A randomised trial from Turkey found that both supervised Reformer Pilates and home-based Mat Pilates improved menopausal symptom scores more than lifestyle education in 45 postmenopausal women with obesity, although the small, eight-week study cannot establish long-term effects.
A randomised controlled trial published in Scientific Reports on 10 September 2026 has compared supervised Reformer Pilates, home-based Mat Pilates and structured lifestyle education in postmenopausal women with obesity. The study included 45 participants, divided equally between the three groups, with both Pilates programmes delivered twice weekly for eight weeks.
Menopausal symptoms, the study’s prespecified primary outcome, improved significantly more in both Pilates groups than in the education group. The adjusted difference was 6.47 points for Reformer Pilates and 5.24 points for Mat Pilates. However, the researchers found no significant difference between the two Pilates formats for the primary outcome, so the trial does not show that Reformer work is superior to mat practice for symptom reduction.
The study also reported group-related changes in menopause-specific quality of life, body weight, body mass index, body-fat percentage, lean body mass and blood lipid measures. Reformer Pilates showed more favourable results than Mat Pilates for some quality-of-life and body-composition outcomes. Depressive symptoms and sleep quality improved over time across all groups, but there were no significant group-by-time differences, suggesting that factors other than Pilates may have contributed to those changes.
For the international Pilates community, the research is notable because it directly compares two widely available formats rather than treating Pilates as a single intervention. It may be relevant to instructors, researchers and programme designers considering accessible home practice alongside studio-based teaching. The findings remain preliminary: the sample was small, the intervention lasted only eight weeks, and the participants were a specific group of postmenopausal women with obesity. Larger studies with longer follow-up are needed before broader conclusions can be drawn. The paper was published as an accepted, citable version that may still receive editorial changes before the final version of record.
Read the full article:
Effects of supervised reformer pilates and home-based mat pilates on menopausal symptoms and related health outcomes in postmenopausal women with obesity: a randomized controlled trial
Image: AI-generated illustration.