Accessories & props
Light weights and toning balls in Pilates
The short answer
Pilates uses light hand weights of 1–3 lb, not for load but to increase the demand on shoulder positioning through longer levers. Toning balls do the same job with a grip that discourages tension through the hand and forearm.
Why the weights are so light
The purpose is not to load the muscle but to increase the challenge of holding correct alignment as the arm moves through range. At the end of a long lever, one pound produces a substantial moment at the shoulder.
Heavier weights change the exercise into strength training and cause exactly the shoulder shrugging and rib flaring the exercise is meant to eliminate.
Toning balls versus dumbbells
Toning balls are weighted spheres held in the palm. Because there is no handle to grip, they discourage clenching through the hand and forearm, which many people do reflexively with a dumbbell and which travels up into the shoulder.
They are also more comfortable in supine work, where a dumbbell can press awkwardly into the hand.
- 1–2 lb for most arm repertoire
- 2–3 lb only once alignment holds reliably
- Toning balls where hand tension is an issue
- Never so heavy that the shoulder shrugs or the ribs flare
Where they add most
Standing and seated arm series, where the lever is long and alignment is easy to lose. Supine arm work, where they add demand without any change of setup. Side-lying work for the top arm.
They add little to anything where the arms are supporting body weight, since the added load is negligible relative to it.
The limit of the tool
If you want to build arm strength, these are the wrong tool and it is worth saying so. A program of progressive resistance with proper weights will do it far faster.
These are alignment tools that happen to weigh something, and using them as though they were strength equipment produces neither outcome well.
Frequently asked questions
- What weight should I use for Pilates?
- 1–3 lb. The purpose is to increase the alignment challenge at the end of a long lever, not to load the muscle.
- Are toning balls better than dumbbells?
- For Pilates, often yes — with no handle to grip they discourage hand and forearm tension that travels into the shoulder, and they are more comfortable in supine work.
- Can I use heavier weights in Pilates?
- It changes the exercise into strength training and typically causes the shoulder shrugging and rib flaring the exercise is designed to eliminate.
- Will light weights build arm strength?
- Not efficiently. If strength is the goal, progressive resistance training is the right tool — these are alignment tools that happen to weigh something.