Why your boyfriend doesn’t want to join Pilates, but Justin Bieber already does

Examining how an exercise that was invented by a man during WW2 become so daunting for modern men.

Over the past few months, TikTok and Instagram have been flooded with over 68,000 #mendopilates videos of women bringing their boyfriends along with them to a Pilates class. Even Justin and Hailey Bieber attend together. Before the class starts, most of these men’s faces are filled with arrogant smirks and eye rolls; they assume this exercise class will be just a few gentle stretches and breathing exercises, but they will learn soon enough that they are gravely mistaken. By the end of the session, these men are covered in bucket loads of sweat, their hearts pounding at a hundred miles per hour, every muscle in their body aches, so exhausted that they have to recover on the floor before leaving. 

Sunderland Pilates Studio (Photo Credits: Katie Higson)

Ironically, Pilates was invented by a man who competed in multiple stereotypically masculine sports beforehand including professional boxing and bodybuilding. Joseph Pilates started developing the exercise after World War 1 as he had studied anatomy and helped bed-bound patients tone their muscles using springs attached to hospital beds when he worked as a nurse.

In 2023, Pilates blew up online with the ‘Clean Girl’ trend with 1.3 million posts under #cleangirl on TikTok. This corresponds with statistics showing that the Pilates market has grown nearly 200 times larger since 2020 (De Pilates Store, 2025).  

Janet Whitwood, owner of Sunderland Pilates studio, is sitting gracefully on the edge of the ‘tower’- an L-shaped piece of equipment used in reformer Pilates- as she explains that the sport has had “a massive resurge in publicity” over the last couple of years. She jokes: “When I started in Sunderland, about 20 years ago, some people would call Pilates ‘pilots’, so we’ve come a long way from there.”

Janet Whitwood (Photo Credits: Katie Higson)

Whitwood refers to herself as a ‘third generation’ Pilates teacher, meaning that she was taught by Lalita San Miguel, one of the only two people who have been certified by Joseph Pilates. And although only 20% of her vast Pilates clientele are men, she says: “I’ve always had men coming to classes but now it’s more and more men are coming to classes”. However, she states that most of these men are either brought along by their wives or girlfriends, or they are professional athletes with injuries or back pain.  

When questioned why she believes less men than women attend Pilates classes, Whitwood says: “I think that men are under the perception of it as a women’s only type of class or a granny type of class. I think they just haven’t experienced it properly…They’re totally shocked when they come to Pilates and they start to activate the core in different ways that they’ve never done at the gym.” 

Ryan Thompson, a 22-year-old man from Manchester, who started Pilates a year and a half ago explained that he joined a class to improve his mental health and also his body as he works a labour-intensive job in the construction. He shared a similar sentiment as Whitwood, saying:  

“I don’t think most men are motivated to do it. They complain their body is all stiff and not flexible but don’t do anything about it. The men that do Pilates realise how good and beneficial it is for your health mentally and physically.” 

Whitwood suggested another reason for men’s struggle with Pilates: “I think that some men find it difficult to relax or switch off. And I’ve been told by some men that come to classes that they’re sort of forced to do that in Pilates… they’re actually moving meditations.”  

Mark Ord, an evolutionary psychologist, who researches the deep-seated reasons of why people behave the way that they do, particularly men, was asked whether masculinity impacts people’s choice of sports. In response, he explained that it “substantially does” as it’s an innate trait for males to gain “status” by competing and winning against other men. However, competing against women doesn’t necessarily give men status so Pilates is less desirable as it’s female dominated. 

Ord suggests another reason, the average women’s view of strength as being attractive and the concept of “perceived formidability” influencing men into exercises that create bigger muscles. However, he states: “Men think you have to be massive. But when you look at what women perceive it’s not strictly that.”  

Ord explained how some people in the gay community may be more willing than straight men to attend Pilates, but still not all: 

“I think you have a lot of variances there depending on who you’re talking about…if you look at like bears in the gay community, where sort of hyper masculine might be more preferred versus something classically feminine.” 

Man doing Pilates (Photo Credits: Pexels, Kampus Production)

Nevertheless, statistics from Equinox (2024) state that the number of men attending Pilates classes since the pandemic has increased 40% each year. 

Pilates teacher Whitwood explored a possible reason: 

“I think men are more open to it…[they’re] starting to hear about Pilates in the media, social media, and so are willing to give it a try. Plus, they see other men doing Pilates now, so they don’t have to be scared to try it.” 

Whitwood describes how Pilates “readdresses imbalances in the body”, stretching, strengthen and mobilising our bodies… like in a gym exercise, if you’re doing a bicep curl, you’re working your bicep, you’re not working all the little muscles that have to stabilise the shoulder joint underneath that bicep… in fact it helps them perform better in a gym.” 

Thompson stated that he didn’t know much about Pilates before joining except that it was good for his body and longevity, but now he’s noticed that increased flexibility, which benefits his construction job and weightlifting and boxing hobbies. He also reported feeling “a lot better mentally after training Pilates”. 

Furthermore, Ord suggested Pilates, like most physical activity, reduces male loneliness through social contact, increases mood through the release of endorphins, decreases social pain impact, and the mixed-gender classes help reduce harmful perspectives of the other sex. 

Hopefully next time you suggest Pilates to your partner, they now know not to underestimate the skill needed or the benefits available.