Just remember, Pilates was a guy
Pilates is the fitness trend du jour, growing faster than even hyper-trendy yoga. Private studios are opening across the city, a plethora of books and videos are on the market and practically every major gym chain offers classes. But peek into one of those classes and one thing becomes stunningly apparent: A vast majority of the participants are women.
Despite its rapid rise in popularity, Pilates has yet to catch on with men. The fitness regimen, based on stretching and resistance training that concentrates on building core muscles, was developed by German-born athlete Joseph Pilates as a way to rehabilitate hospital patients during World War I. Decades later, his technique, which usually incorporates various machines fitted with springs and cables, was adopted by dancers and then the general public.
Well, some of the general public. Those who follow such things say Pilates is where yoga was about five or six years ago, when there were only sporadic sightings of men. Granted, Pilates has come into the mainstream fitness lexicon in the last few years, and now people actually know how to pronounce it (Pil-ah-tees, not Pil-ay-tees).
According to a survey by the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Assn., participation in Pilates in the U.S. rose 92% from 2001 to 2002. Women accounted for 90% of the participants. One factor in its expansion is that private and semiprivate training, which can be costly (about $60 a session), is being augmented by free or inexpensive group mat classes offered by gyms.
Although most men could benefit from better flexibility and the stronger trunk muscles (read: six-pack abs) that Pilates can provide, many view it with a wary eye.
Blame the dreaded taint: “It’s a chick thing by association,” says Sascha Ferguson, owner of Absolution, a Pilates studio in West Hollywood. “Women got into it originally because they saw these actresses and models who had great lithe, lean bodies. Men don’t think that way. They want to get buffed and ripped.”
Not all men, though. Actors Hank Azaria and Jeff Probst, television host of “Survivor,” are among clients at Ferguson’s studio. And New Jersey Net guard Jason Kidd swears by Pilates enough to have a machine at home, while his NBA basketball team started incorporating Pilates into its training last year. “A lot of the guys like it,” team spokesman Gary Sussman says. “It really stretches them out.”
Although other athletes -- including football and baseball players -- are said to be Pilates devotees, they haven’t exactly been blabbing about it the way, say, Sarah Jessica Parker does.
Pilates’ affiliation with dance may also have hampered its acceptance among men who feel more comfortable with the ultra-macho realm of sweaty weight rooms. To the untrained eye, Pilates machines, such as the Reformer, look like odd contraptions that could barely coax a bead of perspiration. Says Ferguson, “Men think that the machines do the work for you, that you’re just lying around being pulled and stretched.”
That is, until they try it. “I’ve had a couple of guys come in who were big and bulky and said they did 200 sit-ups a day, and they can’t do this,” says Jay Davis, a Pilates instructor with the Equinox Fitness Club in West Hollywood. “There is this myth that Pilates doesn’t work you out.”
Mari Winsor, who has her own Pilates program, videos and chain of studios, suspects that more men are drawn to Pilates as they learn more about it. “They’re seeing how this does make you more flexible and energizes you, and makes any sport that you do better.”
When men do become involved with Pilates, it’s usually to rehabilitate an injured knee, back or shoulder; improve their golf or tennis or racquetball game; or placate persuasive wives and girlfriends who have already become converts.
Kevin Munkholm noticed his tennis partner’s game changing after he started Pilates training: “He started playing more athletically,” says Munkholm, a 34-year-old insurance salesman from San Diego. “It’s tough to explain, but he seemed to have better timing and could hit the ball with just a flick of his wrist.”
That was enough to persuade Munkholm to try Pilates himself. In the four private sessions he’s had so far, Munkholm says he’s working previously undiscovered abdominal muscles, and is noticing slight improvements in his tennis game. “I had no idea what Pilates was about,” he concedes. “I had to go on a Web site to figure out what it was.”
If the evolution of yoga is any indication, it will only be a matter of time before there’s more gender parity in Pilates. Testimonials could speed it along: It wouldn’t hurt if more male sports stars and hunky actors shared their Pilates training with the world. Age is another potential factor in its favor, says Maricar Pratt, owner of Better Body Pilates Fitness Inc. studios in Calabasas and Agoura Hills. “As we get older we want to do something other than weight training,” she says. “And as you get older you just can’t do certain things anymore.”
Pratt’s male clients tend to be in their 30s and older -- the age when three-hour gym sessions start to lose whatever charm they might once have had.
Those men who already have discovered Pilates may want to keep it a secret for now -- and not just because of its health benefits. “Men come into the studio and they’re surrounded by women,” Ferguson says. “They’re not crazy. It’s a no-lose situation.”