There’s a version of this conversation that’s very online right now: “Pilates is all you need.” And look, I get the appeal of that. It’s tidy, it’s convenient, and if you love Pilates, you want it to be true (heck, I want it to be true!)
But it isn’t.
I’ve pulled together what I think is essential for you to know when making decisions for how you move your body!
Bone and muscle are different tissues
This sounds obvious when you say it out loud, but it has real implications for how we train.
Muscle tissue adapts to load fairly readily. Research shows that with enough effort - specifically, training to or near muscular failure - you can build meaningful strength across a wide range of loads and rep ranges. High reps, low reps, moderate reps: if the effort is there, the adaptation happens. A 2025 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (PMID 41843416) confirmed that lower-load training produces comparable muscle strength gains to higher-load training, as long as you’re working hard enough. That’s good news for what we do in the studio (I wrote about this at length in August, if you’re interested).
Bone is different.
Bone density responds to mechanical load, but the threshold is higher than most people expect - and importantly, it’s specific to the type and magnitude of force applied. The signal that tells bone to remodel and get denser comes primarily from impact and high-magnitude loading. A 2025 meta-analysis in Osteoporosis International (PMID 40420105) looked at resistance training and bone density in postmenopausal adults - one of the groups most at risk of bone loss - and found that progressive resistance training does produce meaningful improvements in bone mineral density. But the effect is strongest when loads are genuinely progressive and heavy relative to the person’s capacity. The kind of load most of us are working with in a standard Pilates class - moderate resistance, moderate reps - doesn’t reliably hit that threshold.
This isn’t a criticism of Pilates, it’s just what the physiology tells us.
Why this matters more for some of us
Bone density peaks in your late 20s and early 30s, then gradually declines. For women after menopause, that decline accelerates significantly due to the drop in oestrogen, which plays a key role in maintaining bone density. By the time most women are thinking about bone health, they’re already in a phase of net bone loss.
The good news: it’s not too late. Bone is a living tissue. It responds to stimulus throughout your life. Progressive resistance training - the right kind, with sufficient load - has solid evidence behind it for maintaining and even improving bone density in older adults.
The catch: that stimulus has to be specific. Walking, swimming, and standard Pilates loads are good for many things. They don’t reliably deliver the mechanical signal bone needs.
What we’re doing about it
From 1 November 2026, every open level reformer class at Feel Better Pilates includes a dedicated strength block. We’re running the same block across all classes for 8 weeks at a time, starting with upper body.
The reason we’re building it into class - rather than just telling people to do strength training elsewhere - is that for many of our members, class is the structured movement they do. We know that. And if we can make class more effective for long-term bone and muscle health, without gutting the Pilates work that is genuinely excellent for movement quality, mobility and strength, we should.
The block is progressive. We’re tracking sets, reps and setup each time so you can see your own progression over 8 weeks. That progression matters - it’s what creates the overload signal that drives adaptation in both muscle and bone.
It’s one part of a class, not a replacement for the Pilates you come here for. We think it’s a meaningful addition, and it’s based on what the current evidence actually says.
If you have questions about how this fits your training or your particular situation, talk to your teacher. That’s what we’re here for.