A month-long experiment highlights Pilates’ growing appeal among men, with reformer and mat classes challenging assumptions that the method is easy while improving one participant’s flexibility, balance, posture and shoulder discomfort.
Pilates is attracting more men as some exercisers look beyond high-intensity training. In a Guardian account of a month spent trying reformer and mat Pilates, a desk-bound participant described poor flexibility, weak core strength and difficulty bending down to tie a shoelace. The experience began painfully but ended with better balance, easier toe-touching, a firmer-feeling abdomen and modestly improved posture.
The article places this personal experience within a wider commercial and cultural shift. It reports that the UK Pilates and yoga market is worth a reported £1.1bn, while celebrities and sports figures including Harry Styles, Shaggy, LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham have helped raise the method’s profile among men. At one south London studio, instructor Hernan Castro-Vidal said 12 of his 15 private clients were men, many initially reluctant to join group classes.
The account also contrasts reformer and mat work. The reformer’s springs, footbar and straps provided support while still producing demanding abdominal and lower-body exercises. A later mat session felt harder because the participant had to rely more heavily on balance, strength and flexibility. Instructor Stephanie Tam described mat Pilates as the original form and said men were increasingly attending her classes, often after assuming the sessions would be easy.
The trend may reflect changing preferences as well as celebrity influence. One participant, GP Divanka Wijendra, said he had moved away from HIIT and CrossFit because he found their intensity harder to sustain, and reported stronger core control and improved posture after six months. The article cites a fall in CrossFit-affiliated gyms from about 14,000 in 2018 to fewer than 10,000 in 2025, alongside a reported rise of more than 900% in applications from reformer instructors between 2024 and 2025. Those figures are commercial reports, not independent research, and the article’s physical outcomes are individual experiences rather than evidence that Pilates will produce the same results for everyone. For the international Pilates community, the development points to a broader audience—and to the importance of welcoming beginners without reducing Pilates to a celebrity-led fitness trend.
Read the full article:
‘My body is on fire!’: my perilous, painful, perfect month of pilates
Image: AI-generated illustration.