Pilates guide
Pilates was created by a man: according to the Pilates Method Alliance's history, Joseph Pilates was a circus performer and trainer who helped lead daily exercise for his fellow internees in the First World War. Much of the research has been in women, but trials that included men, and small trials in male runners and footballers, found better trunk endurance and control and some gains in sports tests. Pilates also counts toward the twice-weekly strength guideline.
It complements strength training rather than replacing it. This guide covers what the trials in men show, Pilates for athletes, how to fit it around lifting, Pilates and the pelvic floor after prostate surgery, and how to start; our guide to exercise for men covers the rest.
According to the Pilates Method Alliance's history, Joseph Pilates was a circus performer and trainer who helped lead daily exercise for his fellow internees in the First World War. Men have done it ever since; the idea that it is only for women is a myth.
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Trials that included men found better abdominal endurance and pelvic control, and a meta-analysis found the endurance gain in both sexes. Much of the research has been in women.
In one small trial of 28 young men, adding two mat classes a week to running cut 5-km times more than running alone, and amateur footballers improved jump, sprint and agility tests. Both trials are small, and no trial has tested Pilates for preventing sports injuries.
The NHS counts Pilates as muscle-strengthening activity, but heavier, progressive lifting builds more strength and muscle. One or two Pilates sessions a week fit alongside a lifting or sport week (our suggestion).
NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recommends supervised pelvic floor training if you leak after prostate surgery, though trials disagree on how much it speeds recovery. The evidence for Pilates here is thin, so follow your continence team's advice.
Our beginner workout suits men as well as women. Men over 50 can use our over-50 session, which leaves out deep rounding of the back until you know your bones are healthy.
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According to the Pilates Method Alliance's history, Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1883, worked in England as a circus performer, and was interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man during the First World War, where he helped lead daily exercise for his fellow internees. He later took his method, which he called Contrology, to New York. Our Pilates guide has more of the story.
In active middle-aged men and women, 12 weeks of Pilates twice a week improved abdominal endurance, hamstring flexibility and upper-body endurance. In 20 men and 20 women, 8 weeks of two sessions a week improved pelvic control and sit-and-reach flexibility. A meta-analysis of 9 trials found the abdominal endurance gain in both sexes.
Much of the Pilates research has been in women: of the 6 back pain trials in one 2023 review that reported sex, 3 recruited only women and 3 were mixed. Men-only trials exist in runners, footballers, men with sports hernia or back pain, and men after prostate surgery.
In a trial of 32 young male recreational runners (28 finished), adding two 1-hour mat Pilates sessions a week to running for 12 weeks cut 5-km time from 25.65 to 23.23 minutes, against 25.33 to 24.61 minutes with running alone, and running economy improved more too. It is one small trial in 28 young men and needs repeating. In 34 novice runners, a 12-week home mat programme didn't change how much the knees caved inward while running.
Thirty amateur male footballers did 8 weeks of mat or reformer Pilates in place of half their team sessions, and both groups improved on balance, hopping, sprint, agility, dribbling and passing tests, while a comparison group from another team didn't change. In 15 youth players, 5 weeks of mat Pilates increased leg strength. Both studies are small, and the comparison group wasn't randomised.
A search of the research found no trial testing whether Pilates prevents sports injuries. It is plausible, but unproven.
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In 88 men with sports hernia, adding Pilates to laser and ultrasound treatment for 6 weeks improved function and hip scores, though the extra pain relief was small. In 51 male college footballers with unstable ankles, Pilates and balance training both improved symptoms and function. Rehab should be guided by your physiotherapist.
For long-lasting low back pain, a Cochrane review of trials in men and women found Pilates eased pain and disability more than doing little, but not clearly more than other exercise. In 36 men, 6 weeks of Pilates and of McKenzie exercise eased pain equally. Our Pilates for back pain guide has the detail.
An American College of Sports Medicine overview of 137 reviews found strength best built by heavier loads, of at least 80% of the most you can lift once, through a full range, with 2 to 3 sets at least twice a week, and muscle size by 10 or more sets per muscle a week. Short trials found Pilates built strength about as well as other exercise, not better, and in older women resistance training built more trunk and hip strength on a machine test.
Trunk endurance, control of your pelvis and spine, and hip and hamstring flexibility, which the trials that included men measured. These are different qualities from heavy lifting, not lighter versions of the same thing.
The runners added 2 sessions a week to their running, and the footballers did 3 sessions a week in place of half their team sessions.
Keep lifting as your base: 2 to 3 strength days with about 10 hard sets per muscle a week, as our guide to exercise for men suggests. Add 1 or 2 Pilates sessions, or a 10 to 15 minute block after lifting or on a rest day, and keep long curl-up and rolling blocks away from heavy squat or deadlift days; no study has tested timing (our editorial suggestion).
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They cover jobs a lifting week often misses: hip control through range, rotation, back-extensor endurance, single-leg hip work and side work, and most appeared in the programmes tested in men. Start with each move's easier version; starting doses are on each move's page.
3D demoSingle-leg circle (Pilates one leg circle)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoRoll-up (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSaw (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSpine twist (Pilates)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSwan (Pilates swan dive)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSwimming (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoShoulder bridge (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSide kick (Pilates side kick series)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSide-lying leg circles (Pilates side kick series)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoCriss-cross (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoLeg pull front (Pilates leg pull down)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoPush-up (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoMermaid (Pilates seated side bend)Beginner · No equipmentStart with the beginner workout; the full-body mat class is close to the programmes tested in men. Over 50, use the over-50 session until you know your bones are healthy. The pelvic floor routine is for before and after prostate surgery.
A 20-minute mat Pilates workout for complete beginners. It covers breathing, spine position and the foundation moves, each with an easier option.
20 minBeginner13 movesNo equipmentA 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 equipmentTen minutes of the classic Pilates abdominal series: the hundred, the roll-up and the series of five, with a plank to finish.
10 minIntermediate11 movesNo equipmentA 20-minute beginner mat Pilates session for over-50s with no deep or repeated rounding of the spine, plus back strengthening and standing balance.
20 minBeginner13 movesA wallA gentle 15-minute Pilates-based routine for ongoing low back pain, built from neutral-spine moves with options for backs that dislike bending or arching.
15 minBeginner10 movesNo equipmentA 5-minute daily pelvic floor workout for women and men: slow holds and quick squeezes, three times a day, with how to find the right muscles.
5 minBeginner2 movesNo equipmentOur men's strength plans: add one Pilates session a week from the workouts above, or follow the Pilates plan while you learn.
A 4-day gym workout routine for men: upper and lower days, each muscle trained twice a week, with sets, reps, progression and the evidence.
4 training days50 minIntermediate3 days a weekA 3-day strength plan for men over 40 with power and bone work, two cardio days and mobility, built on research on ageing muscle.
3 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekA free 4-week, 3-day Pilates plan for complete beginners. Two mat days and one wall day, with clear rules for when to move each exercise to its harder version.
3 training days25 minBeginnerTreatment questions belong with your surgical or continence team. Our pelvic floor guide shows how to do the exercises.
NICE recommends supervised pelvic floor muscle training for men who leak after prostate surgery, continued for at least 3 months before other options are considered. Prostate Cancer UK suggests starting the exercises 4 to 6 weeks before surgery, not doing them while a catheter is in, and starting as soon as it has been removed.
A Cochrane review of 50 trials with 4,717 men found that, for men still leaking after prostate removal, training didn't clearly beat the comparison groups: 57% against 62% were still leaking at a year. In the UK MAPS (Men After Prostate Surgery) trials, four one-to-one sessions with a therapist did no better than standard care. Men improved over time whatever they did.
One Brazilian research group randomised men after prostate removal to a Pilates programme, pelvic floor exercises with electrical stimulation, or a control group. Four months after surgery, 58% of the Pilates group and 50% of the exercise group no longer needed pads, against 23% of the control group; the group reported the trial twice. A 2025 review that compared rehabilitation methods across trials, which we could read only as a summary, concluded that Pilates "may be associated with worse outcomes", which conflicts with that trial. The evidence is too thin to choose Pilates over the exercises NICE recommends.
Do the pelvic floor exercises, ideally taught by a physiotherapist, and start before surgery if you can. Prostate Cancer UK says Pilates and yoga "may also help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles": if you enjoy Pilates, it can sit alongside the squeezes once your surgical team says floor exercise is fine, but it doesn't replace them. Avoid heavy exercise for the first 4 to 6 weeks after surgery, and if leaking is still bothering you, ask for a referral to a continence service.
No trial has tested Pilates for erection problems. In one trial of 55 men, pelvic floor exercises taught by a physiotherapist, with biofeedback and lifestyle advice, improved erections more than lifestyle advice alone at 3 months. Our pelvic floor guide shows the routine.
The NHS says erection problems that keep happening "might be a sign of a health condition that can be treated", such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, so see a GP or a sexual health clinic too.
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For chest pain that feels tight or like squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck or jaw; severe difficulty breathing; or if someone passes out and isn't responding normally. If you get chest pain, breathlessness or dizziness when you exert yourself, see a GP before you train again, as our guide to exercise for men advises.
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If back pain comes with pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs; loss of feeling around your genitals or anus; changes in your bladder or bowels; changes in how your penis feels during sex, or not being able to get or keep an erection; or chest pain; or if it started after a serious accident.
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Avoid heavy exercise for the first 4 to 6 weeks; short walks are fine if your surgeon suggests them. Start pelvic floor exercises only once the catheter is out, and ask your surgical team before floor-based ab work. If you're having hormone therapy or the cancer has spread to your bones, avoid activities where you could fall.
For a bulge in your groin or tummy that is painful, or comes with a swollen tummy, being sick or constipation, as our guide to exercise for men explains. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
Its founder was a male circus performer and trainer, and trials that included men, or only men, found gains in endurance, control and sports tests.
Some Pilates moves make the abs work harder than crunches in lab tests, and the advanced mat moves demand strength, control and range that teachers make you earn. It trains different qualities from heavy lifting, not lighter versions of the same.
Across 11 trials, Pilates didn't change lean body mass. It won't add much size either: muscle grows best with progressive loading.
For strength and muscle size, heavy progressive lifting is better supported. Pilates is a complement.
Plausible, but no trial has tested it.
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No trial supports this. Pelvic floor training has NICE backing for leaking after prostate surgery and small trials for erection problems, and a GP can check for treatable causes.
Yes. Trials that included men found better abdominal endurance, flexibility and pelvic control, and small trials in male runners and footballers found better performance tests. It also counts as muscle-strengthening activity, though heavier lifting builds more strength.
Joseph Pilates, who was born in Germany in 1883. According to the Pilates Method Alliance's history, he was a circus performer and trainer who helped lead exercise for his fellow internees in the First World War and later taught in New York. He called his method Contrology.
Yes, and they always have, starting with the founder. Much of the research has been in women, but there are trials in men, from runners and footballers to men with back pain and men after prostate surgery.
Promising but not proven. Adding two mat sessions a week to running cut 5-km times in one small trial of 28 young men, and amateur footballers improved jump, sprint and agility tests, but both trials were small. No trial has tested Pilates for preventing sports injuries.
Not for strength and muscle size, which grow best with heavier, progressive loads. Pilates builds trunk endurance, control and range, so it works best alongside lifting.
One or two sessions a week, or a short block after lifting, is a sensible start. The trials in men used 2 or 3 sessions a week alongside running or football training. Keep long curl-up blocks away from heavy squat or deadlift days.
The pelvic floor exercises NICE recommends come first, ideally taught by a physiotherapist and started before surgery. One trial found a Pilates programme did about as well as pelvic floor exercises with electrical stimulation, but the evidence is thin and a review disagrees, so follow your continence team's advice. Avoid heavy exercise for the first 4 to 6 weeks.
No trial has tested Pilates for this. Pelvic floor exercises taught by a physiotherapist helped in a trial of 55 men. If erection problems keep happening, see a GP, because they can be a sign of a treatable condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes.
No. Across 11 trials, Pilates didn't change lean body mass. It won't add much size either: lifting does that.
Yes, as part of the strength and balance work adults are advised to do. Start without deep rounding of your back unless you know your bones are healthy, as our over-50 session does, and keep lifting for strength.
The evidence is the same for men and women: Pilates eases long-lasting low back pain more than doing little, but not clearly more than other exercise. In one trial of 36 men, it eased pain as well as McKenzie exercise.
Shorts or joggers and a T-shirt you can move in, fitted enough that a teacher can see your hips and spine. Bare feet or grippy socks suit mat work; check a studio's rules for equipment classes.
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.
