move page's dose), if your pelvic floor feels tight or sore rather than weak.
Double-leg stretch, 6 to 10 reps (the move page's dose), arms forward if overhead bothers your shoulders; criss-cross, 6 each side, slowly (the move page's dose); leg pull front, 3 to 5 each side (the move page's dose), on fists or forearms if your wrists complain, as its page says; dead bug, 2 sets of 8 each side (our Pilates for weightlifters class); side plank, 2 sets of 20 to 30 seconds each side (our Pilates for weightlifters class); Pallof press, 2 sets of 8 each side (our Pilates for weightlifters class).
3D demoDouble-leg stretch (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoCriss-cross (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoLeg pull front (Pilates leg pull down)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoHalf-kneeling Pallof pressBeginner · A band + An anchor pointScapular push-up, 10, pausing at the top (our Pilates for climbers class), against a wall with a sore shoulder; outward rotation with a band, 10 each arm (our Pilates for tennis players class); side-lying open book, 8 to 10 slow openings each side, pausing 2 seconds at the end (the move page's dose); foam roller thoracic extension, 5 to 8 slow breaths at each of 3 or 4 spots along the upper back (the move page's dose); Y-T-W raises, 5 of each shape (our Pilates for weightlifters class); wall angel, 8 slow slides (our Pilates for weightlifters class).
3D demoScapular push-up (push-up plus)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoStanding band external rotationBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoSide-lying open bookBeginner · No equipment
3D demoFoam roller thoracic extensionBeginner · A foam roller
3D demoProne Y-T-W raisesBeginner · No equipment
3D demoWall angelBeginner · A wallWrist and forearm flow, 60 seconds (the CrossFit warm-up and mobility routine); wrist curls, 12 slow reps with a light weight (our Pilates for wrist pain class).
These agree with our Pilates for weightlifters guide, which has mobility for the lifts in full. Knee-to-wall ankle rock, 10 slow rocks per side, daily (the move page's dose); 90/90 switch, 10 slow switches, pause at the ends (the move page's dose); hip hinge practice, 8 (our Pilates for weightlifters class); cat-cow, 8 waves, slower than feels natural (the move page's dose).
Clamshell, 10 each side (our Pilates for athletes class); side-lying leg circles, 8 each direction, each side (the move page's dose), kept small; hip airplane, 2 sets of 5 slow turns each leg (the move page's dose), holding a rack or wall; single-leg stand, 2 sets of 30 seconds each leg (our Pilates for weightlifters class), eyes closed once it's easy.
No long holds or hard trunk session: long static holds just before maximal efforts cost a few per cent of force. Use the CrossFit warm-up instead.
Leave out the leg pull back, whose page says to skip it if your wrists or the front of your shoulders hurt, and do push-ups against a wall, as the Pilates push-up's page suggests. Keep wall angels small and leave out the Y of the Y-T-W raises, as our weightlifters class says, and see our Pilates for shoulder pain guide.
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Use forearm planks, fists for the leg pull front, and our Pilates for wrist pain guide. In one survey, 29.1% of wrist injuries came back, so let a sore wrist settle before loading it again (our suggestion).
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Swap the teaser and roll-up for head-down moves such as the knee fold, as the teaser's page suggests, do the pelvic floor squeezes daily, and see a pelvic health physiotherapist if it continues.
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Keep swimming and the swan small, or use the bird dog, as their pages say, and see our pain guides for back pain from deadlifts or burpees.
Pilates moves are done breathing. Save the braced breath for heavy lifts, and leave it out altogether with high blood pressure, heart disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent surgery or in pregnancy, as our weightlifters guide and breathing guide say.
Only within our rhabdomyolysis guide's stages, and with your doctor's agreement; NHS Scotland's pathway puts stretching-based exercise such as Pilates first, before gym work and running.
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No hot Pilates or other hot classes after a hard session in a hot gym; drink and cool down first (our suggestion).
Our 25-minute off-day class covers what CrossFit adds to lifting: the pelvic floor, trunk control while you breathe, the shoulders for hanging and overhead, wrists, and hips for landing. Our rest-day class for lifters is the one for the squat, the hinge and trunk endurance, so alternate the two. Before a workout, use the CrossFit warm-up; the pelvic floor, wrist pain and shoulder pain classes are for those problems, and the rhabdomyolysis session for the return after an episode, at its stages.
A 25-minute off-day Pilates class for CrossFit: the pelvic floor, trunk control while you breathe, shoulders for hanging and overhead, wrists, and hips for landing.
25 minIntermediate18 movesBand, anchor pointA 25-minute rest-day Pilates class for lifters: trunk endurance, the hinge, ankles and hips, the upper back and overhead position, breathing on every effort.
25 minIntermediate18 movesWall, bandA 15-minute warm-up and mobility routine for CrossFit-style training: easy rowing, shoulder, wrist, hip and ankle mobility, shoulder-blade work and squats.
15 minBeginner14 movesCardio machine, wallA 45-minute beginner session in the shape of a CrossFit class: a warm-up, goblet squats, deadlifts, push-ups and rows, a 10-minute EMOM, then core work.
45 minBeginner15 movesCardio machine, wallA 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 movesWallA 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 movesDumbbell, bandA 20-minute Pilates workout for your pelvic floor, built on UK pelvic health physiotherapists' booklet: squeeze as you breathe out, move, then fully release.
20 minBeginner18 movesWall, bench or boxA 25-minute Pilates class for sore wrists: hands-free mat work, moves on your forearms, a short wrist strength block, then steps back onto your hands.
25 minBeginner19 movesWall, dumbbellA 20-minute Pilates class for a sore shoulder: gentle range first, then shoulder-blade and rotator cuff strength, then light weight on the arms, in steps.
20 minBeginner15 movesBench or box, other / check instructionsA 30-minute light session for the first weeks back after rhabdomyolysis: easy cycling or walking, Pilates-style moves and light strength, never to failure.
30 minBeginner15 movesCardio machine, bench or boxThe beginner Pilates plan builds the basics over 4 weeks, 3 days a week; fit it around your training, on rest days.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999, and use your doctor's urgent line or urgent care for NHS 111.
Call 999 if:
Dark, red or cola-coloured urine, much less urine than usual, or very painful, weak or swollen muscles in the days after a session: get medical help the same day. Dark pee isn't always there, so muscles far sorer, more swollen or weaker than the session explains still need the same-day check.
The signs to act on, from our rhabdomyolysis guide:
Don't drive yourself to A&E.
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Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
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Call 999 or go to A&E: after a fall or injury, your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape, you cannot move your arm, or your shoulder is painful, bruised or swollen. Do not drive yourself, and do not try to put it back in yourself.
Same day (GP or NHS 111): sudden or very bad shoulder pain; you cannot move your arm; the arm or shoulder is badly swollen or has changed shape; pins and needles that do not go away; no feeling in the arm; the arm is hot or cold to the touch; pain that started after an injury such as a fall; or severe pain in both shoulders.
Same day (GP or NHS 111): sudden weakness lifting the arm after an injury or fall. A rotator cuff tear caused by an injury needs urgent referral to a shoulder specialist. After a dislocation in anyone over 40, the rotator cuff should be checked: about 40% have a tear.
See a GP or physiotherapist if:
A shoulder that slips out or looks out of place, a knee that gives way, locks or swells within hours, or a wrist that's swollen and can't take weight needs checking before you train it again. Our pain guides say what to do.
Don't start CrossFit new in pregnancy; if you already train, talk to your midwife, and see our pregnancy guide. After having a baby, or with leaking or a feeling of heaviness, our postpartum and pelvic floor guides help, and a pelvic health physiotherapist can assess you.
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Build strength and control before high-impact and gymnastics work, as our hypermobility guide explains.
If you're hypermobile, don't use mobility work to push further: the NHS says "do not overextend your joints just because you can". See a GP if you think you have joint hypermobility syndrome: for example, your joints keep dislocating, or you keep getting sprains, strains, pain or stiffness.
The PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) asks about a heart condition or high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or losing consciousness, other long-term conditions and their medicines, a bone or joint problem that activity could make worse, and being told to exercise only under supervision. If you answer yes to any, check with your GP or a qualified exercise professional first. If you're over 45 and not used to hard exercise, ask a qualified exercise professional before the hardest sessions, and delay if you're ill.
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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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A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans).
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You feel any pain or become unwell, as the NHS advises for its Pilates videos, and especially for chest pain or pressure, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting. If you have a health problem, an injury or any symptoms, get advice from a healthcare professional, such as a GP, before you start.
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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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Pilates is light on the heart and lungs (2.8 METs in general, against 7.5 to 9.8 for kettlebell circuits and swings), but slow trunk-endurance work is hard for many strong people, and trunk training improves trunk endurance most. It's a different job, not an easier version of the same one.
Nothing suggests they clash if Pilates is timed away from hard sessions and counted as training load. The one study of a Pilates session in conditioning athletes reported no harm, with no comparison group.
Unsupervised mat Pilates thickened the deepest tummy muscle only during a Pilates move, and in lab models bracing the whole trunk, not the deepest muscle, stiffens the spine.
The claim appears on a Pilates body's own blog, but gentle mat Pilates didn't change lactate, slow breathing added nothing to recovery after hard intervals, and recovery from a hard benchmark workout can take more than 24 hours whatever you do.
More than half the hospital cases were beginners, but an experienced coach developed it after a routine workout, and it follows unaccustomed exercise at any level, especially lowering work.
It's common, about a third to nearly a half of women in surveys, but treatable: daily pelvic floor training improved it for 64% of women in a trial, against 8%.
Firm evidence that a weak core causes injuries is lacking; the programmes that cut injuries trained strength and balance, and stretching didn't help.
In the one trial that compared them in athletes (footballers), both mat and reformer Pilates improved tests, the reformer slightly more on three. Use what you can get to.
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It can add trunk control while you breathe, shoulder-blade and upper-back work for overhead and hanging positions, hip strength and a genuinely lighter day. Only one study has looked at Pilates in people who do CrossFit, and it lasted one session, so treat it as a supplement, not a performance tool. Our yoga for CrossFit guide covers yoga.
They do different jobs. CrossFit-style training builds fitness, strength and power, and in one comparison of gym-goers, those doing CrossFit had much higher aerobic fitness than those doing Pilates, though people chose their own exercise. Pilates adds control, mobility and trunk endurance at low load.
Yes. Do Pilates on a rest day or after a lighter session, not in the hour before heavy lifts or a hard workout, and count a hard reformer class as training.
After, or on a separate day. Before a workout, the CrossFit warm-up does the job; long static holds just before maximal efforts cost a little force.
No. Pilates breathes out through the effort at low load; bracing tightens the whole trunk around a breath for heavy lifts and raised abdominal pressure far more in lab studies. A held breath raises blood pressure much more than breathing out, so our breathing guide lists who shouldn't hold it.
It can train the shoulder blades, rotator cuff and upper back at low load, but no study has tested a shoulder programme in CrossFit athletes. Build strict pull-ups and handstand strength in coached training, as our CrossFit guide says.
For back pain in general, Pilates helps about as much as other exercise. In CrossFit, back injuries come mostly in heavy lifts, so coaching, steady scaling and the matching pain guide come first.
It can add spring resistance and controlled range; in one small trial in footballers the reformer did slightly better than the mat on a few tests. It isn't a substitute for loading, and a hard reformer class counts as training.
It's lighter on the heart and lungs (about 2.8 METs, against 7.5 or more for a kettlebell circuit), but long holds and slow trunk work are hard for many strong people. It's a different kind of hard.
Pelvic floor training does: 16 weeks of daily training improved leaking for 64% of women in functional fitness, against 8%. A Pilates class can include the squeezes; see a pelvic health physiotherapist if it continues.
Only at the right stage and with your doctor's agreement: NHS Scotland's pathway puts stretching-based exercise such as Pilates first, before gym work and running. Our rhabdomyolysis guide has the stages.
No trial shows it. In trials, Pilates built strength no better or worse than other exercise, so keep your strength work and time Pilates away from heavy sessions.
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.
