Myths Keeping Men From Trying Pilates!

Pilates is dominated by women (instructors and attendees)...that is not a myth but  is the truth BUT the method was created by a MAN, Joseph Pilates. 

1. Sometimes men think Pilates is just for dancers. A little known fact is that Joseph Pilates was very involved in the boxing community.  In fact, the manger of Max Schmeling ( the German boxer who fought Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938) help fund his studio in New York City and Joseph Pilates helped train up and coming boxers.

2. Often men think that Pilates is exclusive and just for women.  However, Pilates is for everyone! Generally men advance much quicker than women in Pilates because they have more upper body strength and are able to hold their body weight for the more advanced exercises.

3.  Men have traditional focused on their global muscles  - the big muscles that look good and get larger by weight training.  However, men are beginning to see the benefits of using the local muscles - the muscle which are smaller and more important to stabilizing the joint to cross train to prevent injuries.  Actually the largest percentage of the men, who come to the studio where I work, are coming back from an injury and do not want have another injury.

So if you're a man and/or if you have a male significant other please invite them to your next Pilates class.  Let's start seeing more men in Pilates classes!