Can Reformer Pilates Build Muscle?
Yes. Reformer Pilates helps build lean muscle, improve strength and increase muscular endurance through adjustable spring resistance, controlled movements and progressive overload. Every Studio Pilates class is designed to help you build strength, develop lean muscle, and move with greater confidence. Created by physiotherapists, Studio Pilates workouts combine targeted spring resistance, slow-and-controlled movements, and maximum time under tension.
That’s exactly why many first-time clients share the same experience: feeling a new kind of “burn” in muscles they didn’t even know existed!
Curious about the strength training benefits of our physio-designed Studio Pilates classes? Let’s break it down.
How Reformer Pilates Builds Strength From Your Core
At Studio Pilates, we love strategically engaging the core first in every class. Your abdominals are the powerhouse behind every move! Whether you’re working your arms, legs, or glutes, the reformer carriage is always trying to move under you, constantly challenging you to engage your core and stabilise your body.
We activate and strengthen the deep stabilisers like the transversus abdominis (TA) and glute medius.
The result? True functional strength, injury prevention, improved posture and balance.
How Reformer Pilates Builds Lean Muscle
Like traditional resistance training, reformer Pilates challenges your muscles by working against adjustable spring resistance. Over time, this encourages your muscles to adapt, becoming stronger and more resilient while improving muscular endurance.
Progressive Resistance Principles
Hypertrophy Training Zone: The muscles are worked under controlled, high-repetition conditions targeting the hypertrophy zone. Each Studio Pilates exercise runs for around 90 seconds — long enough to push clients deep into the lactic energy system, triggering muscle fatigue, adaptation and growth.
Minimal Rest: We also minimise rest between exercises, maintaining elevated intensity and keeping clients in that “grind zone” (aka the results zone).
Intelligent Stacking: We stack exercises that target the same muscle group back-to-back (e.g. four glute exercises in a row) to maximise local muscle fatigue and transformation. It’s not random movements in our Studio Pilates classes; it’s science-backed, resistance-based muscle endurance training.
Having qualified Studio Pilates instructors by your side is a game-changer too. They can guide your form, adjust your resistance, and make sure you’re working with controlled precision, so you maximise results including increased muscle endurance, boosted metabolic conditioning and powerful body recomposition.
Your Muscles Will Feel It. Your Joints Won’t.
If the thought of heavy squats or jumpy HIIT classes makes your knees ache, you’re going to love this. Reformer Pilates lets you challenge your muscles all the way to fatigue, without dumping harsh impact onto your joints, lower back or neck.
As our Studio Pilates Co-founder and Physiotherapist Tanya Winter always says on screen before class:
“You should never feel any pain in your neck, back, or any of your joints.”
That’s what makes reformer Pilates such a smart long-term investment in your fitness, mobility and overall wellness. You’re not just building muscle today; you’re also protecting the joints you’ll need to keep training tomorrow. No burnout or waiting on the sidelines, just consistent progress you can sustain.
Ready To Build Strength And Feel The Burn?
You don’t need heavy gym weights or extreme exercises to build a strong, capable body. Reformer Pilates at Studio Pilates gives you a dynamic, full-body strength workout that meets you right where you are, whether you’re stepping onto the reformer for the first time or looking to complement your current fitness routine. Our goal is to help clients feel amazing with strong bodies and enjoy life at every stage for years to come.
If you’re just starting your reformer Pilates journey, check out our guide, Is Reformer Pilates Hard If You’re a Beginner?, to learn what to expect in your first few classes.
Ready to experience the benefits for yourself? Find your nearest Studio Pilates below and book your first class today!
