{"id":640129,"date":"2026-04-30T07:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T07:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640129\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T07:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T07:52:11","slug":"pilates-is-in-its-performative-era-and-the-backlash-is-brewing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640129\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilates is in its performative era \u2013 and the backlash is brewing"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2026, the ultimate exercise humblebrag isn\u2019t a Peloton<\/a> in your home office, or even a sub-three-and-a-half-hour marathon time<\/a>. It\u2019s a pilates habit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stars such as Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa and model Lori Harvey have pledged their allegiance to this low-impact, high results method that can be traced back to a First World War internment camp. New studios seem to be cropping up<\/a> each month, accompanied by pastel Instagram<\/a> graphics, soft lighting and oval mirrors. <\/p>\n

Scroll through social media<\/a> and you\u2019ll see the hypnotic videos of well-groomed women<\/a> in matching athleisure sets and slicked-back buns, executing pulses and planks, leg extensions and low squats<\/a> on a long rectangular machine that bears a strong resemblance to a medieval torture device. <\/p>\n

As a discipline, pilates<\/a> is enjoying a boom time. In 2024, fitness platform ClassPass revealed that pilates was its most popular class type, and in 2025, a report from America\u2019s Sports and Fitness Industry Association found it was the fastest-growing form of exercise in the US, with participation rates shooting up by 40 per cent since 2019. An estimate from business analysts at IBIS World suggests that the UK pilates and yoga industry is now worth \u00a31bn. <\/p>\n

Its devotees speak of long, lean muscles, better posture and flexibility, but these benefits don\u2019t necessarily come cheap. In London, the going rate for a session on the pilates reformer<\/a> \u2013 the aforementioned torture device \u2013 tends to hover around \u00a330 (is this prohibitive expense only serving to make it more aspirational?)<\/p>\n

I should confess that I\u2019m a fully fledged pilates fan. For the past couple of years, I have been attending mat classes a few times a week at a local studio that has great instructors, and feels inclusive and friendly (you don\u2019t have to hand over your life savings for one session, either). Before that, I alternated between spinning and running, and was constantly blighted by aches and pains. But since embracing pilates, I\u2019m far less injury-prone. And there are few things that clear my head \u2013 or straighten out my spine after a day hunched over a laptop \u2013 like 45 minutes on the mat.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s clear is that pilates is managing to appeal to a new generation of fitness fans. But as it continues to rise in popularity, concern is brewing among longtime practitioners. Is the fast-growing demand \u2013 coupled with poor regulation \u2013 resulting in a dilution of the practice\u2019s original method? Does it risk being reduced to an aesthetic performance light on actual value? \u201cWhat\u2019s fantastic about this boom is that more people are being exposed to pilates,\u201d Stacy Weeks<\/a>, a pilates educator and studio owner based in Cornwall, tells me. \u201cThat\u2019s amazing, and you cannot take away from it. But some people are being exposed to things that aren\u2019t pilates, and thinking that that\u2019s pilates.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Contrology:Contrology: Joseph Pilates using one of his exercise machines (Getty)<\/p>\n

Joseph Pilates, the founder of the method, has been variously described as a bodybuilder, a circus performer and a boxer. Born in Germany in 1883, he later moved to England, but when the First World War broke out, he was interned in Lancaster and on the Isle of Man, along with other so-called \u201cenemy aliens\u201d. In prison, he started to develop an exercise system that he called \u201cContrology\u201d, focusing on core muscles, breath and spinal alignment. He would later boast that the prisoners he trained \u201cended the war in better shape than when it started\u201d. <\/p>\n

In 1926, he emigrated to New York, where he and his wife, Clara, would set up the first pilates studio at 939 Eighth Avenue, in the same building as the New York City Ballet; many of his first patrons were ballerinas, kickstarting a long, symbiotic relationship between pilates and the dance world. <\/p>\n

Opera singers, choreographers and actors such as Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier were among his high-profile clients, too. He would eventually set out the 34 movements that make up classical pilates in a 1945 book, Return to Life Through Contrology (these exercises weren\u2019t really referred to as \u201cpilates\u201d until after he died in 1967, when it fell on his disciples to start teaching his method). <\/p>\n

For decades, pilates was popular as a rehabilitative form of exercise, great for those coming back from injury or, say, hoping to strengthen a bad back, as well as the secret weapon of dancers. In the late Nineties and early Noughties, it acquired a reputation as the toning method of choice for a certain cohort of wealthy, stylish women; pilates was namechecked by the likes of Sex and the City\u2019s Samantha and Gabrielle Solis in Desperate Housewives. <\/p>\n

But just over a decade ago, fitness industry prognosticators were predicting that pilates was on the verge of fizzling out. In 2015, an article in New York magazine warned of a \u201cPilatesapocalypse\u201d, with the discipline being superseded by trendier conditioning workouts such as barre and the burgeoning spin class craze. Unless it drastically shook up its image, the report suggested, pilates could fall out of favour entirely.<\/p>\n

\"AA \u2018particular look\u2019 has become associated with pilates \u2013 and this only damages its reputation (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n

That shake-up came during the pandemic. At this point, author and pilates instructor Eloise Skinner<\/a> explains, the fitness industry had to shift online, \u201cand Instagram fitness just completely blew up\u201d. The exercises that looked especially good on social media, she notes, were the ones that use \u201crelatively contained movements\u201d with \u201creally clean lines\u201d. Pilates, with its strong ties to ballet, \u201clooks really lovely on camera\u201d. <\/p>\n

So when the world returned to (relative) normality, a new cohort of at-home pilates fans was ready to enter the studio. Alexandra Johnson, founder of PhysioFit Pilates and Physio Studio<\/a>, has seen an uptick in popularity over the last four years, but most \u201csignificantly these past 12 months\u201d. Demand is so high that she\u2019s recently launched a few classes for teenagers, too. <\/p>\n

But like many experienced teachers, she is wary of how pilates can be presented on social media, with instructors \u201cdoing handstands or splits\u201d to stand out amid the infinite scroll, or using weights on the reformer. Trending videos make \u201cpeople see that as pilates and then try to do that\u201d, while skipping the fundamentals of form, alignment and breathing. \u201cThey\u2019re posting these crazy exercises, some of which are not pilates, they\u2019re just acrobatics, and making it look like it\u2019s something it\u2019s not,\u201d Weeks agrees. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also \u201ca particular look\u201d, she adds, on social media that seems to have become synonymous with pilates \u2013 \u201ccrop tops, ponytails, matcha.\u201d It\u2019s Instagram-friendly, with an element of performativity, \u201calmost like a status symbol kind of thing\u201d, as Johnson puts it. But the flip side is that it can seem like pilates is only for a certain type of person \u2013 slender young women immaculately turned out in pricey athleisure. This prevalence of slim bodies can make it feel exclusionary, an exercise emblematic of the Ozempic era. But this just shouldn\u2019t be the case \u2013 all of the teachers I speak to are firmly of the opinion that pilates should be for everyone. \u201cI could have a 75-year-old in my class along with a 35-year-old,\u201d Johnson says. <\/p>\n

So many people go to pilates because they\u2019ve got injuries, but they\u2019re being trained by people who don\u2019t really understand injury<\/p>\n

Grace Lillywhite, ante- and post-natal pilates specialist<\/p>\n

The reformer is a serious piece of equipment, not just Insta-bait, and poor guidance \u2013 or attempting acrobatic moves \u2013 could prove dangerous. Grace Lillywhite, founder of Centred Mums<\/a> and a specialist in ante- and post-natal pilates, recalls how she recently spoke to a massage therapist who now \u201cdeals with a lot of injuries\u201d from classes at a reformer pilates chain nearby. \u201cIt\u2019s really worrying because so many people go to pilates because they\u2019ve got injuries, but they\u2019re being trained by people who don\u2019t really understand injury,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Teaching standards have become an industry-wide headache. In April, Michael King, founder member of the Society for the Pilates Method, told The Guardian that \u201cthe sector can feel like the Wild West\u201d, as some instructors \u201cmay lack sufficient training\u201d. And as pilates becomes more popular, he added, some chains are cramming up to 25 reformers in one studio, with just one instructor. \u201cFrom a safety perspective, that is deeply concerning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The teachers I speak to share similar worries; many cite the prevalence of short training courses that can be completed in a weekend. \u201cThey\u2019re cheap and they\u2019re fast,\u201d Weeks says. \u201cFor comparison, a really good quality pilates qualification will take you nearly a year. \u201cJust the mat work alone is a minimum of six months, and you have to do 120 hours of self-practice, observation and teaching on top of the actual course before you can even take your exam.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"TimeTime for reform? The trendy pilates machine was only meant for smaller classes, but some studios are packing them in (Getty)<\/p>\n

The reformer was designed for small group sessions, not mega classes, and \u201cwith these large reformer studios popping up all over the place\u201d, Weeks adds, \u201cthe standard of equipment is dropping, the standard of training is dropping, and it\u2019s not pilates any more. It\u2019s just a funky exercise class on a piece of kit that was created for something completely different, with loud music, flashing lights and oval backlit mirrors\u201d. <\/p>\n

The industry is largely unregulated; no specific qualifications or accreditations are technically required to set up a studio or work as an instructor. Hannah Murphy is the founder of Globe Fit Training Academy<\/a>, which offers YMCA-accredited fitness courses. \u201cObviously, pilates is the most popular course we offer at the moment,\u201d she says, whereas \u201cyoga was really popular maybe a year or two ago, now it\u2019s all about pilates\u201d. <\/p>\n

High demand across the industry, she adds, has led to \u201ca lot of unqualified teachers teaching reformer\u201d \u2013 and \u201canyone could just open up a studio, buy some reformers, have a pretty space and have people [teaching] that aren\u2019t qualified\u201d. <\/p>\n

The standard of training is dropping, and it\u2019s not pilates any more. It\u2019s just a funky exercise class with flashing lights<\/p>\n

Stacy Weeks, pilates studio owner<\/p>\n

Skinner also teaches yoga, and with that, she notes, \u201cthere\u2019s a fairly standard 200 hours Yoga Alliance-approved training\u201d, where it\u2019s understood that you need to \u201cput all the time in and commit to that long process\u201d. But with pilates, you might have one instructor who has spent years qualifying with a highly respected programme from Stott or Body Arts and Science International [BASI], and another who has trained online. Some do short courses that are specific to a certain studio, Skinner adds, \u201cbut sometimes it doesn\u2019t even matter because the person might be an influencer [who] already has their own platform\u201d. <\/p>\n

There are plenty of pilates influencers sharing advice and workout routines \u2013 but it\u2019s worth checking out their credentials before you sign up for any pricey plans they might be selling. More concerning, though, is the rise of a certain cohort of pilates-adjacent influencers who seem to have hijacked the method as a trojan horse for conservative-leaning ideas about gender roles. <\/p>\n

Once your social media algorithm realises that you\u2019re easily captivated by pilates videos, it\u2019s not long before a particular subset of content creators start to crop up on your feed. These women aren\u2019t trying to demonstrate, say, five moves for sculpted arms; instead, they are focused on how they believe pilates is a particularly feminine form of exercise, compared to activities like weightlifting, which could make you \u201cbulky\u201d and therefore less \u201cwomanly\u201d. <\/p>\n

Even more regressive are the videos that seem to imply that pilates is a way of \u201cstaying hot for your husband\u201d, a form of feminine labour devoted to aesthetic self-improvement. Also cringe-inducing? The clips are filled with braggy references to finding a man who can pay for your reformer sessions. While scrolling through Instagram on a brief writing (read: procrastination) break, I was presented with a video of a young woman at a mat class, soundtracked by spa-worthy relaxation noises. \u201cHow class sounds knowing my bf\u2019s CC [credit card] is attached to my monthly membership,\u201d the caption read. Sigh.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an attitude that seems to have seeped into more red-pilled corners of the internet, too, with male influencers touting a pilates habit as some sort of green flag for the perfect, docile woman. \u201cIf your girl does pilates, wife her up immediately,\u201d one viral video from US influencer Christian Bonnier posited; the implication is that a \u201cpilates woman\u201d will be too busy toning her core with the girlies to go out partying at the weekend. <\/p>\n

Switch off from that online noise, though, and you\u2019ll soon realise that this narrow idea of the \u201cpilates woman\u201d doesn\u2019t really exist. Beyond the Instagram hype is an exercise method that can be truly life-changing \u2013 and you definitely don\u2019t need a matching workout set to reap the benefits. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2026, the ultimate exercise humblebrag isn\u2019t a Peloton in your home office, or even a sub-three-and-a-half-hour marathon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[64,63,538,137],"class_list":["post-640129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}