A standard hour of Pilates burns roughly 175 to 250 calories for most people, depending on your body weight and the style of class. That puts it in the “light to moderate” exercise category, comparable to a brisk walk. But the range widens significantly once you factor in intensity level, equipment, and how much you weigh.
Calorie Burn by Body Weight
Your body weight is the single biggest factor in how many calories you burn during any exercise, Pilates included. A heavier body requires more energy to move through the same positions. For a standard 60-minute mat Pilates session, here’s what the numbers look like:
- 120 pounds: approximately 171 calories
- 150 pounds: approximately 200 calories
- 180 pounds: approximately 257 calories
These figures reflect a beginner-level mat class. Intermediate and advanced sessions will push these numbers higher because they involve more complex movements, longer holds, and shorter rest periods between exercises.
Mat Pilates vs. Reformer Pilates
The type of Pilates class you take makes a noticeable difference. Mat Pilates, where you work on the floor using your own body weight, burns around 175 calories per hour. Reformer Pilates, which uses a sliding platform with adjustable spring resistance, burns up to 250 calories in the same timeframe. That’s roughly 40% more energy expenditure for a reformer session compared to mat work.
The difference comes down to resistance. Springs on a reformer force your muscles to work harder through each movement, which raises the metabolic cost of the session. If calorie burn is a priority for you, reformer classes consistently outperform mat classes.
Why Intensity Matters More Than You’d Think
Pilates has a surprisingly wide range of metabolic intensity. A 2024 systematic review analyzing energy expenditure across multiple studies found that measured MET values for Pilates ranged from 1.8 all the way up to 9.2. For context, a MET value of 1.8 is barely above sitting still, while 9.2 is closer to running at a moderate pace.
The most reliable estimate from that review, after excluding lower-quality studies, landed at about 3.0 METs for a typical session. That’s equivalent to slow cycling or casual swimming. But the enormous range tells you something important: not all Pilates classes are created equal. A slow, beginner mat class with long rest breaks between exercises sits at the low end. An advanced class with continuous movement, challenging transitions, and minimal rest pushes toward the higher end.
Advanced mat Pilates can burn 250 to 375 calories in a 50 to 60 minute class, nearly double what a beginner session delivers. The exercises themselves aren’t necessarily faster, but they recruit more muscle groups simultaneously and demand greater core stabilization, which drives up energy expenditure.
How Pilates Compares to Other Workouts
If you’re choosing between activities and calories matter to you, it helps to see Pilates in context. For a 60-minute session:
- Beginner mat Pilates: 175–250 calories
- Advanced mat Pilates: 250–375 calories
- Hatha yoga: 200–300 calories
- Brisk walking: roughly similar to beginner Pilates
Pilates and hatha yoga overlap quite a bit in calorie burn. The main difference is that Pilates tends to emphasize controlled, repetitive muscle contractions while yoga holds static poses longer. Both fall well below high-intensity activities like running or cycling, which can burn 400 to 600 calories per hour or more.
What the Calorie Numbers Miss
Focusing only on calories burned per session understates what Pilates actually does for your body composition over time. Pilates builds lean muscle, particularly in the core, glutes, and stabilizer muscles along your spine. Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue does, so adding even a few pounds of muscle gradually raises your baseline metabolic rate throughout the day.
Pilates also improves posture, joint mobility, and movement efficiency in ways that let you perform higher-calorie activities (running, hiking, strength training) with less injury risk. Many people who start Pilates find they can sustain more intense workouts because their core and joint stability improve. The calorie burn during the class itself is moderate, but the downstream effects on your overall fitness and metabolism extend well beyond that single hour.
If your primary goal is burning the most calories possible in 60 minutes, Pilates isn’t the most efficient choice. If your goal is building a body that moves well, stays injury-free, and supports a higher activity level overall, the 175 to 375 calories you burn per session is only part of the picture.