This is one of the most searched Pilates questions, so let me give you a straight answer: Pilates will strengthen and tone your glutes, but it’s unlikely to significantly increase their size.
Here’s what the research says, what Pilates can genuinely deliver, and what to do if you want more from your glute training.
What Pilates actually does for your glutes
Your gluteal muscles (the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus) are involved in most of what Pilates does. Hip bridges, leg circles, side-lying leg work, quadruped exercises. These movements activate your glutes consistently throughout a session.
Research using electromyography to measure muscle activation during Pilates exercises confirms this. Studies have shown meaningful gluteus maximus activation during movements like the shoulder bridge, with different pelvic and trunk positions producing noticeably different levels of engagement [Queiroz et al., 2010]. The shoulder bridge in particular has been shown to produce the highest gluteus maximus activation compared to other common Pilates exercises [Oliveira et al., 2016].
So Pilates does work the glutes, consistently and meaningfully. The question is whether that’s enough to increase their size.
Why Pilates alone won’t significantly grow your glutes
Building muscle mass requires progressive overload: consistently asking your muscles to do more than they’ve done before, typically by adding resistance or volume over time.
Research into gluteus maximus hypertrophy has found that loaded exercises (hip thrusts, split squats, deadlifts, back squats) with external resistance are the most effective way to stimulate size increases [Neto et al., 2025]. Pilates builds and maintains glute strength and can produce some muscle development, but without progressively heavier loading, the hypertrophy stimulus is limited.
That’s not a criticism of Pilates. It’s simply a different goal. Pilates is designed to develop functional strength, control, and movement quality. Building significant muscle mass is better addressed with a dedicated strength training programme.
What Pilates will give you
Stronger, more functional glutes. Better hip stability. Improved posture and pelvic alignment. A firmer, more defined appearance in the muscles you already have.
For many people, that’s exactly what they’re after. If you want a lifted, firmer shape rather than significant size increase, Pilates is genuinely effective for that. And the glute strength developed through Pilates transfers well to everyday movement: getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, carrying things.
If you want to add more size
Add some resistance training alongside your Pilates. Hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats, and Romanian deadlifts are the exercises with the strongest evidence for gluteus maximus development. Even two strength sessions a week added to your Pilates practice makes a meaningful difference.
You can also make your Pilates glute work more challenging by adding resistance bands to hip bridge exercises, increasing your repetitions, and slowing the tempo right down. A three-second lowering phase on a bridge, for example, increases the demand on the muscle considerably without changing what you’re doing fundamentally.
Setting realistic expectations
Your genetics determine a lot about how your glutes respond to training. Some people see rapid changes in shape and size; others see more modest results regardless of what they do. Both are normal.
What you can control is consistency and the type of training you do. Pilates practised regularly, with some progressive resistance work added in if size is your goal, will give you the strongest and most functional glutes possible for your body. Whether that results in a dramatically bigger bum depends partly on factors outside your control.
Focus on what you can feel: better stability in your hips, stronger drive when you climb stairs, less lower back fatigue. Those are the signs your glutes are working well, which matters far more than measurements.
For more on how Pilates changes the body more broadly, see my posts on does Pilates change your body shape and does reformer Pilates make you bulky.
