Pilates, Longevity and the Value of the Method
New research has linked Pilates participation with lower mortality. The findings are encouraging, but their wider significance may lie in what they prompt us to consider about Pilates as a movement practice, and how that practice is developing as the industry grows.
Pilates has become one of the most recognisable offerings in contemporary fitness. Its growth has brought the method to a much wider audience, particularly through group Reformer classes.
At the same time, interest in longevity has become a prominent feature of the health and wellness market. Consumers are increasingly exposed to products, treatments and programmes promising to improve their prospects of living longer and healthier lives.
A study involving more than 55,000 American adults offers an interesting point of connection between these developments.
Researchers examining 21 complementary and alternative health practices found that Pilates and yoga were the only individual practices associated with significantly lower mortality after comprehensive statistical adjustment.
It is a noteworthy result. But the more useful discussion for the Pilates industry begins with understanding what the researchers actually measured, and what their findings might tell us about the place of movement in long-term health.
What the research found
Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study used data from the US National Health Interview Survey in 2007 and 2012, linked to mortality records through 2019.
The researchers examined participation in 21 complementary and alternative health practices, including Pilates, yoga, massage, acupuncture and chiropractic care. Across the 55,023 adults included in the analysis, 5,530 deaths were recorded during follow-up.
After adjusting for a range of demographic, lifestyle and health characteristics, and correcting for multiple statistical comparisons, Pilates participation was associated with a 36% lower mortality hazard. The corresponding association for yoga was 27%.
These figures describe differences in observed mortality rates between groups after statistical adjustment. They do not mean that Pilates extends lifespan by 36%, nor do they establish that Pilates is more beneficial than yoga.
The study was observational. People who participate in Pilates may differ from those who do not in ways that also influence their long-term health. Income, education, existing health, physical activity and other lifestyle characteristics are all relevant. The researchers accounted for many of these factors, but could not eliminate every possible explanation for the associations.
There are also limits to what the survey tells us about the Pilates itself. The findings do not establish whether participants practised Mat or apparatus Pilates, how they were taught, or whether a particular programme or level of participation was responsible for the observed association.
The results are therefore encouraging without being conclusive. They identify a relationship worthy of further investigation, rather than demonstrating that Pilates directly increases lifespan.
Why might Pilates and yoga have stood out?
One of the most interesting aspects of the study is the distinction between movement-based practices and many of the other approaches examined.
Massage, acupuncture and chiropractic care did not show statistically significant associations with lower mortality after the researchers' full adjustments and correction for multiple comparisons. Pilates and yoga did.
This does not establish that those other practices have no value. The study examined mortality, not every possible health outcome, and the absence of a statistically significant association is not evidence that a treatment is ineffective for its intended purpose.
In discussing the research, Arizona State University researcher Connor Sheehan pointed to several possible explanations. Pilates and yoga involve physical activity, while also potentially incorporating strength, balance, breathing, stress management and social interaction. These characteristics may be relevant to long-term health, although the study did not determine which, if any, explains the mortality findings.
It is also possible that participation reflects a broader pattern of health-conscious behaviour. People who regularly attend Pilates or yoga may be more likely to engage in other activities associated with better health.
For Pilates professionals, this is a useful reminder that the value of a practice cannot always be reduced to the effects of a particular exercise or session.
Longevity is not the same as healthy ageing
Mortality is a significant outcome, but it tells us relatively little about how people function during the years they live.
Healthy ageing also involves maintaining physical capability, independence and the confidence to participate in everyday life. Strength, mobility, balance and coordination can all influence that experience, as can the ability to remain physically active as circumstances and capabilities change.
The Arizona State University study did not directly measure these outcomes. It cannot tell us whether Pilates participants maintained better balance, experienced fewer falls or remained independent for longer. Those questions require different research.
They are nevertheless important when considering the broader relevance of Pilates. A person may begin Pilates to improve general fitness, develop strength, address a movement limitation or simply enjoy an activity they can practise regularly. Over time, their objectives may change.
The ability to accommodate those changes is one of the more valuable characteristics of the Pilates method. Pilates provides considerable scope to vary resistance, support, range of movement, exercise complexity and the demands placed on the individual.
That flexibility is not unique to Pilates, and it does not guarantee better health outcomes. Its practical value depends on how thoughtfully the work is taught and progressed. But it gives the method considerable breadth, particularly when the aim is to support participation over many years rather than achieve a single short-term fitness objective.
The value of a method that can adapt
Much of Pilates' recent commercial growth has been driven by the popularity of group Reformer classes. This has made Pilates more accessible and familiar to consumers, while allowing operators to develop business models around consistent class formats, predictable capacity and regular attendance.
Group classes can introduce people to Pilates who might never have considered private instruction or a traditional apparatus studio. Yet the popularity of one format can also shape public understanding of the method.
Pilates encompasses a wider repertoire of exercises and apparatus than the group Reformer experience alone. Matwork, Reformers, Towers, Chairs and other equipment offer different ways to introduce resistance, provide support, challenge balance and develop movement.
A client who initially enjoys a general group class may eventually benefit from greater challenge, a different apparatus experience or more individual attention. Another may need a more supported introduction before feeling comfortable in a group setting.
Neither situation makes group Reformer Pilates less valuable. It illustrates why a method with a broad repertoire can offer more than a single class experience.
Importantly, the mortality study did not compare Pilates formats or equipment. It provides no basis for claiming that comprehensive apparatus Pilates produces better longevity outcomes than Mat or group Reformer classes. The case for maintaining breadth within the method rests on its practical teaching possibilities, not on an outcome the researchers did not measure.
What does this mean for a growing industry?
As Pilates becomes more established within mainstream fitness, operators face a familiar commercial challenge: how to make a service accessible and financially sustainable while retaining the qualities that make it useful.
Standardised group classes can deliver consistency, efficient use of space and a clear customer proposition. They can also work extremely well for clients whose needs and preferences align with the format. But a studio built entirely around one type of class may have limited options when clients need something different.
The response does not have to be a wholesale change in business model. For some operators, it may involve developing clearer progression within existing Reformer programming. Others may find a place for smaller groups, individual instruction or additional apparatus. In larger fitness facilities, different formats may sit alongside one another.
Each approach has different economics. Smaller classes can allow more individual attention, but they also reduce the number of paying clients per session. Additional apparatus can expand programming possibilities, but requires capital, space and instructors capable of using it effectively.
Even changes that require little additional equipment can have costs, particularly when they involve staff development, timetable adjustments or more specialised instruction.
The commercial question is whether those investments create something clients value sufficiently to support the cost of delivering it. That may mean attracting people who would not otherwise participate, giving existing clients a useful next step, or offering an alternative when their needs change.
None of these outcomes is guaranteed. They depend on local demand, programme quality, pricing and the ability of the business to deliver consistently. What matters is that the operator makes a deliberate decision about the range of clients and needs the business intends to serve.
The importance of teaching
The wider repertoire of Pilates creates possibilities, but those possibilities depend on the instructor. A Reformer, Tower or Chair can be used in many ways. The equipment itself does not determine whether a session is appropriate, progressive or effective. That judgement belongs to the person teaching.
As Pilates reaches a broader audience, instructor education becomes increasingly important. Different clients arrive with different levels of strength, movement experience, confidence and physical capacity. Some may require modifications or individual attention beyond what a particular group class can reasonably provide.
Understanding how to select exercises, adjust resistance, provide support and progress clients appropriately is central to making the method adaptable in practice.
A studio may have the physical equipment to offer several forms of Pilates, but its programme will remain limited if instructors are only comfortable teaching a narrow range of exercises. Conversely, a well-educated teaching team may be able to develop greater variety and progression within an existing equipment configuration.
This is one reason equipment planning and instructor development are best considered together. The value of an apparatus investment depends partly on what the teaching team can do with it.
Looking beyond the individual session
One aspect of the longevity discussion is particularly relevant to Pilates: the importance of continued participation.
A class may be enjoyable, challenging or technically well taught, but its place in a person's life is shaped by whether they can and want to keep attending. Cost, convenience, confidence, instructor relationships, physical capability and the availability of suitable programming can all influence that decision.
The Arizona State University study cannot tell us which of these factors matters most, or whether long-term Pilates participation itself explains the observed mortality association. It does, however, encourage a wider perspective than judging a movement practice solely by the immediate demands of a session.
For operators, supporting continued participation may involve giving clients somewhere to progress, making room for different abilities or maintaining a programme that remains relevant as their objectives change.
That is commercially significant because a business does not necessarily need to continually replace clients whose needs have moved beyond its existing offer. Retaining a client over time still depends on delivering value, and the economics must work. But a broader, well-structured programme may give a studio more opportunities to maintain that relationship.
In an earlier edition of The Pilates Notebook, we considered what Australia's Intergenerational Report might mean for Pilates as the population ages. That demographic perspective remains relevant. This research adds a different consideration: the potential significance of movement participation itself, and the need to understand what supports it over time.
A finding worth taking seriously
The Arizona State University study provides an encouraging result for Pilates, although its limitations are important. It does not establish that Pilates directly extends life, identify a superior teaching format or demonstrate that one apparatus produces better health outcomes than another.
What it does offer is another reason to take the relationship between movement and long-term health seriously.
For an industry experiencing substantial growth, that should encourage curiosity about the full scope of the method and the quality of the experiences being delivered.
The commercial success of Pilates has brought more people into studios. The longer-term challenge is to ensure those people have access to teaching and programming that can remain useful as their needs develop.
The research is not a justification for any particular business model. It is an invitation to examine more closely what makes Pilates a practice people can continue, rather than simply a class they attend.
Comments