Pilates With Weights: Benefits, Exercises and How to Get Started
Pilates and weights can work well together, whether you want to build strength, progress exercises that have become less challenging or simply add more resistance to your Pilates routine.
In this guide, we look at the benefits of Pilates with weights, the different weights you can use and how to introduce them safely. We’ll also take you through some Pilates exercises with weights that you can try.
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Can You Do Pilates With Weights?
Yes, you can do pilates with weights! Since Pilates and weights are both resistance training, they go very well together. Adding weights to Pilates can increase the resistance of an exercise, helping you develop strength and endurance while maintaining the control and quality of movement that Pilates focuses on.
Weights can also provide a useful way to progress your Pilates practice. As you become stronger, some exercises may no longer provide enough resistance to continue challenging your muscles. Adding external load can help you progress these movements further.
Is Pilates Strength Training?
Pilates is a form of resistance training and can help improve strength. Depending on the exercise, resistance can come from your own bodyweight, Pilates equipment such as the Reformer, or additional equipment including resistance bands and weights.
However, Pilates and weight training don't always provide the same level of resistance. Some Pilates exercises use relatively low loads, which can be useful when learning movement patterns or for people recovering from injury or illness. If your goal is to continue building strength as you progress, you may eventually need to increase the resistance.
This is where combining Pilates and weights can be particularly useful. Adding an appropriate amount of weight allows you to progressively challenge your muscles while continuing to focus on good movement quality and control.
What Are the Benefits of Pilates with Weights?
There are great benefits to combining Pilates with weights. Adding resistance can help progress your Pilates exercises and support goals including improving muscle strength, endurance and bone health.
Pilates has many benefits in terms of promoting movement and mobility. However, one of the limitations of Pilates is that some of the exercises use very low loads. Whilst this is useful for learning movement patterns and can be very appropriate for certain populations, such as those recovering from injury or illness, sometimes these exercises need to be progressed for greater challenge.
For those who want to build lean muscle mass, adding weights can really improve results. For others who need to get physically stronger, adding weights may be necessary to achieve their aim.
Still others may benefit from adding weights to their Pilates program to build stronger bones, such as those who have been diagnosed with osteoporosis or women who are approaching menopause and want to prevent future bone loss.
How Do Weights Promote Bone Health?
Bones provide structure, protect organs (i.e. our ribcage and pelvis), produce calcium, bone marrow and blood cells and provide a place to anchor muscles. An important function is to absorb and transfer force.
They are very dynamic, with a very good blood supply and metabolism. When we apply enough load on them, they have an adaptive skeletal response. They lay down new bone and will organise themselves in such a way that they can withstand these forces and become stronger. Bones can completely renew themselves every 10 years!
As we age, we tend to lose bone and muscle mass and strength, which can increase the risk of falls and physical disability. For women, the menopause transition is often associated with a decline in muscle mass and strength and decreased bone density, due to fluctuating hormonal changes.
Why Is Muscle Mass Important?
We need to maintain lean muscle mass for our health, as it will help protect our tendons and ligaments, improve our co-ordination and lessen the risk of injury. Muscle mass can also help to strengthen our bones, which can assist with preventing certain conditions, such as osteopenia and osteoporosis.
Research shows that of the many lifestyle factors that can help deal with menopause and osteoporosis, exercising through progressive resistance programs and weight bearing training are the most beneficial for preserving strength, balance, function and general health.
That’s because bone and muscle cells must be stimulated enough, through mechanical load such as weights, to lead to an adaptive skeletal and muscle response. The appropriate degree of load often exceeds the loads that are experienced during our daily life and activities, such as walking.
What Weights Can You Use for Pilates?
When it comes to incorporating weights into your Pilates routine, there are several types of Pilates weights and resistance equipment you can use depending on the exercise, your fitness level and your goals.
From traditional dumbbells to versatile resistance bands , weighted Pilates balls, ankle weights and even the resistance offered by your body weight, different weights for Pilates can provide different types of challenge.
Here are a few benefits of using one type of weight over another:
Dumbbells
Dumbbells help build muscle strength and are available in various weights to suit various strength levels. Holding dumbbells helps you work on your grip strength whilst performing other exercises for your upper body.
Ankle Weights
Ankle weights are a great way to challenge lower body exercises and are especially designed to be attached to your body so you don’t have to hold them on. They take up very little space so can easily be used as part of a home exercise routine.
Pilates Weighted Balls
Weighted balls help with wide grip strength and along with dumbbells can be used in a way that challenges instability which in turn can challenge the core muscles.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands help with smoother, more controlled motion and can provide more feedback. They are also very practical because they are lightweight and don’t take up any space, so you can even put them in your suitcase to go on holiday.
How to Use Weights in Pilates
Determining the correct weight for your individual needs is pivotal in getting the most from Pilates with weights. Whether it's selecting the appropriate level for resistance bands or choosing the right weight for dumbbell exercises, finding the balance between challenge and technique is key.
For example, when using resistance bands, the farther they are from the center of the body on the limbs, the more challenging the exercise becomes.
When using dumbbells a light weight will challenge endurance, while a heavier one will aid in building strength.
You can also progress gradually from simpler weighted Pilates exercises to more complex movements. This could mean starting with dead bugs and femur arcs using ankle weights or sidelying footwork on the Reformer with a band around your thighs, before progressing to exercises such as lunges or side splits on the Reformer and bicep curls or triceps kickbacks with dumbbells.
The additional resistance should provide enough challenge to create change without compromising the control and movement quality of the exercise.
What Our Experts Say
Pilates with weights can be a valuable progression when it is introduced safely and with purpose. Pilates is excellent for teaching control and movement quality, but some people need additional load to build strength. The most important thing is choosing the right weight for the individual, so the exercise remains controlled while still providing enough challenge to create change. If you feel you need more power, this is where the gym fits in.
Pilates Exercises With Weights
There are lots of ways to incorporate additional resistance into Pilates, from adding ankle weights to familiar Mat Pilates exercises to combining Reformer movements with dumbbells or weighted balls. The right exercise and weight will depend on your current strength, experience and goals.
Here are four examples of Pilates exercises with weights and resistance that show some of the different ways you can increase the challenge.
Side Lying Leg Circles With Ankle Weights
This exercise is great for challenging the stabilising muscles on the outside of your pelvis that are important for efficient movement when walking and running. Lie on your side with ankle weights strapped to your ankles. Have the bottom leg bent for more stability or keep it straight for an added challenge.
How to do it:
- Press your bottom leg down into the ground until you feel the top leg wants to lift, continue lifting the top leg to hip height. Keeping a sense of length through the top leg, start to trace small circles with your foot.
- Perform 6, then reverse the direction.
- Repeat 3 sets to challenge strength.
Reformer Short Box Roll Back & Rotation With Weighted Balls
This exercise is a challenge for your oblique abdominals. The exercise is already a challenge with the long lever of the arms. Adding the balls helps to give additional load to the abdominals and the arms, whilst providing tactile feedback about the position of the body in space.
How to do it:
- Start sitting tall on the box with your arms extended in front of you. Start to roll backwards onto the fleshy part of your bottom, simultaneously opening your arm round to one side. Let your gaze and in turn your body follow the weighted ball, to create rotation for the obliques.
- Repeat 3 sets of 10 – 15 depending on your endurance!
Donkey Kick With Resistance Band
This exercise is great for the whole body but the added resistance challenges the large gluteal muscles of the hip joint, which are important for power in walking, running and weightlifting.
How to do it:
- Get onto all fours, with about 60% weight over your knees. Press your hands into the ground, as you do this your chest will slightly lift away. Keep a sense of length through the spine from the crown of your head to the tailbone. You should have 3 gentle curves through your spine.
- Think of sinking one knee heavy into the floor to have a sense that you are lifting the opposite leg. Press the leg into the resistance band to challenge your hip extension strength. Your low back should stay in the same gentle curve throughout.
- Repeat 10 – 12 times. Repeat 3 sets to improve strength.
Lunge On Reformer With Biceps Curl
This exercise challenges strength in a functional position and is a multi-functional exercise. Your balance and co-ordination is challenged whilst the biceps are being strengthened. Stand next to the Reformer, set to one spring resistance, with your closest foot resting on the shoulder pads.
How to do it:
- Press into the shoulder pad to straighten your back leg, whilst bending your front leg. As the front leg bends, bend your elbows to lift your dumbbells. As you bring the reformer carriage back in, straighten the front leg and straighten your arms to lower the weights.
- Repeat 3 sets of 6 – 8 with a heavier dumbbell, or 10 – 15 reps with a light dumbbell for endurance.
Is Pilates With Weights Safe?
Pilates with weights can be safe when the resistance is appropriate for you and exercises are performed with good technique.
You may have apprehensions about heavy lifting, such as potential injury. However, ensuring gradual progression and proper form can mitigate your risks while maximizing results. Working with a professional trained in exercise is a great way to ensure that you are working in a way that is right for you.
Our bodies, fitness levels, needs and goals are unique, so an experienced Pilates instructor can also help you decide where to start with weights and how to progress them appropriately.
How to Get the Most From Pilates With Weights
If you're thinking about adding weights to Pilates, the aim is to progress your practice rather than simply make exercises harder.
- Pilates already uses resistance, but adding weights can provide more challenge when bodyweight or spring resistance is no longer enough.
- Choose your resistance based on the exercise and your goal. Lighter weights can challenge endurance, while heavier loads may be needed to develop greater strength.
- Dumbbells, ankle weights, weighted Pilates balls and resistance bands can all be used, so there isn't one type of weight that's best for every Pilates exercise.
- Increase resistance gradually. You should still be able to maintain control, alignment and good movement quality as the load increases.
- If strength is your main goal, Pilates with weights can form part of your training, but heavier progressive weight training may also be needed to develop greater strength and power.
Feeling Inspired?
If you want to experience the Complete difference and discover the benefits of one-to-one or small group Pilates, book a session at one of our London or Norfolk studios today. Not able to make it to one of our studios? We've got online options to suit you anywhere, anytime.
Our physiotherapist-led Pilates studio in West London, our North London Pilates studio, our Pilates studio in London City, and our Norfolk Pilates studio in East Anglia, offer a highly tailored approach to your Pilates training. Whether your goal is to manage a health condition, rehabilitate from an injury or to improve your strength and fitness, Complete Pilates is the studio for you.
Need Advice About Pilates With Weights?
Everyone is different, so the right exercises and level of resistance will depend on your health, experience and goals. If you have an injury or health condition, or you're unsure whether Pilates with weights is suitable for you, our team is happy to help.
Get in touch and we can point you in the right direction.
FAQs
Can you do Pilates with weights?
Yes, you can do Pilates with weights. Dumbbells, ankle weights, resistance bands and weighted balls can all be used to add challenge, build strength and progress Pilates exercises. Often the resistance of the springs on the equipment is enough to make an exercise challenging. However, you b may want to add weights to increase resistance in Mat Pilates or to progress certain exercises as you become stronger.
What weights are best for Pilates?
The best weights for Pilates depend on the exercise, your current strength and what you want to achieve. Dumbbells can add resistance to upper and lower body exercises, while ankle weights are useful when you want to increase the load without holding additional equipment.
Pilates weighted balls can provide resistance while also offering tactile feedback, and resistance bands allow you to vary resistance through a movement. Whatever you choose, the weight should be challenging without causing you to lose control or compromise your technique.
Is Pilates strength training?
Pilates is a form of resistance training and can help build strength, particularly when exercises are appropriately challenging and progressively loaded. Resistance may come from bodyweight, springs on Pilates equipment, bands or weights.
However, if your goal is to develop maximal strength or power, Pilates alone may not provide enough resistance. Adding weights or combining Pilates with a dedicated weight training programme can provide the additional load needed to work towards these goals.
Pilates vs weight training: what's the difference?
Pilates and weight training both use resistance, but they typically place a different emphasis on how that resistance is used. Pilates focuses heavily on controlled movement, alignment, co-ordination and movement quality, while weight training can allow you to use progressively heavier loads to develop greater muscular strength and power.
You don't necessarily need to choose between Pilates vs weight training. The two can complement each other, with Pilates supporting efficient movement and weight training providing the additional load needed for particular strength goals.
Can Pilates with weights help build muscle?
Pilates with weights can help build muscle when the resistance is sufficient to challenge your muscles and is progressively increased as you become stronger. Adding external resistance can be particularly useful when bodyweight or spring resistance is no longer challenging enough.
The amount of weight you need will depend on the exercise, your current strength and your goals. If building significant muscle mass is your primary goal, a dedicated progressive resistance training programme may provide the heavier loads required.
Can Pilates with weights help bone health?
Pilates with weights can support bone health by introducing additional mechanical load, which encourages bones and muscles to adapt. Weight-bearing Pilates exercises can also be valuable, particularly movements performed in standing, four-point kneeling or hinged positions.
Pilates can additionally help improve balance and proprioception, which are important for reducing the risk of falls. If you have osteopenia, osteoporosis or another condition affecting bone health, exercises and resistance should be selected according to your individual needs.
Resources
Hong and Kim (2018) Effects of Resistance Exercise on Bone Health. Endocrinol Metab (Seoul). 2018 Dec; 33(4): 435–444.
Published 18 Apr 2024 · Updated 18 Sep 2026