The part of the story most people skip
Joseph Pilates didn't call his method Pilates. He called it Contrology — the study of the mind's complete control over the body. He spent decades insisting that the two could not be separated: that movement done without full attention wasn't really movement at all, just the body going through motions.
What he worked out — refined in his New York studio and passed down through the teachers he trained — was that resistance and control, applied together, produced something that neither could produce alone. The springs and weighted apparatus he built into his equipment weren't about adding difficulty. They were about adding information. The weight told the body where it was, what it was doing, and what it needed to correct.
Jo from JPilates, an internationally recognised Pilates teacher training and education company, explains that while Joseph Pilates is more famous for creating tension and load using metal springs and body weight, we have various pieces of historical footage showing him teaching students using small weights on the apparatus. There is also the fantastic Classical Standing Arm Weight Series which includes exercises like Sparklers, Chest Expansion, Boxing and Shaving.
But Joe did not only use hand weights. In her book Get to Know Joe Pilates, Cathy Strack shares a fabulous advert for Joe's invented accessories — including his Steel Bottom Slippers, designed to pull students' legs farther, over and down. Ankle weights provide a fabulous substitute.
Ankle and wrist weights carry that same logic. They are not a gym tool repurposed for Pilates. In the tradition of how Pilates actually worked, they belong here.
Why a light weight changes everything
The most common mistake people make with ankle weights is reaching for the heaviest pair they can find. More weight, more work, faster results — it's an instinct borrowed from the gym, and it doesn't translate to Pilates.
In low-impact Pilates, 1–2lb per ankle is often enough. Sometimes it is genuinely challenging. Here's why:
Pilates movements are slow, extended, and held at end range. These movements ask the hip and glute to stabilise against gravity at the point where the lever is longest. Add even a small amount of weight at the ankle, and the demand on those stabilising muscles increases significantly.
This is what Pilates understood intuitively and what exercise science has since confirmed: resistance at the end of a long lever is disproportionately effective. The muscles work harder, for longer, through a fuller range of motion. The result is improved strength, endurance, and proprioception — the body's awareness of where it is in space — without strain on the joints.
Two pounds is not easy. In the right movement, held with full intention, it is exactly enough.
Classical mat exercises recommended by Jo JPilates — transformed by ankle weights
These are traditional Contrology exercises where ankle weights add a layer of connection, focus, and resistance that changes the quality of the movement entirely. Start with the 2lb pair and build from there.
The Roll Up. Lying on your back with the legs extended long and together, arms reaching to the wall behind you. Bring the arms up to the ceiling, lift the head, and with control roll up to seated — reaching forwards over your legs. Slowly unfurl back to the mat. The weights add an amazing sense of stability and connection through the legs so the spine can float. Repeat 5 times.
The One Leg Circle. Lying on your back with one leg extended long on the floor and the other lengthened, stretching up to the ceiling. Take the leg across your body, letting the hip slightly lift. Circle the leg down and round, keeping it lifted on the way back up. The weights make the working leg heavier and the standing leg work harder to stay long and connected. Repeat 5 circles in each direction, then switch legs.
The One Leg Kick. Lying on your front, resting on your elbows, fists together, chest lifted. Bend one knee, kick the heel in towards the glute twice, then lengthen the leg fully before you switch. The weights bring extra focus into the back of the legs and hips. Repeat 5 times each leg.
The Classical Standing Arm Series — with wrist weights
The same cuffs, worn at the wrist, open up a different part of the Pilates tradition entirely: the Classical Standing Arm Weight Series, which Joe himself taught and which remains one of the most underused sequences in home practice.
The upper body work in Pilates is slower and subtler than most people expect. These movements use the arms as long levers and the shoulder girdle as the stabiliser. Even 1lb at each wrist is enough to make the shoulders, upper back, and arms work visibly harder — and the standing position means the whole body is involved in maintaining the Pilates stance throughout.
Stand with feet in Pilates stance for all three: heels together, toes slightly apart, making a small V.
Shaving. Bring your arms up overhead and make a V shape with your hands, thumbs and first fingers together. Bend the elbows out to the sides and bring the hands behind the head. Stretch the arms back up on a slight forward diagonal. The wrist weights make this immediately more demanding through the triceps and upper back. Repeat 8 times.
Sparklers. Reach arms out at shoulder height and distance. Start making small, quick arm circles, lifting your arms as high as you can without arching your back. Complete 8 circles upwards, then reverse for 8 circles down. With wrist weights, the shoulder muscles are working hard before the circles are even halfway up — this is deceptively challenging.
Boxing. Bend the elbows bringing your fists to chest height. Punch the right arm forwards and across the body slightly. Bend the arm back and repeat with the left. Feel the twist from the waist — but keep the hips and legs completely still. The wrist weights amplify the rotational demand and make the core work significantly harder to hold the hips square. Do 8 each side.
Choosing between 2lb and 4lb
The 2lb pair is the right starting point for most people. It works well for all of the movements above, feels manageable across a longer sequence, and creates a meaningful challenge when you stay with the movement properly.
The 4lb pair is a meaningful step up — not in weight exactly, but in duration. Two pounds per ankle across a 30-minute session is cumulative. It builds endurance alongside strength, and it suits people who are already comfortable with weighted Pilates work and want to progress without increasing complexity.
Both pairs are designed to sit close to the skin — soft silicone finish, adjustable fit, no bunching at the ankle or wrist during movement. They are made to stay on while you work, and to come off cleanly when done. They live on a shelf, visible enough to reach for without thinking about it.
That visibility matters more than it sounds. Pilates talked about making practice part of daily life, not a destination you travel to. The equipment in his studio was calibrated, considered, and always present. The principle holds.
A note on the practice
Ankle and wrist weights are not a shortcut. They are a refinement — a way of doing the same movements with more intention, more demand, and more return.
Start with the 2lb pair. Do the movements slowly. Rest when you need to. Come back the next day and notice what has changed.
That is the practice. That is what it has always been.
For more details on JPilates leading industry education, research-based training and extensive ongoing professional development, please contact info@jpilates.co.uk.
You'll need
→ amp Ankle & Wrist Weights 2lb pair — £35
→ amp Ankle & Wrist Weights 4lb pair — £40 (optional progression)
→ A mat and enough floor space to extend one leg fully