So, I feel like a lot of people on this sub want to know when they're going to see physical changes and results with pilates and I want to share my own experience as someone who worked out A LOT for 4 years straight and NEVER truly saw physical changes to my body from pilates and diet alone.

In college, I started as a dance major and was a pioneer for the pilates certification program at Mt college in my 3rd year. During the 4 years I went constantly, I took at least 4 days of classes with at least 2 1 hour classes a day (if not more) AND dropped in the pilates lab for lab hours at least once or twice a week for 30 minutes to 2 hours of additional practice (especially when we started student teaching). I will start with the fact that I am a shorter, stockier female who has never been thin or had a flat stomach. I remained the same weight and looked practically the same during those 4 years.

For me, what changed the most was all internal. I had way more abdominal strength and learned how to actively engage ALL of my abdominal muscles during certain exercises or dance on cue. I went from being terrified to try anything inverted in a dance class to loving being able to do handstands because now I could reach a point where my abdominal muscles carried my body more easily. I had way more control over my body. As a naturally clumsy person, I found that I was able to learn how to fall more safely and felt stronger/like I wasn't going to break a wrist from falling which gave me more motivation to try things that scared me. I was able to do more ballet work because I could easily stabilize on one leg. And most importantly, my biggest gripe with my body is that I've always felt like I'm built like a turtle in that I have a very short neck but big ass head and broad shoulders so I naturally crunch my cervical spine. With pilates, I was able to get focused exercises and stretches to both lengthen and support true cervical spine elongation. Not to mention the fact that my posture was finally gorgeous and I did not suffer from the back and ankle problems that I do now. I never saw physical changes, but I absolutely felt the benefits of it.

And honestly? I know that I'm not the only person who experienced this. I know quite a few people who I did both programs with that said the same thing. We all saw immense benefits from doing pilates but we didn't believe that we saw the type of results I feel like a lot of people on this sub are looking to see.

This is not everyone's experience. A lot of people DO see physical results from pilates, but as someone who worked out consistently for years and worked with people who did the same, I wanted to just share that it is possible that you'll never see the physical results you want to see with pilates and diet alone.

And that's okay.

But, don't let it disappoint you.