How Many Calories Does Pilates Burn?

Pilates can help improve posture and increase flexibility, and be performed virtually anywhere using mat variations. Although calorie-burning is not always the primary reason for doing Pilates, many are curious about how many calories they burn during a workout.

Unfortunately, unless you exercise in a lab, measuring the calories burned doing Pilates is an imprecise science. Understanding the factors influencing how many calories Pilates burns—and how to measure them—can help you get the most from your workout.

Pilates Calories Burned

Doing mat Pilates for 1 hour burns about 170 to 250 calories if you're a beginner—more if you're doing an intermediate or advanced workout. Where you fall on that range depends on your weight. A 120-pound person will burn 171 calories per hour of Pilates. A 150-pound person will burn 200 calories with mat Pilates, and a 180-person could burn 257 calories doing Pilates for 1 hour.

Keep in mind that a calorie is a unit of measure for energy or heat. Your body converts calories from food and stored nutrition (mainly fat) into energy through a thermal metabolic process that releases heat, thus the term "burning calories."

It takes a certain number of calories for your body to stay alive and function normally. That is your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Your BMR is influenced by age, gender, weight, and body composition (fat-to-muscle ratio). Exercise—including Pilates—helps to increase your daily caloric burn.

Using a Calorie Counter for Pilates

Several variables are involved in measuring the exact calories burned in a Pilates workout. When you add to that the wide differences in workout intensity available in Pilates—and workouts with versus without equipment—it is impossible to identify a specific number of calories burned that would apply to everyone.

However, you can estimate your calories burned using an activity calculator.

Keep in mind that most online calorie calculators only ask for your weight and duration of exercise. They do not reveal the population their baseline is taken from (such as gender, weight, level of fitness, etc.), nor specify the level and kind of Pilates being performed such as mat exercises versus equipment exercises or beginner versus advanced.

So, these numbers must be regarded as extremely general. Also, if you are "guesstimating," remember that men typically burn more calories than women doing the same activity. Additionally, people in better shape tend to have a higher BMR but burn fewer calories a lower percentage of additional calories under exertion.

How to Estimate Calories Burned During Pilates

There are ways to get the most accurate calculation for calories burned. Follow these three strategies to estimate your calorie burn:

Heart Rate Monitor

One of the most accurate ways to estimate calories burned is with a heart rate monitor. Because the body requires oxygen to burn calories and the heart pumps oxygen through the body, there is a relationship between how hard the heart works and your body's demand for oxygen to burn calories.

Some heart rate monitors come with projections of calories burned based on your BMR and your average heart rate during the exertion period. Quality monitors will have inputs for other personal data such as weight and gender.

Heart Rate Calculators

Heart rate-based calorie burn calculators can also help determine your calorie burn, and you can do it all online. As technology improves, activity monitors can more accurately predict calorie burn during Pilates exercises—but they are not yet developed to monitor activity in multiple planes of movement.

Rating of Perceived Exertion

While you can track your exertion level with a heart rate monitor, you can also use the rating of perceived exertion scale (RPE). The scale uses a subjective experience of breathing rate, fatigue, and sweat measured on a scale from 6 (no exertion) to 20 (the most exertion possible) to help you gauge your exertion rate.

Check your RPE during your workout. If it's easy, your RPE will be close to 11 or 12. If you're performing a challenging workout or high-intensity interval training, you may be closer to an 18 or 19. Keep calculating your RPE throughout your Pilates session to see how hard you work and how many calories you burn.

Pilates for Weight Loss

If your interest in Pilates calories burned is related to a weight-loss goal, remember you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you consume to lose 1 pound of body fat. Most people achieve that over time by reducing the number of calories they take in and increasing the number of calories they burn with exercise.

As for Pilates and calories burned, as a form of moderate strength training, Pilates has an important role in a weight-loss program and will help you burn calories.

There are many ways to perform Pilates—including equipment-free or using equipment like the classic Pilates reformer—and certain moves will help you burn extra calories, including:

• Swimming: With this no-equipment move, you'll work your arms, legs, and core. Start by lying on your stomach with your arms extended and your body in a straight line. Slowly lift your knees and arms off the ground, and begin to flutter kick your legs and move your arms in unison.
• Plank jacks: Planks, a classic full-body move, get an upgrade with the addition of jacks. Begin in a plank position, with your wrists under your shoulders. While keeping your palms on the ground, jump your feet out like you're doing a jumping jack horizontally. Finish by returning to the original plank position.
• The Hundred: Begin by lying on the floor with your legs extended and your arms at your sides. Lift your legs either to the classic table-top position or extend into a 45-degree angle. Float your arms off the mat and reach your fingertips forward, curling your head, neck, and shoulder blades off the mat. Pump your arms up and down at your sides, inhaling for 5 pumps and exhaling for 5 pumps. Hold the position for 100 total pumps, or approximately 10 breaths.

Frequently Asked Questions 

How Many Calories Does a Pilates Reformer Burn?

Invented by Pilates founder Joseph Pilates, the Pilates reformer helps you elevate your practice. The platform-like structure includes a spring-loaded carriage which moves to help you lengthen and strengthen your body.

The Reformer workouts burn more calories than traditional mat Pilates since it is customizable to different levels of tension and you're using body weight to move,

Using the resistance on the reformer, a 120-pound person can burn around 180 calories while a 150-pound person can burn up to 220 calories.

How Many Calories Does Hot Pilates Burn?

Hot Pilates is performed in a room heated up to 95 degrees and with high humidity, usually around 40%. The high-heat and high-sweat environment works to improve flexibility and even cardiovascular health.

There is limited research that measures the caloric burn of hot Pilates, and some experts argue that it doesn't burn many more calories than regular sessions. A 120-pound person can expect to burn about 171 calories while a 150-pound person may burn around 200 calories per 60-minute session.

A Word From Verywell

While Pilates can be a powerful weight-loss exercise, its benefits far exceed calorie burning. Pilates is not a cardio activity—such as jogging or elliptical training—done for aerobic and calorie-burning effects. Pilates is ideal for lengthening and strengthening the muscles and aligning the spine to improve posture. Pilates could be a great fit for you if looking for a workout to help you lose weight, increase flexibility, and prevent injuries.