I was thinking of getting a pilates dvd but not sure if I should wait until i'm nearer to my goal weight. I still have 35lbs to go. At the moment I'm doing strength training 3 times per week and 45 mins cardio twice a week.

Has anyone had any success with pilates for weight loss?

Pilates won't help you lose a lot of weight. I've done pilates classes for over three years now, and it is really more for toning and lengthening of the muscles (which is awesome because it makes you look leaner) and it's a lot of core work. I would definitely get them now and try them out!

you cant "lengthen" your muscles any more than you can "lengthen" your femur bone on your leg

What makes thes pilates ladies look "lean" is because they have low bady fat so you can see thir muscle underneath.

That's not true, mkroyer.

The difference between something like pilates and weight training is that there is that focus on lengthening the muscle.

When you build muscle, your muscle is broken down (by lifting heavy things) and then rebuilding. The rebuilding part is the important part, because that's what makes your muscles bulge out or not.

In pilates, you're lifting that heavy weight (which can be your own body or a machine) and you're stretching it at the same time. When you do this, your muscle repairs itself "longer" rather than bulgier.

You should totally start doing pilates now! Even though I still have a lot of body fat, I fit into sizes that are smaller than you think my weight would allow because of the muscle that I have underneath the fat.

Also, Pilates helps you with your posture, by strengthening your core muscles and will make you walk taller (which also helps your appearance).

There's tons of benefits for Pilates and I highly recommend it. If there's a studio or gym nearby that have the classes, go to one of them. I have the DVDs too but the matt classes are great to understand what it really is so you can do it at home later.

Rana - not sure where you heard that but you can't change the length of your muscles. Also muscle repair happens after your workout, not during it.

I personally only have minimal experience with pilates, I'm trying to focus on yoga right now which is also a lot of breathing/body weight type stuff. My weight training is also quite a bit of body weight type stuff. Despite lifting heavy, I've only ever lost inches.

She's talking about changing what shape muscles take.

Different forms of exercise or movement build muscle differently.

Picture the musculature of a world-class swimmer versus a world-class marathon runner. Neither one is carrying body fat. But the shape of the body is very, very different.

I have been doing pilates and yoga for about a month now. On my lunch hour, I go to a quiet room and do a pliates routine with a stretching strap, and then several yoga poses for a total of 30 minutes. Then I return to my office and eat lunch.

I haven't noticed a big difference in the way my body looks and haven't even noticed myself becoming more balanced or more limber - yet. BUT when I return to my desk I seriously feel like I just had a full body massage and I am so centered and de-stressed, so that alone is worth it!