One Spring Is Not the Whole System-A response to New York Magazine’s piece “Why Pilates Keeps Pissing People Off”

I read “Why Pilates Keeps Pissing People Off”, and while I appreciate the attempt to capture the cultural moment around Pilates, the piece ends up painting with far too broad and shallow a brush.

Buckle up, y’all, this is a long one, but hopefully you’ll feel it’s worth the read.

The author frames Pilates as a trend-driven, weaponized aesthetic and, in doing so, overlooks the real bodies, lived experiences, and instructors who don’t fit the limited archetype centered in the piece.

I acknowledge that, yes, the bikini industrial complex (thank you Nagoski sisters for that turn of phrase) is everywhere and exhausting, but Pilates is not the problem. What is the problem? Flattening a complex, global movement system into whatever your Instagram feed happens to serve you.

If your only exposure to Pilates is a parade of thin, white, hyper-toned twenty-somethings in coordinated sets whispering about “lengthening,” then yes — it’s going to feel like a cult of rich white women balancing a magic ring in one hand and a Birkin in the other.

But consider this: maybe you’re just looking in the wrong corner of the internet. Maybe it’s time to check your algorithm, because that version of Pilates is one spring on the reformer, not the whole system of tension.

Pilates isn’t inherently exclusionary, but it can be marketed as such.

How do I know this?

I started as a Pilates client in 2006 and am now an instructor. I began on the mat, and now I’m at the mic. In other words, I’ve seen this from both perspectives.

The Missing Conversation

On Reddit and other forums, long-time practitioners talk about how Pilates helped them stay active, manage hypermobility, or keep a routine when other workouts weren’t accessible.

And experts and instructors outside the spotlight have been speaking about inclusivity and access for years, addressing issues such as cost barriers, body ideals, and a lack of representation for queer folks, people of color, and people with larger bodies.

If we want a better conversation about Pilates, it needs to include instructors and practitioners who are actually doing the work in communities often ignored in wellness coverage: people of color teaching Pilates and other modalities building inclusive spaces; instructors working with all sizes of bodies, queer bodies, disabled bodies, older bodies, and bodies outside the glamorous Instagram mold; teachers who emphasize empowerment through movement and modifications and adaptability over aesthetics.

There are lots of instructors reshaping this space, and while I’m glad the reporter spoke to Lindsey Leaf of Fat Body Pilates, there are entire communities pushing back against the limited aesthetic narrative, such as:

• Harlem Pilates has long centered diversity in both clients and teacher training. Who maybe you’ve seen in the Super Bowl Chase commercial??

• Decolonizing Fitness  seeks to disrupt mainstream fitness narratives by sharing information that is rooted in: anti-oppressive, anti-racist, anti-ableist, anti-ageist, size inclusive, harm reduction, and gender affirming frameworks.

• The Underbelly, founded by Jessamyn Stanley, has made it clear that fitness does not belong exclusively to thin, straight, white bodies.

• Queer Body Pilates centers queer and trans practitioners while creating an accessible, body-affirming movement space for people of all identities, abilities, and experiences.

• 
  

Just to name a few!

These spaces exist, and these voices are powerful, and yet they are often left out of the conversation.

The Moment I Still Think About

Last year, I taught a group class at a popular Pilates studio franchise. A Black woman in a larger body walked through the door. It was her first class. I panicked. Not because I was afraid. Not because I didn’t know how to work with her body. But because I knew she didn’t look like most of the people around her.

Two thoughts went through my head: How can I make her feel comfortable and provide guidance without making her self-conscious?

Followed immediately by: F**k. I hope this experience doesn’t scare her away.

She didn’t come back.

I will never know if it was me, the environment, or simply that it wasn’t the right fit for her. But I will always feel a sense of responsibility for that moment.

Even when the practice isn’t exclusionary, the environment sometimes is.

A room full of one body type, skin color, or gender sends a message, even if no one says a word. And as instructors, we’re navigating that silent messaging in real time.It’s hard, but this work is important.

If we’re going to critique Pilates culture, let’s critique the branding and marketing machine, and not erase the instructors trying to widen the door.

Group vs. Private: Tradition vs. Accessibility

Let’s also talk about the elephant on the reformer (see how I did that?).

Yes, I know there’s controversy around group Pilates. Yes, I know the argument: Joe (as if we knew his mind or something) did not design this method to be blasted through a microphone in a room of twelve people moving in unison to a playlist called “Hot Girl Core.”

Historically? Correct.

Contrology was taught in small, highly supervised settings. It was individualized, precise, and tailored. And I respect that lineage. But. I am not a purist.

Because here’s the reality: private sessions are EXPENSIVE.

Pilates, personal training, and most private movement work, AKA one-on-one expertise, costs MONEY. It always has. For most people, ongoing private sessions are not financially possible. Not because they don’t value their health, not because they “don’t prioritize themselves.” But because life is expensive.

Group formats (even imperfect ones) lower the price point. They widen the door. They make exercise accessible to people who would otherwise be shut out entirely.

Is group Pilates the same as a tailored private session? No.

Is it better than not moving at all because you can’t afford private training?

Absolutely.

I teach both, and I see the difference. Private sessions allow depth, nuance, and clinical specificity. Group sessions allow access, community, consistency, affordability, and you know what else? FUN!

ACCESS MATTERS.

If we demand purity, we shrink the room. If we demand exclusivity in the name of tradition, we protect a method at the expense of people, and I reject that narrative.

I will never stop supporting access. I will always advocate for strong teacher education and intelligent programming in group settings, and I refuse to shame group formats simply because we don’t think it’s what Joe would have wanted.

The Clinical Side Everyone Conveniently Ignores

Here’s the other thing that was almost completely left out of the conversation: Pilates is used clinically. Meaning, it’s often used as a complementary modality alongside physical therapy, particularly for motor control, pre and post-rehab strength, and movement retraining.

And recently, more and more physical therapists are pursuing Pilates certifications because they recognize the value of integrating the two approaches.

My training with The Neuro Studio fundamentally changed how I teach. It moved me beyond classical cueing and into a deeper understanding of motor control, neurological adaptation, and the reality that different brains require different inputs, depending on personality, injury history, and neurological presentation.

I’ve worked with clients living with complex neurological conditions that even their doctors struggled to clearly diagnose. These are people who were told by neurologists and physical therapists that certain aspects of mobility and coordination would never return.

And yet, with intelligent, patient, neurologically informed movement work, we saw change.

Is Pilates a replacement for medical care? No.

Is it a legitimate, powerful adjunct healing modality rooted in neuromuscular retraining? One thousand percent!

And While We’re Here — Can We Stop the Pilates vs. Strength Training War?

One of the more insidious trends in fitness media right now is this pointless “Pilates vs. strength training” debate. This argument is so tired it needs a foam roller (see how I made another joke?).

Pilates isn’t trying to replace your barbell.Your barbell is not plotting against the reformer.

Pilates and strength training are different tools in your movement toolkit, and both have value. Strength training builds bone density, muscle mass, and metabolic resilience. It helps you carry your groceries, pick up your overweight Dachshund, and open the pickle jar.

Pilates builds joint stability, deep core control, coordination, and teaches your body how to organize force so you don’t wreck your back while lifting heavy sh*t. And. It too helps you carry your groceries, pick up your overweight Dachshund, and open the pickle jar.

These approaches are complementary, not competitors. My own experience reflects this. I do both Pilates and strength training. In fact, my personal trainer and I share several clients, and their bodies are the receipts.

AND. If I’m being honest, I DON’T CARE WHICH ONE SOMEONE CHOOSES.

The only “good” workout is the one that you can do consistently.

There’s nothing superior about lifting heavy or doing Pilates work. The idea that we have to pick a side is ludicrous, internet nonsense designed to spark drama and get more clicks.

DON’T TAKE THE BAIT.

So What’s Actually Pissing People Off?

It’s not Pilates.

It’s the bikini industrial complex. It’s media doing what media does — spotlighting the most obvious, photogenic, dramatic version of everything. It’s the homogenous marketing and luxury price tags.

It’s a DISTRACTION.

I don’t care if you do Pilates, yoga, lift weights, or all of the above.

I care that you move.

Because movement shouldn’t be about fitting into a trend or conforming to an idea of how your body should look. It should be about whether it helps you feel stronger, steadier, powerful, and more connected to your own body, whatever that body looks like.

And if you’re still viewing Pilates as the villain, your lens needs more stretching than your hamstrings.