Why Women Over 50 Need Both Pilates and Strength Training (And It’s Not About Fat Loss)
By Melody Morton-Buckleair
Master Pilates Instructor | Studio Owner
www.elmwoodplacetexas.com | www.thegoodspacepilates.com
Let me be blunt: I’m tired of watching the same tired argument unfold on social media. Certified Personal Trainers arguing that strength training is the only path to success for women over 50. Pilates instructors clapping back that Pilates is superior for aging bodies.
They're both missing the point.
As a Pilates studio owner and instructor of 23+ years, I’ve seen what works. And what works is not one or the other — it’s both.
Women over 50 don’t need a battle between modalities. They need movement that respects their changing bodies, supports hormonal transitions, protects their bones, and strengthens their nervous systems.
So let’s reframe the question.
Strength Training Builds Load Tolerance and Muscle
Yes, resistance training is vital post-menopause. As estrogen declines, we lose bone density and lean muscle mass. This puts women at greater risk for osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and insulin resistance. Strength training can help reverse or at least slow these effects (Harvard Health).
Whether you're lifting dumbbells, using bands, or doing bodyweight squats, strength training helps stimulate muscle protein synthesis and maintain bone density. It also improves blood sugar control and cardiovascular health.
But that’s only one side of the equation.
Pilates Trains the Nervous System and Refines Movement
Pilates doesn’t just strengthen muscles — it educates the entire body-mind system. Through intentional breath, spinal articulation, and proprioceptive feedback, Pilates re-patterns movement at the neurological level.
Rolling down through the spine on the mat? That’s stimulating the vagus nerve, enhancing parasympathetic tone, and calming the sympathetic nervous system. It’s not just flexibility — it’s regulation.
This kind of movement brings blood flow and oxygen to the brain, improves coordination, and enhances cognitive clarity. Multiple studies have found that Pilates can improve executive function, attention, and memory in older adults (Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience).
The Cognitive Case for Both
Strength training has also been shown to boost brain function. A 2016 study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that resistance training just twice a week improved executive function and memory in women aged 65–75. And those gains lasted over a year post-intervention.
Pilates and strength training share this gift: they both oxygenate the brain, increase proprioception, and challenge the neuromuscular system. Together, they do more than tone the body. They protect the brain.
This Isn’t About Fat Loss. It’s About Longevity.
The problem with so many headlines is that they reduce everything to fat loss. But most of my clients over 50 aren’t coming to me asking how to burn calories. They’re asking:
How do I stop feeling stiff in the morning?
How do I keep my balance?
How do I stay strong enough to live independently?
How do I keep my mind sharp?
That’s what matters.
And that’s why women over 50 need both forms of training:
Pilates to regulate and retrain the body.
Strength training to build muscular and metabolic resilience.
Let’s Raise the Bar
To all my fellow fitness professionals out there: Stop arguing. Stop selling your method as the "only way."
If we’re truly here to serve women, especially those navigating the changes that come with midlife and beyond, we need to be smarter. Our clients deserve better than clickbait.
Let’s guide them toward balanced, intelligent, sustainable movement. That starts with respecting the power of integration, not comparison.
Melody Morton-Buckleair
Master Instructor | Retreat Host | Founder of The Pilates Cowgirl™
Houston, TX & Palestine, TX
www.elmwoodplacetexas.com
www.thegoodspacepilates.com
Instagram: @thepilatescowgirl
