Pilates vs Barre for Perimenopause: Which Low-Impact Workout Wins?
Pilates and barre are both popular low-impact options during perimenopause. Compare their benefits for core strength, bone density, mood, and joint health.
Why Both Styles Appeal During Perimenopause
Many women in perimenopause find themselves drawn to lower-impact exercise that still builds real strength and offers noticeable results. High-intensity training can feel harder to recover from when sleep is disrupted and cortisol is already running high. Pilates and barre both fill this space well. They build muscular endurance, improve posture and core stability, and create a mind-body focus that many women find grounding during a period of significant physical and emotional change. Both are taught in studios and widely available online, making them accessible regardless of where you live.
What Pilates Offers
Pilates centres on core strength, spinal mobility, and precise movement control. Exercises are typically performed on a mat or reformer machine and focus on engaging the deep stabilising muscles of the trunk, hips, and back. For perimenopause specifically, Pilates is well suited to women managing joint pain, back pain, or pelvic floor dysfunction, which are common during hormonal transition. The emphasis on breath and controlled movement also supports nervous system regulation, which can help with anxiety and stress. Regular Pilates practice builds functional strength that transfers into everyday life, from lifting and carrying to sitting at a desk without pain.
What Barre Offers
Barre is a workout format inspired by ballet training, combining small isometric movements with elements of Pilates, yoga, and light cardio. Classes typically use a ballet barre or chair for balance, and incorporate body weight, light dumbbells, and resistance bands. Barre emphasises lower body strength, particularly glutes, hamstrings, and hip stabilisers, alongside core engagement and upper body toning. The isometric holds and high-repetition format build muscular endurance and improve balance, which matters increasingly as oestrogen falls and the risk of bone loss and falls rises. Many women also find the music and upbeat energy of barre classes more motivating than quiet mat work.
Bone Health and Weight-Bearing Load
One consideration during perimenopause is that bone density begins to decline more rapidly as oestrogen falls, making weight-bearing activity particularly valuable. Barre has a slight edge here because many of its exercises are performed standing and include low-level impact movements such as rises and plies that put gentle load through the bones of the legs and hips. Pilates on the mat is largely non-weight-bearing, though reformer Pilates can include standing exercises. If bone health is a particular concern, combining either format with some strength training or regular walking adds meaningful weight-bearing load.
Which Suits Different Needs
Pilates tends to suit women who are dealing with back or joint pain, recovering from injury, or managing pelvic floor issues. It is also a strong choice for those who want to build deep core strength and improve posture with a calm, focused practice. Barre suits women who enjoy more variety and energy in a class setting, those who want a stronger lower body emphasis, or those who find pure mat work dull. If you are new to both, trying a beginner class of each is the most reliable way to find out which one you will actually look forward to doing each week.
Making the Most of Either Practice
Consistency matters more than which format you choose. Three sessions per week of either discipline will bring noticeable changes in strength, posture, and body confidence over two to three months. Many women combine both, using Pilates for its rehabilitative and mindfulness qualities and barre for its energising lower body burn. Logging your workouts over time helps you stay consistent and see genuine progress. PeriPlan lets you record workout sessions and track patterns in how you feel before and after exercise, so you can build a clearer picture of what is working for your body right now.
Related reading
Get your personalized daily plan
Track symptoms, match workouts to your day type, and build a routine that adapts with you through every phase of perimenopause.