Is Pilates For Men?

Often times, we see many different classes offered at our gyms—Yoga, spinning, Barre, aerobics, boxing, etc. Pilates classes are also commonly seen. But we often hear this question, “Is Pilates for men?”

We see almost 90% of the students in a Pilates class are females, so it is not hard to see where this myth comes from. Due to the fact that Joseph Pilates worked closely with New York City Ballet in the 20th century, the Pilates method is now beyond popular in the dance, performance, and even fashion industries, which are female dominant.

However, the Pilates method was created by a man, and certainly designed for men. Therefore, I will share with you some of the benefits to men who practice Pilates.

Pilates Gives You A Better Posture

The majority of the Pilates techniques focus on elongation of the spine while moving the arms and legs in different directions. This acquired elongation helps us reverse the excessive curvatures in our spines from prolonged sitting and often time sedentary lifestyles in the modern society. By carrying a better posture, it’s much easier for us to let go of the muscle tension, particularly in our lower back, neck and shoulders.

Occasionally, people even experience that they have “grown taller” because of practicing Pilates and having a better posture. In fact, Stephen and I have both experienced gaining two more inches in our heights since we began practicing Pilates!

Pilates Balances Your Strength and Flexibility

Joseph Pilates once stated that “true flexibility can be achieved only when all muscles are uniformly developed.” This depicts the optimal balance of muscle strength and flexibility that we want to accomplish.

In order to achieve the optimal balance, Pilates techniques are performed with low repetitions, and incorporate intermittent active stretching versus a prolonged passive hold within the choreography. Hence, it is one of the safest exercise approaches with very little risk of injuries.

Pilates Enhances Your Performance In Sports

Pilates puts a heavy emphasis on core stability, which is essential in all forms of sports activities. By adequately engaging the core muscles, the endurance-based athletes like runners and triathletes are able to carry out the motion more efficiently while conserving energy, and power-based athletes such as power lifters and CrossFitters are able to safely generate more force while keeping a solid base of support. Hence, practicing Pilates would certainly improve your performance in other sports.

Eliud Kipchoge, who became the first person to break the two-hour record in the marathon in Vienna, Austria in Oct. 2019, stated the importance of core stability training as part of his preparation for the run. Narrowly missing the mark by 25 seconds in 2017, Kipchoge stated that “he was introduced to two core strengthening workouts per week this time,” which was different to his past training.

Joseph Pilates integrated concepts from martial arts other forms of exercise methods, and he a huge chunk of his method was developed during his time teaching in the concentration camp in the UK. Pilates is definitely for men!

Still not sure about this? How about experiencing the magic in person?

Our Pilates taster sessions are here for you!

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If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call at (512)215-4227.

Stephen, myself and any of our Pilates instructors are happy to talk with you, and looking forward to giving you an A++ experience!


Fun Facts:

4 of the 10 Elders in the classical Pilates world are MEN.

Romana Kryzanowska, the Elder that’s considered the “line of succession” for the Pilates method, created the original jump board class on reformers for MALE astronauts to tolerate the zero-gravity outer-space.

Today, over 10 million American practice Pilates, and the numbers continue to grow.


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