For years, ballerinas and moms flocked to Pilates, giving the illusion that it was just for women. Pushing and pulling on special equipment called reformers made it look effortless. But today, men are slowly becoming interested in Pilates because it’s just that: exercise. And it’s exercise that makes you sweat.
Dawn Friedman, 60, co-owner of Pilates Connection at 1609 Oak Ave., said that currently, 20 to 25 percent of her studio’s clients are men.
Pilates improves balance, breathing and flexibility, which are extremely important for any athlete, professional or amateur.
For Gaurav Issar, 57, a technology consultant from Kenya, Pilates was the solution to improve his golf game: Back pain was making it difficult for him to play, so a friend with the same condition encouraged him to try Pilates.
“When I tell my friends that I do Pilates, most of them are surprised and assume it’s not a workout. It’s difficult for me to convince them to come,” Issar says.
Scott Brady, 70, a former information systems consultant, has been doing Pilates for six years and wants to dispel the myth that Pilates is something you learn as you go and that people who don’t know what they’re doing should not come.
“I don’t think of it as a women’s exercise because it has huge benefits for me outside of the Pilates studio,” Brady says.
Man and Method
Pilates was created by Joseph Pilates. After immigrating to the United States in the 1920s, he opened a studio in New York City and named his exercises “Control G.” He was German and began developing his exercises and equipment while he was interned in a British concentration camp during World War I. His method became known as Pilates after his death in 1967.
While many of his clients were men, female dancers in New York soon began to discover him. Dan DeVaughn, a spokesman for athletic training club Life Time, said men are now returning to Pilates, making up 25% of participants, up from 16% in 2017, according to a Wall Street Journal article.
Friedman, who is Issar’s and Brady’s instructor, said the men who attend Pilates Connection range in age from middle-aged to those in their 80s, and that the number of men is growing, especially as professional athletes talk about Pilates more and more, making it more mainstream.
Former Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta said Pilates helped him pitch better. Article from Business Insider.
Luke Dreiling, 45, instructor and owner of Body Bar, 710 Church St., Evanston.
He lives in Atlanta and trains professional athletes, and said that if more men were aware of the cross-training aspect of Pilates, they would be more likely to understand its benefits.
Different stretches
“I used to coach the Atlanta Falcons a lot, and they did this during the season because they wanted something that would develop players in a gentle but different way,” Dreiling said.
“I think it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in your body,” said Diana Benoit, 44, owner of 105F, a hot yoga and Pilates studio in Chicago.
Pilates has been gaining a lot of attention on social media, with its popularity soaring and professional athletes talking up the benefits of such training.”
“For men, this type of training often focuses only on stabilizing muscles, which is traditionally more preferred by women, but CrossFit and lifting can improve your posture,” Dreiling said.
Dreiling added that men may feel more comfortable with the workout if they take Pilates with a male instructor.
“Some people have this stereotype that, ‘I can’t do Pilates because I’m too stiff,’ but they don’t realize that Joseph Pilates intended Pilates for everyone,” Friedman says.
Emerson Ledger lives in Plains, Virginia, and wrote this article as part of the Medill Northwestern Summer Journalism in Evanston. She loves getting to know people and telling their stories.
