Are Reformer Pilates Good For Weight?

Millions of Americans practice Pilates hoping to tone up, get fit and lose weight. You can burn calories in addition to improving your posture and strengthening your muscles through the flexibility exercises performed on mats or on an apparatus like the Reformer. Although Pilates Reformer routines won't allow you to ignore your diet, they can be an important part of a weight loss program.

Pilates Basics

In the early 1900s, Joseph Pilates developed a system of exercise based on yoga principles that focuses on low-impact flexibility and strength movements and emphasizes the use of the abdominals, lower back, hips and thighs. A typical routine will include 25 to 50 repetitive training exercises.

What is a Reformer?

Pilates uses of several types of props and machines, but the main apparatus is the Reformer. The machine looks like a bed frame and glides back and forth on rollers, using adjustable springs for resistance. It includes straps for your arms and legs, and it's moved by either pulling on ropes or pushing off from a stationary foot bar. The Reformer allows you to perform exercises in different positions, including standing, sitting, kneeling or lying down.

Body Fat

A Texas study in 2005 investigated the effects on a group of 11-year-old girls of Pilates exercises for an hour per day, five days a week, for four weeks. The results, published in "Preventive Medicine," found a reduction in body mass index after the study period. However, research conducted by exercise physiologist Michele Olson, Ph.D., found no improvement in body composition for Pilates participants using either a mat or the Reformer.

Calorie Burn

Workouts on the Reformer do burn calories, with a 150-pound person burning 221 calories in an hour and a 200-pound individual burning 295 calories in an hour. The study by Dr. Olson found that the most dramatic increase in caloric burn occurred when participants progressed from basic training levels to intermediate or advanced levels of training. A 30-minute session at an intermediate level burned 180 calories, with an additional 90 calories burned for each additional 15 minutes. Men burned slightly more calories than women.

Considerations

If you're over 40, are just beginning an exercise program, have health problems or are pregnant, check with your doctor before using a Pilates Reformer. In order to avoid injury from an improper form or technique, only participate in a Reformer program under the supervision of an experienced and certified instructor. If you're significantly overweight, combine Pilates with reductions in your caloric intake and engage in 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity daily.