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14.12.2022

The effect of 10 weeks of fitness training according to Pilates

Not everyone in the fitness industry is equally convinced of the added value of the Pilates method. According to the skeptics, Pilates is a fitness niche for affluent clients who do not want to train with heavy weights and therefore should not expect much progress. According to a Hungarian study, in which students trained for an hour a week in a Pilates studio, this skepticism is unjustified.

Study
Researchers at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest got 32 female students with a sedentary lifestyle to train for an hour a week for 10 weeks. A control group of 17 female students did not train.

Just before and just after each workout, the students had to answer questions about their mood at that moment. In this way, the researchers could see the effect of the Pilates sessions on the negative and positive moods of their test subjects.

The researchers also measured the body composition of the students before and just after the 10-week period.

Results
The Pilates sessions made the students feel better. After the session there was almost always a statistically significant decrease in negative feelings and an equally significant increase in positive feelings.

At the end of the 10 weeks, the students who trained had lost fat, but the difference was not significant. The students who trained had also gained muscle mass - and this increase was statistically significant.

Conclusion
"This research clearly demonstrates the acute and chronic benefits of Pilates training on both physical and psychological measures in young sedentary women", summarize the Hungarians.

"While the once a week frequency of training is below the recommended levels of exercise for health, it may overcome the most often cited lack-of-time-excuse for not exercising and possibly its tangible benefits may positively influence later engaging in more physical activity. This is a plausible view in theoretical perspective that warrants further testing."

"From a practical perspective, Pilates instructors need to realize that even once a week training is beneficial for the beginners. Therefore, they can be given enough time to gradually increase physical activity, at their own pace, and hence provide greater control to them over their exercise behavior."

Source:
Physiol Behav. 2016 Sep 1;163:211-8.

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