Does pilates cause weight/muscle gain?

joyofjosiahhannah0810

I've been doing pilates for MONTHS and recently noticed that I've lost a lot of inches from it, but my scale has moved up...5 lbs. worth. But I've lost 4". I know the scale is not a good indicator of progress, but is it completely normal for this to happen? Could I really gain 5 lbs. of muscle from pilates? I drink tons of water so I know its not water weight. Then again, I do still have some sore muscles from a recent change in my pilates (a harder version) so I realize that my muscles may be retaining water, too.

Any thoughts? Opinions? Success stories with pilates?

Also, I"ve had 2 kids, and they were both big babies at over 9 lbs. - so my tummy muscles and skin is quite stretched. Will pilates get me a flatter tummy? Its pretty flat right now, but still a "fat pouch" as I like to call it in the middle. : /

mandylooo

Pilates is resistance work, so, depending on your starting point, it can help you develop and/or maintain muscle. When you say "months", how long does that mean? and has the wight gain been gradual over this period or did it spike after your routine change?

joyofjosiahhannah0810

Yes, I've been doing it at least 3-4x's a week for months. The weight gain has been gradual, but recently spiked 3 lbs. - I'm pretty sure its b/c of the routine change??

mandylooo

I''m not an expert, but I think the spike is probably due to your muscles retaining a little extra water with the new regime and the gradual is muscle.