Calories burned Pilates calculator
What a Pilates session burns for your body, from the 2024 Compendium and a 2026 review of the studies that measured it.
Updated
Your result
For 50 minutes of Pilates at 65 kg:
100–110extra kcal
On top of the 45 kcal you’d burn anyway in that time. In total it uses about 150–160 kcal.
In your TDEE it counts as about 70–110 kcal. The low end allows for the body offsetting about 28% of exercise calories, the average in a study of 1,754 adults.
Calories burned Pilates: the key numbers
- An hour of Pilates adds about 120–130 extra kcal at 65 kg and 180–210 at 100 kg.
- The figure comes from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities: 2.8 METs, from published studies.
- A 2026 review of the measured studies puts it at 3.0 METs, so you get both (Vitor, 2026).
- Done on purpose, it counts in your TDEE at 72 to 100% of these extra calories, because the body offsets part of what exercise uses (Careau, 2021).
Counting it in your TDEE
If you do this on purpose, add it as exercise on the TDEE calculator. It counts there at 72 to 100% of these extra calories, because the body offsets part of what exercise uses.
For your body and time
| Activity | Extra kcal | Compendium value |
|---|---|---|
| Pilates | 100 | 2.8 METs, Compendium code 02105 |
| Yoga: Hatha | 70 | 2.3 METs, Compendium code 02150 |
| Yoga: Power yoga | 170 | 4 METs, Compendium code 02160, an estimate |
| Walking: Moderate (3 mph, 5 km/h) | 160 | 3.8 METs, Compendium code 17190 |
| Pilates: 2026 review of six studies | 110 | 3.0 METs. The review’s most reliable estimate, from the studies that measured oxygen use (95% range 2.3 to 3.6 METs). Its authors rate the evidence low to very low certainty. PMID 41495794 |
Each figure uses the activity’s cost from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, which gives it in METs of oxygen use per kg of body weight, so the extra scales with your weight. The Compendium marks “Yoga: Power yoga” as an estimate; its other values here come from published studies. Only the part above resting counts as extra. What you’d burn anyway comes from your own resting rate (Mifflin-St Jeor), not the standard 1 MET: in 769 adults, measured resting burn averaged 0.84 kcal per kg an hour against the standard 1 (Byrne, 2005).
Compare every activity on the calories burned calculator.
More activities: walking, running, lifting weights, swimming, cycling, elliptical, treadmill, hiking, sleeping, standing, yoga, climbing stairs, dancing, rowing, gardening, golf, cleaning.
Short answers
How many calories does Pilates burn?
For a 65 kg woman, 50 minutes adds about 100–110 kcal on top of what she’d burn anyway, about 150–160 in total. For a 100 kg man it adds about 150–170.
Does Pilates burn more than yoga?
More than Hatha yoga, less than power yoga. In 50 minutes, a 65 kg woman adds about 70 kcal doing Hatha yoga and 170 doing power yoga. Pilates falls between them.
How sure is the Pilates figure?
Not very. A 2026 review found only six studies that measured it, and rated the evidence low to very low certainty. Its most reliable estimate, 3.0 METs, sits close to the Compendium’s 2.8, so you get both.
Should I eat back the calories from Pilates?
Partly. In a study of 1,754 adults, the body offset about 28% of the calories burned through activity, on average (Careau, 2021). So when 50 minutes of Pilates adds about 100–110 kcal for a 65 kg woman, count about 70–110 of it.
Sources
Checked against each source on 22 and 23 October 2026
- Herrmann SD, et al. (2024). 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: a third update of the energy costs of human activities. J Sport Health Sci 13(1):6–12. PMID 38242596
- Vitor GBB, et al. (2026). Metabolic intensity and energy cost of Pilates exercises: an exploratory systematic review and meta-analysis of limited and heterogeneous evidence. Syst Rev 15(1):42. PMID 41495794
- Byrne NM, et al. (2005). Metabolic equivalent: one size does not fit all. J Appl Physiol 99(3):1112–9. PMID 15831804
- Careau V, et al. (2021). Energy compensation and adiposity in humans. Curr Biol 31(20):4659–66. PMID 34453886
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr 51(2):241–7. PMID 2305711