Will Pilates help me lose weight?

Honest answer: Pilates is not primarily a weight-loss exercise, and we'd rather not pretend it is.

What Pilates does brilliantly is build strength, particularly around your core, improve posture, increase mobility, and help you move better in daily life. Many members find that as they get stronger and more aware of their bodies, they naturally become more active overall, and that can contribute to weight management over time. But Pilates itself won't burn calories at the same rate as running, swimming or a high-intensity class.

Where it can help indirectly is by making other forms of movement feel possible again. Members with back pain, stiff hips or poor balance often tell us that Pilates gave them the confidence to start walking more, gardening again, or returning to a sport they'd given up. That knock-on effect is real.

If weight loss is your main goal, the best approach is Pilates alongside sensible nutrition and some cardiovascular activity. We'd be doing you a disservice if we sold it as a slim-down programme.

What we can promise is that you'll feel stronger, stand taller, move more easily, and probably sleep better. For most people, that's worth far more than a number on the scales.