This is the version of young womanhood that leads the pack today. On social media, where aesthetics, self-discipline and control are all admired<\/a>, she is everywhere; snapping herself while out for brunch, attending an overpriced fitness class or performing her multistep nighttime skincare routine. <\/p>\n On first glance, her togetherness might be the reason for the appeal. But if you put aside the Lululemon unitards, Rhode phone cases and shiny hairdos, it is not her lifestyle that\u2019s most aspirational: it\u2019s the slim, toned and straight \u201cpilates body\u201d that\u2019s underneath. The latter term has \u2013 depressingly \u2013 become a newly celebrated physique category in recent months, where subtly ripped wellness influencers, once committed to Romanian deadlifting their way to the Kim Kardashian<\/a> hourglass figure, are now promoting 28-day weight loss pilates programmes to achieve a more slimmed-down, minimalist physique. In one clip that constantly haunts my Instagram algorithm, an influencer claims to have lost several kilograms from just 28 days of reformer pilates using at-home equipment<\/a>. <\/p>\n On TikTok, another influencer simply writes \u201cPilates body > Gym body\u201d alongside a mirror selfie of her sculpted stomach. The hashtag #pilatesbody on TikTok is littered with dozens of \u201cbefore and after\u201d shots of those who have supposedly invested in these workout routines. If, on 31 December, we all reflected on body types that defined 2025, I\u2019d wager that the \u201cpilates body\u201d would take top spot.<\/p>\n In this new beauty standard or subculture, everything is coded. \u201cPilates arms\u201d (toned but not too muscly), \u201cpilates abs\u201d (a subtle but defined four-pack), and being a \u201cpilates princess\u201d (the complete embodiment of this beauty standard) are all actual accepted terms being used online in a normalised way. While the pilates princess has existed under different identities \u2013 for example, in the late 2010s, the explosion of barre workouts had a similar cultural impact \u2013 the \u201cpilates body\u201d is, to me, the most noticeable pivot from the cola-bottle shaped Kardashians-style body trend. It\u2019s one that dominated popular psyche for a good decade, prompting the mass pursuit of booty-building workout plans (or seeking overseas Brazilian butt lift and fat transfer procedures instead). Those women are now searching for something slimmer and \u2013 as they would probably put it \u2013 refined. Another day, another unattainable standard of beauty. <\/p>\n What\u2019s more interesting, though, is that the toxic nature of the body has gone widely unacknowledged. In the post-Body Positivity era, plenty of faddish trends receive backlash online, but the pilates body has arrived under the guise of wellness with little critique. <\/p>\n It all began, really, with a harmless interest in reformer pilates among young women, which led to a quite sudden demand. It has been big business: almost every UK city is now home to a reformer pilates studio, London is swarmed with them and the amount will only grow: Californian company Club Pilates has announced it will open up to 75 new branches across the UK in the coming years. <\/p>\n While regular pilates \u2013 a practice founded 100 years ago by Joseph Pilates \u2013 involves smooth, slow-paced exercises on a mat, reformer happens on a medieval-looking bed, complete with straps, a moving carriage and springs, for an added layer of resistance. Lower body exercises involve lying on your back, attaching the straps to your ankles and tracing infinity signs with your feet. As someone who has tried and tested plenty of reformer classes, I can attest to it helping improve my core strength, balance and general mind-body connection. But it is also an expensive hobby: in London, classes average \u00a330, but memberships can be much higher (one Kensington hotspot, Karve, offers 100 classes per year for \u00a32,450).<\/p>\n While it\u2019s difficult to pinpoint when a genuine buzz surrounding reformer pilates turned into a newfound beauty ideal, we know the sheeny pages of Instagram and TikTok have played a part. Dr Kat Schneider, a research fellow studying changing body image trends at UWE\u2019s Centre for Appearance Research<\/a>, tells me how she\u2019s witnessed a \u201cnoticeable shift away from the curvy hourglass aesthetic\u201d popularised by celebrity figures in the mid-2010s, towards the \u201cpilates body\u201d. \u201cSocial media is a key driver behind this minimalist, polished, wellness-oriented aesthetic, which is dominating visual culture,\u201d says Schneider. She says that the aesthetic \u2013 very much rooted in ideals of thinness \u2013 is tied up in other recent lifestyle movements, such as the clean girl aesthetic (which entails displaying an effortless and polished existence) or the quiet luxury movement (all about elegance and refined consumption). \u201cIt\u2019s essentially where control, discipline and pristineness are prioritised,\u201d says Schneider. \u201cThis \u2018pilates body\u2019 aligns with this cultural narrative of restraint, minimalism and wellness.\u201d <\/p>\n Above all, no matter the trend, the cult of thinness is on the rise, despite the failed attempts of the 21st century\u2019s body positivity movement<\/a>. Trends repeat and change themselves all the time \u2013 and Schneider would argue that the pilates body has the biggest crossover with the 1980s aerobics aesthetic, popularised by Jane Fonda (albeit wearing Lycra leotards and legwarmers). \u201cThe beauty ideal has remained thin, so \u2018thin with curves\u2019 or \u2018thin but toned\u2019 or \u2018thin but muscular\u2019, or just \u2018plain thin\u2019,\u201d says Schneider. \u201cThe thin part has always stayed there \u2013 but now that appearance has been rebranded as focusing on wellness and health.\u201d<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n \u2018Social media is a key driver behind this minimalist, polished, wellness-oriented aesthetic, which is dominating visual culture,\u2019 says Dr Kat Schneider (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n It also can\u2019t be ignored how the pilates body has risen in tandem with Hollywood\u2019s embrace of weight loss drugs like Ozempic. Schneider says there\u2019s plenty of evidence to suggest that the existence of weight loss drugs is allowing people to undo the signs of the trends that came before, and physically adapt to changing beauty ideals surrounding thinness. \u201cThese drugs are making it much easier for most people to pursue a more slender physique, at least in the short term,\u201d says Schneider. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing the reversal of Brazilian butt lifts, fat removal procedures and an increase in starvation diets. It\u2019s this rebranding that\u2019s happening, one that suggests thinness equals wellness, which is obviously not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that pilates was never designed for weight loss, nor do fitness trainers or doctors prescribe pilates-only workout plans for those desiring drastic results. Laura Thornton, a pilates practitioner of 10 years and owner of the Form and Flow studios<\/a> in Warwickshire and Stratford Upon Avon, tells me that 28-day pilates challenges, those that you\u2019ve likely seen swarming your Instagram feed, completely miss the point of the practice. \u201cIn our training, we\u2019re taught that this exercise is about moving your body this way for aligning this way, for working on mobility or stability,\u201d says Thornton. \u201cWe\u2019re not really trained to change your body in terms of size and aesthetically in real life. In the studio, we work with a lot of people who have kind of common injuries like bulging discs, knee replacements, knee surgeries, rehab, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Thornton has noticed that these weight loss pilates regimens being advertised online often contain false advertising and misinformation. \u201cA lot of the people promoting these workout plans already have the desired body for what they\u2019re selling. The effects of pilates are never linear person to person.\u201d Thornton sees these challenges as \u201cquick fixes\u201d when pilates is about longevity<\/a>. \u201cThe history of pilates is about rehabilitation, about helping you feel better and create lifelong sustainable changes.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph Pilates, the German personal trainer, gymnast and boxer behind the practice, was a lean, stocky man who would probably scoff at the popularity of weight loss drugs today. He developed his method, called \u201ccontrology\u201d, during the First World War while being held as a prisoner of war at Knockaloe, an internment camp on the Isle of Man. Pilates developed a range of makeshift contraptions to stretch and strengthen the body with the limited space and resources he had, such as a \u201cspine corrector\u201d (a curved apparatus designed to support and challenge the spine) and the early beginnings of the reformer machine, created by attaching springs to hospital beds, so that patients could start toning their muscles even while they were still bedbound.<\/p>\n Thornton says the boom in pilates has been brilliant for the industry, particularly since it has introduced a much younger audience to the practice. Though she does worry that its new, moneyed image will alienate other newcomers. Indeed, it\u2019s true that the beds provided by some studios don\u2019t accommodate people with larger bodies, while popular luxury athleisure brands don\u2019t stock above a size 14. \u201cIf you go into a long-standing studio such as mine, it is a mix of all ages, sizes, abilities, races, genders, everything. It seems that social media has projected this idea of wealth and affluence, and it being exclusive to very thin, able-bodied, slim people. And that\u2019s not a real representation of the real classes.\u201d So it\u2019s not all Lululemon and Stanley cups? \u201cI definitely turn up in a baggy T-shirt,\u201d she laughs. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n \u2018If you go into a long-standing studio such as mine, it is a mix of all ages, sizes, abilities, races, genders, everything,\u2019 says pilates coach Laura Thornton (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n While practitioners like Thornton provide inclusive and accessible classes, there\u2019s no denying that the idolised \u201cpilates body\u201d has become linked with elitism. Trends surrounding women\u2019s bodies have always been connected with class and communicating affluence. Schneider tells me that centuries ago, wealthier women were proud of having larger bodies, because it signified they were able to afford food and didn\u2019t have to engage in laborious work. It\u2019s a different story today. \u201cIn the last 1,500 years or so, thin has always seemed to be in, because it\u2019s associated with things like control and money.\u201d The pressure to be thin affects everyone, but women face an acute level of pressure. \u201cIt\u2019s become about shrinking yourself, and spending time and effort on your appearance.\u201d <\/p>\n Exclusiveness, both financially and aesthetically speaking, is nothing new in exercise. There\u2019s been barre, CrossFit, booty band workout routines and hot yoga that have come before. But never before has wellness been put behind such an impenetrable paywall. In her 2019 memoir Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, Jia Tolentino summed up the barre phenomenon excellently. \u201cI felt acutely conscious of being in the company of other women who had, like me, thrown their lot in with this pursuit of frictionlessness. We all made, or were trying to make, enough money to afford this expensive class, which would give us the strength and discipline that would ensure that we would be able to afford this expensive class again. We were embracing, with some facsimile of pleasure, our era of performance and endless work.\u201d <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n The defining body standard for 2025 is arguably the slim, lean and minimalist pilates physique (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n Our pilates princess, then, is a prototype of modern culture\u2019s obsession with self-optimisation. Most evident in the post-pandemic content era, where people brag about their 5am-to-9am side hustle before their 9am-to-5pm job, their exhausting wellness schedules and meal prep routines, regimenting yourself to the point of tedium has become the ultimate signifier of \u201cI made it\u201d. Whether chasing that unattainable image of perfection is making us plain boring is another thing entirely. In an article for Dazed<\/a> titled \u201cIs fitness culture making us sad and boring?\u201d Laura Pitcher wrote that it\u2019s become a \u201cstrange flex to skip the social function for the sake of your workout\u201d and highlighted the actual cost of not socialising while people chase a non-existent self-improvement finish line.<\/p>\n As we sprint after the latest body standard, we might lose sight of what is actually good for us. Schneider says that the wellness industry\u2019s relationship with self-improvement has led to people exercising purely for aesthetics, rather than engaging in physical activity for joy-seeking, general mental wellbeing<\/a> or as an opportunity to socialise with friends.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t sell true wellness \u2013 regular movement practice, a relatively balanced diet, having fun and a good sleep,\u201d says Schneider. \u201cNow, it\u2019s only the extreme version of wellness that sells, like detox diets or supplements or regimented programmes.\u201d If true wellness is unsellable, then it\u2019s worth asking, what are we buying in the first place?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-70703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\u2018Social](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/iStock-1861654897.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\u2018If](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/iStock-2223252921.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/reformer.jpg\")
<\/p>\n