While no means a new form of exercise, the popularity of Pilates is on the rise, particularly post pandemic, with Australian Made Globally loved reformer Pilates franchise Studio Pilates seeing a 149% increase in the number of class visits since 2019. 

Not only has Pilates blown up across social media, with the #pilatesgirl hashtag trending on Tik Tok, but there’s also been a steady increase in the number of people attending Pilates classes since the pandemic, with Studio Pilates seeing a 21% increase attendance FY19-20, a 68% increase FY20-21 and a 22% increase FY21-22 across their network of 72 studios. 

Developed by Joseph Pilates over a century ago, the tried and tested method has 100-years of proven success, but its popularity has surged in the wake of the pandemic, for a number of different reasons, with Google even reporting an increase in search for ‘mindful exercise’. 

Former Olympic Swimmer, Personal Trainer and Co-Founder of Studio Pilates International Jade Winter credits the rise in popularity to a shift in mindset people experienced around exercise during the pandemic. 

“Over the last few years mental health has become an absolute focus for everyone and instead of pushing yourself with fat burning workouts like HIIT training, which raises cortisol levels in the body and can leave us feeling exhausted and burnt out, people have discovered the benefits of low impact training like reformer Pilates on both their physical and mental health.” 

“Before the pandemic a lot of people exercised for aesthetic reasons or for weight control, but people have now discovered the benefits mindful exercise has on their mental health and how good and strong it genuinely makes them feel so I think Pilates is only going to continue to get more popular” Jade says. 

‘Mindful movement’ is a term used to describe any form of exercise where your mind maintains connection to the movement, which in Pilates is evidenced in a number of ways including breathing techniques and a focus on slow and controlled movement. To help clients achieve a mind/body connection in every class, Studio Pilates design their physical studios to block out external distractions, which might let your mind wander, 

“We purposely design our studios without clocks or mirrors so people can really focus on the correct breathing patterns for each exercise as well as achieve slow and controlled isolated movements without worrying about what the time is or getting distracted by your own reflection,” Jade says.