Pilates-tok?

[seekinganswersinlife]

Has anybody else been seeing tons of TikToks recently basically saying Pilates is where it’s at now?

I just saw one that says lifting 4-6 x week with progressive overload is causing us to have "imbalanced hormones" and to "hold onto fat" and these women are suddenly seeing the changes they've been looking for within weeks of starting pilates after lifting weights for years.

Is there some recent study or something that has caused people to start saying this? Is there any truth to the claims or is it just made up BS?

I say this as somebody who has been lifting heavy for seven years but has never managed to get that lean look I'm always chasing. I did a pilates class the other week and it felt to me like a series of bodyweight burn-inducing high-rep exercises and I decided not to return as it felt a bit much after leg day that morning. No doubt it's good for you, but why would this be superior to lifting for aesthetics?

I’m all for just doing the exercise you enjoy but if there is science-backed evidence I’m keen to hear it!

 

[akarsh]

@seekinganswersinlife I have not much knowledge but I enjoy this convo so far just to let you guys know

 

[infoprosamkate]

@seekinganswersinlife Try Pilates somewhere else. It’s not a high rep method, actually the opposite. But people are doing ridiculous hybrid things to make Pilates cardio but that’s just not Pilates. Pilates is a full body conditioning method created to restore balance and functional mobility for people. It’s especially challenging for the whole body when you can work on the equipment. The springs provide resistance and feedback to help you become more aware of your body mechanics. It’s an amazing method that’s over 100 years old but there’s a lot of absurd marketing around it and I wouldn’t believe til tok, I’d recommend trying a different studio and finding a really reputable one to experience it fully. I’ve been doing it for over 30 years and I can’t imagine life without it. After gymnastics and dance left me with many injuries it has healed me and kept me strong and continues to help as menopause ravages me

 

[clarencia]

@seekinganswersinlife Lifted for years. Life happened. Mid 50’s body was a mess. Realized that most of my aches and pains throughout my body were in direct relation to my lack of core strength. Been doing Pilates with my wife and can actually start to see my abs for the first time in 20 years and believe me you will find dormant muscles and wake them up. You’ll find strengths you never knew you had. (No relation to a Club, but it works)

Sorry, “what the instructor said”!

 

[srjoanna]

@seekinganswersinlife I think the pilates 'lean look' is more do with the fact that girls in that world are more into 'eating clean' and restricting their diets (intentionally or unintentionally) - thus staying small or losing weight due to a calorie deficit. Diet plays a huge role

 

[timbross1978]

@srjoanna Also tik tok algorithms pushing accounts with skinny girls with abs! I've seen lots of smaller not as popular accounts with not very lean girls

 

[donbentley]

@seekinganswersinlife I kinda agree

I think different types of exercise and different body types match better than others.

When i do heavy lifting I get more shape to me but also big arms, tights and thicker belly (not fat but just bigger/differently shaped. Also more pimples and a big appetite.

When i do a mix of dance/aerobics and some high rep not so heavy lifting i get my preffered body shape and lifestyle (running make me happy, my skin glowing and my appetite normalizes). I get skinny but with curves in the "right" places which is my preffered body type. I can imagine pilatis working in the same way, to "tone" (think Pamela Reif workouts and her body shape)

 

[flomore]

@seekinganswersinlife The opposite actually happened to me. I did months of intense lagree pilates (solidcore once a week) and while I loved it, I decided to make a pivot. I did sessions with a personal trainer for weightlifting 2x a week on top of my pilates class for a month, then decided to drop pilates and hop on a dedicated weightlifting program (whitney simmons three day essentials).

I’m now in my third week and my results have been amazing compared to my time with lagree pilates. Fat loss and muscle definition has gone up! Granted, this could be due to the increased amount of time I spend at the gym, but I just wanted to point that out.

Oddly, I also feel like weightlifting is less intense and “sensory overload” than my time at solidcore too. If anyone hasn’t been to that class: the room is dark, the music is loud, and I’m trying to balance on a megaformer while my muscles are SCREAMING at me and I’m shaking. It was an extremely stressful experience every week.

With weightlifting, I control my music, my tempo, and my intensity. Its alot less stressful IMO. Currently rlly happy with my lifting routine and cardio about 2x a week. Pilates is a great workout, but certainly not the end-all, be-all.

 

[april864]

@seekinganswersinlife They're probably just hungrier from more physical exertion with weightlifting and unconsciously eating more, ergo "holding onto fat".

 

[ksh]

@seekinganswersinlife I literally just came here to rant about this, the pilates girlies on tik tok are ruining my life! Everyday I come across someone telling me everything I'm doing in the gym is ruining my progress, hormones, body etc. I can't tell if it really is all BS

 

[innsmuthbride]

@seekinganswersinlife I hate that workout fads can never just be “look at this fun, effective exercise, maybe you’ll like it” they always become “every other exercise is wrong and bad and it won’t make you sexy”. When lifting was at its peak Pilates was a waste of time that would leave you with a sad, flat butt. Now Pilates is in and weightlifting apparently disregulates your hormones and makes you “inflamed” (2022 speak for bulky). It’s just changing because the curvy Instagram body is falling out of favor and ultra skinny is coming back in.

 

[mcp13rc3]

@seekinganswersinlife Lifting weights is still the best way to build muscle.

For me, I always loved pilates and yoga, and recently returned to it without weights in the mix for a few weeks, and noticed I actually have hunger cues again! I also get quite bloated right after lifting as the pump causes me to swell a bit (along with maybe some water weight from the water I drink between sets or something), so I've been a bit less bloated, but not that much that someone else would notice.

Essentially, I think it's just people having a smaller appetite and revealing the muscles they built in the gym! (notice nobodys claiming to have started with pilates, they all were in the gym for most of the muscle mass they have, and the befores are usually only a bit bigger than the afters - still really lean individuals). You also will spike cortisol a bit with any workout, but it helps lower cortisol outside of exercise I believe.

I've done years of pilates, HIIT, and weightlifting (with some random stuff in between) and have seen very little difference in my body until I focused in on my macros in tandem with my exercise.

 

[jmhr94]

@seekinganswersinlife So I’ve seen this shift as well, which is interesting as when I joined tiktok I got a ton of “lift ultra heavy every day” fitness content. I honestly think some of it is people who really overdid it with their lifting (& maybe didn’t eat enough to support their exercise levels) and are feeling better after dialing it back and mistakenly attributing that to a shift from lifting to Pilates.

That plus Lori Harvey going viral for her comments on how she got her body and the way the algorithm feeds you tons of the same comment are I think behind this more than there being anything magical about Pilates (and I say that as someone who loves Pilates, I got recommended it from a PT I saw after hurting my knee and kept it up because it helps a lot with things like posture and having a desk job and living in a walk up apartment).

 

[truth_seekers]

@seekinganswersinlife Hormones and body fat will not be fixed with either of these, diet and sorting out any nutritional deficiencies will fix those.

 

[truth_seekers]

@seekinganswersinlife Hormones and body fat will not be fixed with either of these, diet and sorting out any nutritional deficiencies will fix those.

 

[rosiegrl]

@seekinganswersinlife Pilates is great and so is lifting. Perhaps that line of thinking is coming from the old school "girls shouldn't have bulgy muscles" camp with a dash of unfounded science added in, since pilates by itself will make you hella strong but not bulgy unless you have very little body fat.

 

[kimmy12]

@seekinganswersinlife I thought it was just me!

 

[bear78]

@seekinganswersinlife Pilates is amazing and gives fast results and this has been the case always way before TikTok and regardless of TikTok.

However there’s nothing wrong with lifting. Lifting weights is very health. And you can also do both.

Any workout you stay consistent with WORKS.

 

[vanztyn]

@seekinganswersinlife Lifting, pilates, dance and yoga are my fitness jams. Each of these get fanatics and each cycle as the super cool thing that will get you the body nobody actually has.

I have no idea what the latest scientific evidence says about one over the others but I strongly suspect that the one you love doing is the one that will get you results you love having.

 

[tofara]

@seekinganswersinlife I see pilates as a supplement to lifting and other forms of exercise, not a replacement. I found that pilates improved my posture and balance (which is still immensely helpful), but ultimately it was cardio and lifting that helped me lose weight because pilates just wasn't enough to help with a caloric deficit.