Pilates has been having a major moment in the fitness and wellness industry, so much so, that it could arguably be the workout of 2025. What was once a workout that was used mainly for rehabilitative purposes — its founder, Joseph Pilates, came up with the exercises as a way to rehabilitate injured war prisoners during World War I — has now acquired a mass following, with celebrities like Meghan Markle, Lori Harvey, Adele and Hailey Bieber swearing by it.
The functional, low-impact workout is a type of strength training in which you perform a series of repetitive movements — with or without equipment — that improve posture, balance and core strength, stabilise joints, increase muscle endurance and encourage mindfulness. And right now, it is dominating social media.
A search for ‘Pilates’ on TikTok yields over 400 million results. No doubt you will have seen the viral videos of male bodybuilders wincing as they try a reformer Pilates class for the first time, or the morning routines of self-named ‘Pilates princesses,’ a trend of Gen-Z and millennial women who have made Pilates not only a lifestyle, but an aesthetic too.
Picture Stanley Cup-wielding, tote-carrying women dressed in matching Lulu Lemon sets, going to their semi-weekly Pilates class where they perform mermaids, clams and The Hundred like synchronized swimmers, before grabbing an iced matcha on their way out of the studio.
“Pilates princess describes a lifestyle of self-care focusing on Pilates — in other words, a combination of fitness, wellness and luxurious way of living,” explains Maryliz Phillips, studio manager of Sol Pilates in Dubai. “The concept of a ‘soft life’ seems to also be attached to the term of ‘Pilates princess’ where it refers to a lifestyle that prioritizes ease, relaxation and minimal stress.”
Pilates has been around for over a century, so why the recent obsession?
“Pilates gives people what they’re actually missing: presence,” say Elvina…
