Who & What Pilates is For

I had a little moment on Instagram the other day where I just had to share my take on who and what Pilates is for. I felt feisty because I’d come across a website for a Pilates studio and it didn’t very accurately depict (to me) the truth about Pilates; that it is for everyone!

False Beliefs About Pilates

My problem with the website, despite it being very pretty and easy to read and navigate, was how it makes Pilates look. For one, the pictures of people exercising showed them stretching, not doing recognizable Pilates exercises. Second, the people in the pictures were thin, athletic, and wearing very little clothing. Now, I love movement of all kinds, and have been many body shapes in my life. I also don’t have a problem with the clothing in general that was on the website. So it wasn’t the pictures that I had a problem with.

Rather, I was feeling so irritated by how the website is depicting a false reality of what and who Pilates is for. It’s just not accurate. I could be wrong, and the studio’s target audience may just be those interested in looking like fitness models, but the image they are projecting will scare a lot of other people away from Pilates. It’s this false idea of having to already be fit or flexible to start doing Pilates that bugs me. 

Fitness is for Everyone

Over the past thirty years of working in the fitness industry, over half of them teaching Pilates, I’ve been in a lot of spaces. From big gyms to boutique studios, every single place I worked at had clients of all ages, shapes, sizes and genders. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Fitness is for Every Body! 

At b.Pilates & Fitness, we have teen clients up to those in their senior years. Some are recreational athletes and dancers who stay active in life through sports; inactive people who realize they need to start moving again; and others still who are recovering from injuries, accidents, or health conditions. You don’t need to be athletic, thin, strong, flexible, or even a certain age to get started with Pilates. We will happily meet you where you are to meet your needs and goals.  

What Pilates is For

Essentially, Pilates is a corrective exercise. It’s meant to help you move better in all you do by increasing your strength, flexibility, and mobility, and lessening the imbalances in your body. We all have imbalances of some kind, many of which cause pain. Sometimes it’s more noticeable in your daily life, like when you repeat the same movement on one side of your body over and over again. Think about back pain from holding a child on your hip, or how playing a full round of golf has you swinging the club over one shoulder 100 times. 

Other times, you may not notice the imbalance until you add a new activity to your routine. Here are a few good examples:

1.  I had a new client who worked in a job that required her to dress up and wear heels every day. She was actually very proud of how good she was in heels. (I’m sure she had the best shoe collection, which I can appreciate!) Well, she decided to take up soccer again after years of not playing.  A few weeks into playing, she developed incredible pain and inflammation of her Achilles tendons on both legs.  

She thought the field surface was too hard, but I immediately knew that due to her 40 hours a week in heels was the problem. Her body was accustomed to being on her toes with her heels raised up. This causes shortening of the calf muscles. Running around in flat-soled shoes on the soccer field took a sudden toll on her body, and it took months of physio and continued Pilates for her to get better.

2.  As a part of a run club, I see lots of people jump on the half marathon training wagon. It’s a great goal and accomplishment, for sure. I even know a few who have signed themselves up for marathons having never run a half, let alone 10km. Many of these people happen to work sitting down all day, giving them tight and/or weak hip flexors. They tend to also have poor glute strength and bad posture. All of this creates the perfect recipe for running injuries.

Both of these are examples of imbalances that consistent Pilates can help you “fix” so you can do the other things you love.

Back On My Soapbox

Back to the Pilates website that got me going… I just want it to be known that Pilates is for anyone who wants to feel better in their body and mind. You will get stronger and develop more muscle mass; you may even lose some weight if you add in cardio and nutrition. In the end, though, Pilates is for everyone – not about looking a certain way.