{"id":195015,"date":"2025-06-18T18:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T18:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/195015\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T18:02:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T18:02:11","slug":"muscle-mommies-are-out-pilates-bodies-are-in-and-all-of-this-signals-something-very-problematic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/195015\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMuscle Mommies\u201d Are Out. \u201cPilates Bodies\u201d Are In. And All of This Signals Something Very Problematic"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came of age in the mid 2000s\u2014a time of low-rise jeans and hip bone worship<\/a>, of tabloids using their front pages to criticize any change in a celebrity\u2019s body. While I\u2019d like to think that, as a society, we\u2019ve come a long way since then, there\u2019s no doubt that the obsession has returned, repackaged for the age of social media<\/a>. This time, more pervasively\u2014and more problematically\u2014through the guise of \u201chealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rise of the weight-loss shot Ozempic<\/a>\u2014a drug originally developed for those with type 2 diabetes\u2014has undeniably been co-opted to usher in a new era of the \u2018thin is in\u2019 mentality<\/a>, but that\u2019s not the only culprit. In the digital wellness spaces I frequent online, I have noticed an overwhelming shift in the approach to women\u2019s fitness. After the past decade or so of singing the praises of CrossFit and weight training\u2014encouraging the idea of \u201cstrong over skinny\u201d\u2014trainers and fitness influencers are suddenly posting videos about why they stopped lifting heavy to get a \u201cleaner\u201d look, namely through Pilates.<\/p>\n

Whether via\u00a0Ladder’s\u00a0Maia Henry<\/a>\u00a0or TikTok’s Sivan Tayer<\/a>, both of whom have\u00a0begun touting paid workout programs promoting “leanness,” my\u00a0fitness feeds on TikTok and Instagram have gone from bench press workouts to videos about achieving \u201c11 lines\u201d on a reformer; about lifting lighter to prevent \u201cbulkiness.\u201d The desire for strength has given way to a desire for sinews.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, \u201cmuscle mommies\u201d are out, \u201cPilates princesses\u201d are in. And I hate it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a Tween Girl Mom and Ozempic Is Bringing Back My \u201890s Trauma<\/a><\/p>\n

My issue is not that I believe one type of workout is better than the other (quite the opposite\u2014I think we should celebrate all forms of movement that make people feel good). The issue, I think, is that it narrows the idea of what a \u201cfit\u201d body should look like. Ironically enough, that ideology can prevent people from working out in the first place\u2014or cause them to develop an obsessive approach to exercise\u2014and that\u2019s no way to promote health.<\/p>\n

Indeed, about a month ago, a San Antonio-based TikToker went viral for her rant about seeing larger people in her Pilates class, saying that they \u201cshouldn\u2019t be there,\u201d simply because they didn\u2019t align with her idea of a “Pilates aesthetic.\u201d While I won\u2019t name and shame (she has since deleted it and posted an apology video), this is exactly the type of negative rhetoric that results from exalting a certain body type while excluding (or shaming) the ones that don\u2019t fit a preconceived mold.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

@heloomelloo\/@abkpilates\/@maiahenryfit<\/p>\n

Meet the Expert<\/p>\n