Sometimes life pushes you toward an either-or choice—cook at home or eat out, grab the kettlebells or stick with dumbbells…you get the picture. But fitness doesn’t have to live in that split world. You’re not locked into picking a single style of training. In fact, despite a lot of internet debate, pilates can live right alongside classic strength work. And when you blend the two, you often unlock a mix of benefits that leaves you stronger, more balanced, and feeling better overall.
That’s one of the guiding principles of the Women’s Health and Men’s Health Pilates x Lift program, now available for Women’s Health+ premium members. Trainers Tara Bethune and Marcus Martinez, CSCS, combined their expertise to create a plan that uses the best of mat pilates to reinforce the principles of traditional strength training—resulting in workouts that will help to improve your muscular endurance and mobility while still building size and strength.
Start your first Pilates x Lift workout here
In the video above, Coach Tara breaks down a few of her favorite Pilates movements that you can use for real strength and muscle-building payoffs in your strength and conditioning routine.
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3 Best Pilates Moves To Level Up Your Main Lifts
Each of these exercises can be used in your training to help reinforce your heavy movements. Add them before a main lift, to your warmup session, or perform them at the end of a workout.
To Power Up Your Squat
This simple exercise can help to deepen your range of motion for squatting exercises, according to Bethune.
How to:
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Start in a high-kneeling position, squeezing your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes. Extend your arms straight out in front of yourself, with your palms at neutral (facing each other).
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Keeping a straight spine, lean your torso back toward your heels. Avoid going so far back that you rest on your heels; you should be maintaining tension from your glutes to your torso.
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Return back to the starting position without bending at the waist or breaking your posture.
To Prime Your Hips For Split Squats
Try: Clamshell With Rotation
“This move will be great for priming your hips and adductors for Bulgarians and split squats,” Bethune says.
How to:
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Lie on your side, with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. You can support your head with your inside arm.
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Raise your top leg up to the ceiling, maintaining the bend in your knee. Keep your hips in the stacked position; don’t shift your body at all during the movement. Move slowly and under control.
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Lower your leg back down close to the start, but don’t rest. Hover your foot above the floor.
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After 8 to 10 reps, keep your leg elevated in the top position. Rotate your thigh, both internally and externally, while keeping the rest of your midline stable.
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Repeat on the other side.
To Warm Up Your Upper Body For Presses
This is a movement you might already know—but as Bethune notes, it’s also part of the mat Pilates repertoire. “It’s great for teaching you how to pack your lats,” she says, noting that this can be key for bench pressing, deadlifts, and more.
How to:
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Start in a strong pushup position, with your hands stacked below your shoulders, squeezing your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes to create full-body tension.
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Without bending the elbows, squeeze your shoulder blades together.
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Push the floor away to protract your shoulder blades.
Want more exercises like this to help level up your workout plan? Start Pilates x Lift today, now available on Women’s Health+.
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