Pilates and Bone Health

If you practice Pilates on a regular basis you might wonder if you need to add weight training for bone health. Weight bearing and resistance exercises are recommended for bone health because they can help to rebuild bone mass.  Bone in a healthy person will adapt to the loads under which it is placed.  If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading.  The resistance provided by the springs on Pilates equipment is great for bone building, but if Matwork is your only option, here are three way you can make it more “bone healthy”:

-  Add resistance bands, handheld weights or weighted balls to mat exercises.

-  Do more advanced mat exercises that are either weight bearing (i.e. Leg-Pull Front, Leg-Pull Back, Standing Pushups, Pilates Pushups) or use your own body weight as resistance (Teaser).  The right combination of mat exercises done with the appropriate intensity can be even more challenging than working on the equipment. 

·    -  Learn mat routines designed specifically for osteoporosis prevention and/or for reversal such as the one Teresa Maldonado-Marchok created and teaches for BASI Pilates.  Check out her website:  http://bonesmartpilates.com

If you incorporate these suggestions into your Matwork routine and combine them with other bone-building activities (weight training, running, Zumba, ballet barre, soccer, backpacking and aerobic exercise) this should be sufficient.  Walking is good to prevent further bone loss, however, biking and swimming do not help with bone health due to their non-impact nature. So make sure you take a good look at your exercise program and make sure you add some weight bearing activities!