The strange politics of Pilates
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NPR
4.7 • 9.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2026
⏱️ 25 minutes
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Summary
Pilates is an exercise that has been around for a long time – around a hundred years – but it’s just now coming into vogue in a big way. According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association report from 2025, Pilates is the fastest growing form of individual exercise in the United States: participation jumped by nearly 40% since 2019. And it’s gotten pretty big on social media.
But there's something interesting happening with that social media content – sometimes, it seems less about the actual exercise and way more about what doing Pilates says about who you are as a woman. And of course, anyone can do Pilates, but on social media, there is a strong emphasis on it being for "girls" (and being for specific kinds of girls). So why is some questionable baggage getting attached to Pilates? And why can't we be normal about exercise in general?
Brittany is joined by Madeline Leung Coleman, features writer at New York Magazine, who wrote a piece about why Pilates keeps getting people up in arms.
(00:00) How Pilates became popular
(02:21) Pilates got a hot makeover
(04:10) Does Pilates really reduce inflammation?
(08:29) The 'sculpt' body ideal (why celebrities are so thin and muscular now)
(11:19) The real benefits of Pilates
(14:43) Why (some) dudes are obsessed with finding a Pilates wife
(21:39) Can we ever be normal about exercise?
For more episodes about health, exercise and culture, check out:
Is tech making us too obsessed with our bodies?
The Swoletariat: a history of leftist fitness
Exercise is more important than ever
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Would you consider yourself a Pilates princess? |
| 0:06.6 | Pilates Princess? |
| 0:07.9 | No, but Pilates Appreciator, yes. |
| 0:11.3 | Oh, I love that. |
| 0:12.2 | Pilates appreciator, yes. |
| 0:14.1 | I loved it for a long time, and then I started going again after lockdown, and, like, the vibe was different. |
| 0:20.3 | Maybe Pilates and I are on the outs right now, but I have enjoyed it very much in the past. |
| 0:25.1 | So for those who don't know, Pilates is a kind of low impact exercise that uses resistance to stretch and strengthen muscles. |
| 0:32.8 | You can do it on a yoga mat or you can do it on a contraption called a reformer that kind of looks |
| 0:38.5 | like a medieval torture device, but is actually really nice to use. And Pilates has been around |
| 0:43.0 | for a pretty long time. It's named after this guy called Joseph Pilates, who developed it |
| 0:47.6 | about a century ago. But Pilates is experiencing a new surge in popularity. According to the |
| 0:54.0 | Sports and Fitness Industry Association report from 2025, Pilates is experiencing a new surge in popularity. According to the Sports and Fitness Industry |
| 0:55.2 | Association report from 2025, Pilates is the fastest growing form of individual exercise in the |
| 1:02.4 | United States. Participation jumped by nearly 40% since 2019. And if you're like me, you might be |
| 1:10.3 | getting content about it all over your feed. |
| 1:13.6 | But there's something interesting happening with that content. I feel like it's less about the actual |
| 1:21.6 | exercise and way more about what doing Pilates says about who you are as a woman. And of course, anyone can do Pilates, |
| 1:30.3 | but on social media, there is a strong emphasis on it being for girls and being for specific |
| 1:36.0 | kinds of girls. But why is some weird stuff getting attached to Pilates, which is, in my opinion, |
| 1:41.5 | a very fun and beginner-friendly form of exercise. |
| 1:45.2 | And why can't we be normal about exercise in general? |
... |
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