Adding breathing exercises to Pilates improved a lung function measure in university students
A randomized trial in young women with poor posture reported greater improvement in forced vital capacity with combined training than with Pilates alone.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Combined training produced greater improvement in forced vital capacity than Pilates alone in this student sample. The abstract also reports changes in other breathing measures, posture and standing stability. These results concern measured function in young women with poor posture; they do not establish benefits for lung disease or for people with different characteristics.
The abstract omits units for the reported forced vital capacity difference and gives limited detail on other pairwise comparisons. Its suggestion that longer training is beneficial goes beyond the duration comparison described in the methods.
What researchers found
Forced vital capacity
After 16 weeks, Pilates with breathing exercises improved this lung function measure more than Pilates alone; the difference was statistically significant.
What the study prioritized
Lung function and respiratory muscle performance were the primary outcomes. Standing posture and static stability were secondary outcomes. The clearest explicitly described comparison between exercise groups concerned forced vital capacity.
What the design leaves open
The study used a training period with group and independent phases. It did not describe randomizing participants to different program lengths, so the abstract cannot establish an optimal duration or a benefit from extending training.
The original publication
Effects of Pilates combined with breathing exercise on lung function, body posture and postural stability among female college students: A randomized controlled trial.
Zhang J, Zhao Y, Wang Q
PLoS One · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40834024
- Record checked
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