How to Use Hand Weights in a Pilates Workout Menu Verywell Fit Nutrition Weight Management Nutrition Facts Nutrition Basics Diets Meal Plans Meal Delivery Services View All News Fitness and Nutrition What to Buy How We Test Products Fitness Gear Nutrition Products Tools Recipe Nutrition Calculator Weight Loss Calorie Goal BMI Calculator Body Fat Percentage Calculator Calories Burned by Activity Daily Calories Burned Pace Calculator About Us Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Search Pilates Beginners How to Use Hand Weights in a Pilates Workout By Marguerite Ogle MS, RYT Marguerite Ogle MS, RYT Marguerite Ogle is a freelance writer and experienced natural wellness and life coach, who has been teaching Pilates for more than 35 years. Learn about our editorial process Updated on May 28, 2021 Reviewed Verywell Fit articles are reviewed by nutrition and exercise professionals. Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by Kristin McGee, CPT Reviewed by Kristin McGee, CPT Kristin McGee is a certified personal trainer and currently teaches yoga and meditation for Peloton. She is also certified in Pilates and by the National Association of Sports Medicine. Learn about our Review Board Print Neustockimages/Vetta / Getty Images It's easy to imagine adding hand weights to a Pilates mat workout, and many people do. But should you? Here we take a close look at the role of wrist and hand weights in Pilates workouts. Using Light Weights First, let's be clear that we are talking about light hand weights—for women, usually 1-3 pounds; for men, a little more. We use light weights because there are risks associated with using heavier weights when doing exercise other than focused weight training. Heavy hand weights create leverage and momentum challenges that can pull you out of alignment; stress your neck, shoulders, and back; and shift the emphasis of an exercise from the core to the extremities. These are just the opposite of what we want in Pilates. Ankle weights can also be used. They also present alignment and stress issues if they are too heavy. Benefits of Using Hand Weights in Pilates There are some benefits to occasionally adding hand weights or maybe better, wrist weights, to your workout. Muscle Toning Even lightweight will add some extra muscle toning potential to exercises. Depending on the exercise, you could call on an extra effort from muscles in your arms, back, shoulders, chest and down into your core. In true Pilates style, we practice resistance on both the exertion and release. That way we use eccentric contractions that build long, strong muscles. One of the reasons we use lighter weights is to control the challenge level and not invite muscle use that is out of balance with the exercise. Weight Loss When it comes to weight loss, every little bit of effort counts. Adding weight to your workout will increase the amount of energy you expend on the exercise and that will increase calorie burning. But let's be realistic, not by a whole lot. Some Pilates DVDs add hand weights to increase the cardio aspect of a warm-up based on jogging in place or dance-like moves. Core Awareness Ideally, you will use hand weights as you would other Pilates equipment, meaning that the equipment is used in a way that sends attention, information, and energy back to your core. Also, even if the weight is light, hand weights will create extra stability work for your shoulders, core, and pelvis. Variety Varying your routine is a good hedge against workout burnout. If hand weights have some upsides, which they do, why not add them in occasionally? Besides, you don't want to use them all the time because they can distract from the deep core attention that is so important in Pilates. In addition, weights can sometimes interrupt the flow of a good mat workout. Flow is a key aspect of Pilates workouts. The Best Pilates Equipment for a Studio Experience at Home Pilates Exercises You Can Do With Hand Weights Here are some classical Pilates exercises (even though we are doing something not so classical) you might try hand weights with: The Hundred Roll up Double Leg Stretch Spine Stretch Saw Spine Twist Teaser Swimming Of course, you can get creative, too. There are many other Pilates fundamentals and exercises weights can be added to—ankle weights as well. You can even add weights to exercises done on other Pilates equipment. If you want to use weights on the reformer, they need to be wrist weights, but the exercise ball and Pilates chair are good candidates for hand weights. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you don't want the hand weights to interfere with the intent of an exercise. Therefore, you wouldn't use hand weights in exercises where they literally get in the way. In Pilates, that would include the rolling exercises like rolling like a ball or seal, and exercises where you need to use your hands for stability or weight-bearing. Keep in mind that weights at the ends of your arms or legs are increasing the leverage challenge in exercises. You might want to modify by holding your hands closer to your body. For example, a spine twist and roll back can be done with the elbows bent and held shoulder height while the hands with weights are in front of the chest, fist to fist. Have fun and use weights safely. The Best Pilates Workout Schedule for You 4 Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Golshani K, Cinque ME, O’Halloran P, Softness K, Keeling L, Macdonell JR. Upper extremity weightlifting injuries: Diagnosis and management. J Orthop. 2018;15(1):24-27. doi:10.1016/j.jor.2017.11.005 Hlavenka TM, Christner VFK, Gregory DE. Neck posture during lifting and its effect on trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine posture. Appl Ergon. 2017;62:28-33. doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2017.02.006 Harvard health Publishing. Wearable weights: How they can help or hurt. February 15, 2021. Willis LH, Slentz CA, Bateman LA, et al. Effects of aerobic and/or resistance training on body mass and fat mass in overweight or obese adults. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2012;113(12):1831-1837. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01370.2011 By Marguerite Ogle MS, RYT Marguerite Ogle is a freelance writer and experienced natural wellness and life coach, who has been teaching Pilates for more than 35 years. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit Related Articles How to Use Wearable Weights and Benefit From Their Use Best Online Pilates Classes of 2022 The Best Pilates Workout Schedule for You 10 Reasons You Should Start a Pilates Practice 5 Ways to Use Pilates in Upper Body Workouts Essential Exercises for a Classical Pilates Mat Workout How to Design a Weight Loss Workout in Pilates The Best Pilates Equipment for a Studio Experience at Home How Many Calories Will I Burn Doing Pilates? How Pilates Works to Get You in Great Shape The 7 Best Pilates Reformers for Your Next Workout Learn to Safely Advance the Side Plank Exercise How to Burn More Calories With Speed Walking The 8 Best Ankle Weights of 2022, Tested in Our Lab Why Ankle Weights Add Power to Your Workout 7 Yoga Poses for Your Pilates Workout When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Cookies Settings Reject All Accept All