Ladies, You Don’t Need More Pilates. You Need to Train Like an Athlete.
What if the hour you spend doing Pilates could be doing considerably more for your body?
Let’s be clear: Pilates isn’t bad. It can improve mobility, balance, core control and muscular endurance. If you enjoy it, there’s nothing wrong with keeping it in your routine. But, if your goal is to lose body fat, build muscle, become stronger and develop an athletic physique, there’s a bigger question:
Is Pilates really the best use of your limited exercise time?
For many women, the answer may be no.
Forget “toning”. Start building.
When women say they want to “tone up”, they usually mean more muscle and less body fat. There is no special physiological state called “toned”. The evidence for women doing resistance training is extremely strong. A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis covering 126 studies and more than 4,000 women found that resistance training significantly improved muscular strength across both pre- and post-menopausal women, while also increasing functional muscle mass and reducing fat mass.
So why are women still routinely told:
“Don’t lift too heavy.”
“You don’t want to get bulky.”
“Stick to light weights.”
Perhaps it’s time to ask a different question:
How strong could you become?
One hour. One very different workout.
Imagine replacing one Pilates class with a properly designed resistance circuit.
Squats.
Deadlifts.
Rows.
Presses.
Lunges.
Kettlebells.
Carries.
Push-ups.
And progressively getting stronger.
You’re not just moving. You’re giving your body a reason to adapt. Resistance training has been repeatedly shown to improve strength and body composition in women. For someone looking for a leaner, stronger physique, that’s a powerful training stimulus.
Now take it one step further. Learn to fight.
This is where things get interesting. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing don’t just make you exercise. They make you become physically capable. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, you’re gripping, pushing, pulling, bridging, scrambling, resisting and controlling another person. There is no choreography to memorise and no machine doing the work for you. Your body has to solve problems under pressure. Research describes BJJ as a sport requiring substantial aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, muscular strength and power. And you’re learning an actual skill at the same time.
Every class gives you something new to learn. Every month you can become better.
Kickboxing: fitness with attitude
Now imagine replacing your Pilates class with an hour of:
Punching.
Kicking.
Footwork.
Defence.
Movement.
Reaction.
Conditioning.
Kickboxing combines technical skill with demanding physical work. Research on the sport reports moderate-to-high cardiorespiratory fitness and high anaerobic power among practitioners.
And here’s the difference: You’re not exercising simply to burn calories!
You’re learning to move, react, generate power and keep going when you’re tired. That’s athleticism.
You don’t have to be a fighter.
This is where many women hesitate.
“I’m not sporty.”
“I’ve never done martial arts.”
“I’m too old.”
“I’m not fit enough.”
“I don’t want to fight.”
That’s precisely why beginner-friendly women’s sessions matter.
You don’t need to compete.
You don’t need to spar hard.
You don’t need to arrive fit.
And you certainly don’t need to become a professional fighter.
You simply need to walk through the door.
The fitness comes.
The confidence comes.
The technique comes.
And, eventually, you may discover that you’re capable of far more than you thought.
The opportunity cost of Pilates
Imagine two women have three hours a week available.
Woman A
Three Pilates classes.
Woman B
One resistance circuit.
One Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu session.
One kickboxing session.
Both are exercising.
But Woman B is challenging: Strength, Muscular endurance, Cardiovascular fitness, Anaerobic conditioning, Power, Coordination, Balance, Agility, Mobility, Reaction, Skill
That doesn’t guarantee Woman B will have a better physique. Nutrition, genetics, training quality and consistency all matter. But it raises an important question:
If you only have three hours, what do you want those three hours to achieve?
It’s time to stop training to become smaller.
Women have been sold the same message for decades:
Lose weight.
Burn calories.
Get toned.
Stay slim.
Don’t get bulky.
But what if we changed the objective?
Strong. Lean. Fit. Powerful. Capable.
A woman who can lift.
A woman who can run.
A woman who can perform a pull-up.
A woman who can complete a hard circuit.
A woman who can grapple for five minutes and keep going.
A woman who can throw a kick with power.
A woman who knows she can handle herself.
That’s a very different definition of fitness.
And something else happens when you train this way.
You stop obsessing over the scales.
Because progress becomes about more than weight.
Can you lift more?
Can you run further?
Can you last another round?
Can you execute that technique you couldn’t do last month?
Can you control someone who used to dominate you?
Can you hit harder?
Can you move better?
These are tangible achievements.
And they can transform the way you see your body.
So should you quit Pilates?
Not necessarily.
If you love Pilates, keep doing it. But don’t assume that because something is marketed heavily towards women, it is automatically the best training method for your goals. If mobility and movement control are your priorities, Pilates can be a great choice.
But if you want strength, muscle, conditioning, confidence and an athletic physique, there is a compelling case for making resistance training the foundation of your programme — and adding something challenging like BJJ or kickboxing.
Your body is capable of more.
You don’t need to train like a man.
You don’t need to become a professional athlete.
And you don’t need to give up everything you enjoy.
But you might want to stop treating your body as something that needs to be made smaller. Start treating it as something that can become:
Stronger.
Fitter.
Faster.
More powerful.
More capable.
And perhaps the biggest transformation won’t happen in front of the mirror. It will happen the first time you realise:
“I can actually do this.”
Ready to try something different?
If you’ve always wondered what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or kickboxing could do for your fitness, you don’t need to wait until you’re fit enough to start.
Start as you are.
Learn the techniques.
Build your fitness.
Get stronger.
Meet other women doing exactly the same thing.
And discover a form of exercise that doesn’t just change your body — it changes what you believe your body can do.
Train hard. Get strong. Learn to fight.
Your Pilates class will still be there.
The science behind the argument
- Isenmann E, et al. The impact of resistance training on strength and body composition in females across the lifespan — A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2026. The review included 126 studies and 4,019 women and found significant improvements in strength, functional mass and fat mass.
- Zouita A, et al. The Effects of Resistance Training on Muscular Fitness, Muscle Morphology, and Body Composition in Elite Female Athletes: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine, 2023.
- Andreato LV, et al. Physical and Physiological Profiles of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Athletes: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine – Open, 2017.
- Slimani M, et al. Kickboxing Review: Anthropometric, Psychophysiological and Activity Profiles and Injury Epidemiology. Biology of Sport, 2017.
- Zeng J, Peng L. Comparison of the effect of resistance training on the body compositions of different women groups: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 2020.