The year is 1995
and I’m popping one of my mum’s Jane Fonda aerobics videos into the player, ready to follow along with a cast of perky, hard bodies. This is me, at 13 years old, discovering how fantastic it feels to move my body the way I choose. Until recently, I had missed that upbeat girl and her endorphin-forward attitude. Then we reconnected on the Pilates reformer. Over the past two decades, I’d replaced workouts that brought me joy with a
‘no pain, no gain’ approach. Running became a go-to – not because I liked it, but because I told myself I should do it to stay fit. But by my mid-thirties, I was feeling tired. That’s when I swapped my running trainers for low-impact barefoot bliss. I’m not the only one obsessed with Pilates – WH readers have likely noticed that many celebrities we’ve interviewed lately have sung its praises. But Pilates isn’t an inaccessible celeb trend, say pros.
‘Fitness fads come and go, but Pilates has stood the test of time,’ says Carrie Campbell, a Pilates teacher and founder of Positively Pilates. While some people use Pilates as their only workout, others use it in addition to other types of fitness training. After two years of practice (and a teaching qualification), my body feels better. My back stiffness has largely gone – a development supported by research. Pilates has been shown to reduce chronic low back pain, according to a recent review in Postgraduate Medical Journal. And the upsides don’t stop there: Pilates reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, says a meta-analysis in the Complementary Therapies in Medicine journal.
I’m not saying you should quit your fave HIIT class or stop going to the track. But Pilates can be a nice counterbalance to all that pushing, pulling and pounding. One study even found that, done in a clinical setting, Pilates improved functional movement in recreational runners, which could lead to fewer injuries, per the International Journal of
Sports Medicine.
So, are you ready to hit the mat (or reformer)? Whether you opt for an at-home sweat session or head to a studio, here’s your guide to getting into the Pilates groove.