Can Pilates Improve My Running? What the Research Says
If you're a runner who's landed on this page, I'm going to assume a few things about you: you already train consistently, you have some sense of your own body's strengths and imbalances and you're not looking for a beginner's guide to getting off the couch. You're asking a more specific question — does Pilates do anything for my running, or is it just a nice break between long runs? The short answer, backed by real research, is yes — and the reasoning is way more interesting than "core strength helps everything."
What a 12-Week Study Found
Most of what gets said about Pilates and runners is anecdotal — "it helped my hips," "I feel more stable." Useful, but not exactly a reason to drop everything and dedicate yourself to Pilates. The more compelling case comes from researchers in Brazil, who put Pilates to the test. (See the study)
Thirty-two trained runners were split into two groups: one added mat Pilates twice a week for 12 weeks, the other didn't change anything. By the end of the study, the Pilates group's 5K time improved significantly — from an average of about 25:39 down to 23:14 — while the control group barely moved at all.
Here's where the study gets really interesting: the researchers also tracked how much energy it took to sustain a given pace and how hard the postural muscles (the ones that keep you upright and stable through your core and hips) worked while running. The Pilates group's bodies were burning less energy and working those muscles less, at the exact same pace. That points to better control and stability through the deep core and hips. And well, this is exactly what Pilates was designed to do.
Why This Makes Sense
Running means constantly balancing on one leg at a time, over and over, thousands of times per run, and a huge amount of that balance has to come from the deep core and hip stabilizers rather than the visible "six-pack" muscles most people equate with a strong core. When those deep stabilizers aren't turning on or aren't strong enough, the bigger muscles around them pick up the slack — which is part of why so many overuse injuries (think IT band issues, achy knees, hip flexor tightness) show up in runners who are otherwise doing everything "right" in terms of mileage and recovery.
As a Pilates instructor, my whole approach is built around training these smaller stabilizing muscles (as well as correcting imbalances). My emphasis is on control, precise alignment and breath-linked movement, which builds the kind of deep stability that in practice translates to better efficiency — which is exactly what that Brazil study measured.
What This Means for Your Training
A few practical takeaways:
Twice a week is enough to see results. We're not talking about a daily commitment here — the study looked at two sessions weekly for 12 weeks. That's a realistic commitment and relatively easy to layer onto an existing running schedule without reducing your mileage.
This isn't about replacing your weekly runs. Pilates isn't cardio, and it's not going to make your heart and lungs work harder the way a run does. What that study shows is that it makes the engine you already have run more efficiently — which matters just as much for injury prevention as it does for pace.
The effect is about control and coordination, not just "core strength." If you've done core work for years and still feel unstable on trail descents or toward the end of long runs, that's a sign the issue isn't just having strong abs — it's the deep stabilizing muscles Pilates specifically targets.
Why I Believe This, Beyond the Research
I ran, somewhat obsessively, from ages 18 to 36. A little (unsupervised, uneducated) weight training mixed in, a lot of hot yoga toward the end, but running was the constant. It was also constantly hard on my body — a heel fracture from overuse, sprains, hip pain that never fully went away. I never once experienced that "lost in the run" feeling people talk about. It was always a struggle, always something to push through. I loved it because it was hard.
At 36, I stopped running altogether. I could feel where it was heading — my spine hurt, my hips hurt and I was coming back from every run in worse shape than when I left. That was also around the time I got serious about Pilates, and found an instructor who understood what my body needed.
For years after that, running stayed occasional — a few miles here and there, never a real habit. But my last run, which came literally years after the one before it, was so much easier than it ever had been before. For the first time in my life, I felt that floating, mind-wandering ease that had always eluded me.
I don't think that was luck. By then I'd spent years strengthening my hip stabilizers, correcting imbalances I didn't know I had and finally getting my glutes to fire when they're supposed to — I was building a level of deep core control I didn't know existed. I'd also added kettlebells into my Pilates practice about six months before that run. It was the combination of all of it that finally gave me the run I'd been chasing for years.
I share that not as proof — one person's experience isn't a study — but because it's the mechanism the research points to: efficiency and stability built over time.
Where This Goes Next
This article is part of a broader dive into Pilates for active, sport-specific training. For the full picture, read more:
If you're already logging consistent miles (or even playing with the idea of entering a race), the entry point isn't a beginner mat class — it's private instruction that can assess how your unique stride, hip mechanics and stability patterns are showing up, and that's exactly the kind of thing I work through with clients one-on-one. Contact me here.