How Many Calories Are Burned Doing Pilates?
10/12/2025Pilates is not only a method that improves flexibility and builds strength it’s also an effective way to burn calories. But how many calories are burned doing Pilates exactly? Let’s explore the answer in detail below!
How Many Calories Does Pilates Burn on Average?
Pilates focuses on controlled movement, flexibility, posture improvement, and strengthening the core. Because of this, Pilates exercises enhance the connection between body and mind, helping practitioners feel positive changes from the inside out. So when practicing this method, how many calories are burned doing Pilates?
Calories Burned During Pilates
A calorie is a unit of energy or heat. Your body converts calories from food and stored nutrients (mainly fat) into energy through metabolic processes that generate heat hence the term “burning calories”.
How many calories doing you burn doing Pilates?
Your body requires a certain number of calories daily to stay alive and function normally. This is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which varies based on age, gender, weight, and body composition.
So, when practicing Pilates, how many calories does your body burn? Here are the approximate numbers:
- A person weighing 55 kg may burn around 171 calories per hour.
- At 60 kg, the number increases to about 186 calories per hour.
- A 70 kg person burns approximately 200 calories per hour.
- Someone weighing 80 kg can burn up to 257 calories per hour.
Although Pilates doesn’t burn calories as aggressively as running, it remains an excellent option when practiced consistently and correctly.
Factors That Influence Calorie Burn in Pilates
Even with the same Pilates routine, calorie burn varies from person to person. This is because metabolism and energy expenditure depend on several factors:
- Body composition: People with higher body weight often burn more calories.
- Training duration & frequency: Practicing 3-4 sessions per week maintains good results.
- Type of Pilates: Mat Pilates burns fewer calories than equipment based Pilates, which involves higher intensity.
- Workout intensity: More dynamic, continuous sessions burn more calories.
How to Estimate Calories Burned While Doing Pilates
To calculate how many calories are burned doing Pilates more accurately, consider tools that measure your own body metrics. Here are the most precise methods:
Heart Rate Monitor
The most accurate way to estimate calories burned is by using a heart rate monitor. Because your body needs oxygen to burn calories and your heart pumps oxygen throughout the body, heart rate correlates closely with calorie expenditure.
A heart rate monitor can be used to measure calorie consumption.
Some advanced monitors estimate calories based on your BMR, average heart rate during exercise, and personal data such as weight and gender.
Calorie Calculator
Calorie calculators estimate energy expenditure during exercise. Although results are approximate, they help track training time, body weight, and other parameters, providing a more informed estimate of calories burned.
Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers
Devices like Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Garmin use heart rate and motion sensors to deliver a near accurate estimate of Pilates calorie burn.
For best results, ensure your personal data age, gender, weight, height is entered correctly.
Does Pilates Help With Weight Loss?
If your goal in determining how many calories are burned doing Pilates relates to weight loss, remember:
You must burn 3,500 more calories than you consume to lose 1 pound (~0.45 kg) of body fat. Most people achieve this by reducing caloric intake and increasing physical activity.
As a moderate strength training method, Pilates plays an important role in a weight loss program and helps increase calorie burn.
In fact, resistance based exercises such as equipment Pilates help keep your metabolism elevated longer post workout compared to aerobics.
If your goal is weight loss combined with long term fitness, Pilates is a very worthwhile option to consider.
There are many ways to practice Pilates, with or without equipment, and certain exercises burn more calories than others. Here are some common calorie burning Pilates movements:
- Swimming: This equipment free exercise engages arms, legs, and the core. Start lying face down with arms extended. Lift your limbs off the ground and begin fluttering your hands and legs in a coordinated pattern.
- Plank Jacks: A classic full body plank with added intensity. Start in plank position, wrists under shoulders. Keep palms grounded while jumping your feet outward similar to horizontal jumping jacks then return to plank.
- The Hundred: Lie on your back with legs extended. Lift them into tabletop or a 45 degree angle. Raise your arms, curl head and shoulders off the mat, and pump your arms while breathing in for 5 counts and out for 5 counts, totaling 100 pumps.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Calories Does Pilates Reformer Burn?
Invented by Joseph Pilates, the Pilates Reformer elevates your training using a spring loaded carriage that stretches and strengthens your body.
Because Reformers offer adjustable resistance and involve moving your body weight, equipment based Pilates typically burns more calories than mat Pilates.
A person weighing 120 lbs (~54 kg) burns approximately 180 calories.
A person weighing 150 lbs (~68 kg) burns about 220 calories.
How Many Calories Does Hot Pilates Burn?
Hot Pilates is performed in a room heated to around 95°F with 40% humidity. The heat promotes flexibility and boosts cardiovascular benefits.
Though research is limited, some experts say Hot Pilates does not necessarily burn more calories than regular Pilates.
A 120-lb (54 kg) person may burn about 171 calories.
A 150-lb (68 kg) person may burn around 200 calories during a 60 minute class.
Through this article, you now have a clear answer to the question: How many calories are burned doing Pilates? Pilates offers countless physical benefits, and when practiced consistently alongside proper nutrition, it can support effective weight management and long term health.
