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Does pilates cause weight/muscle gain?

joyofjosiahhannah0810
joyofjosiahhannah0810 Posts: 10 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
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. : /

Replies

  • mandylooo
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
    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
    joyofjosiahhannah0810 Posts: 10 Member
    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
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
    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.
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