Pilates’ social media popularity exposes benefits and misinformation

Contributed by Madison Satterfield

For anyone on "FitTok," the side of TikTok dedicated to fitness, Pilates is taking over phone screens and workout plans. With the help of fitness-related New Year's resolutions, this trend has reached many NC State students.

Developed in the early 20th century, Pilates originally catered to former dancers. Today with online videos and group classes, as well as a course offered at NC State, it's easier than ever to try Pilates.

Renee Harrington, a senior lecturer with a Ph.D. in nutrition, teaches Pilates and other fitness courses available to students for academic credit. Harrington said increased accessibility has factored into the recent resurgence in Pilates’ popularity.

"At first, [many people] would be like, ‘Oh, if you're just super flexible, like a dancer, you'd have to go to a special studio to take Pilates,’" Harrington said. "But now, in the last decade, there's more offered as group fitness type classes, so it's more accessible to people."

This surge in popularity also stems from social media's portrayal of how transformative the exercise can be. Some TikToks follow a single person's Pilates journey, while others outline strategies to increase its difficulty such as the use of chairs or reformers. Harrington said this addition of equipment does increase difficulty but maintains that it's important to start with basic movements before making these changes.

"[Pilates] is difficult," Harrington said. "But that's where the benefits come from. In my classes I talk about how it's the quality over quantity, which is one of the Pilates principles, and it's about moving with the breath and moving with a specific intent and how you complete the exercises."

Harrington said Pilates is well-rounded, emphasizing mindfulness, core stabilization and flexibility work that all increase mind-body connection. Its low-impact nature makes it accessible to those with joint issues. Another benefit is the natural progression — people are able to see improvement in their abilities as they continue practicing and compare the beginner movements to more advanced ones.

"We learn beginner exercises [first]," Harrington said. "And then once we've talked through how to do those properly, then we'll learn the advanced beginner and then we'll learn an intermediate and then learn advanced, so we're constantly adding on."

Helped along by social media, body image has become closely associated with Pilates.

Madison Satterfield, fitness coordinator at Wellness and Recreation, said the aesthetic-focused trends she sees on social media may mislead people who are interested in Pilates. Because of the type of influence social media has, Satterfield encourages people to define their intent for working out.

"People have certain aesthetic goals," Satterfield said. "But there are so many benefits to working out beyond that physical appearance goal. … It can be real medicine for your mental health. … If you're intimidated, and that intimidation comes from comparing your body type to what you're seeing these Pilates influencers’ bodies look like, I would say to rethink why you want to move. And realize that there [are] bigger goals outside of that physical aesthetic."

Satterfield said there are both benefits and disadvantages to the recent popularity and portrayal of Pilates on social media.

"[The high presence on social media] can be very positive because it's kind of an entryway for people who maybe aren't as familiar with different formats to be motivated to work out in different ways and to find creative ways to move their bodies," Satterfield said. "In the same respect, I feel like there can be a lot of misinformation that's put out there on TikTok because everyone today wants to be like a fitness influencer, and it's really hard to decipher who has proper training and knowledge to give to people."

Harrington has similar concerns about people obtaining accurate information off of social media. She emphasizes the inclusivity of Pilates, which is often forgotten when observing it through the narrow lens of influencers. These concerns led Harrington to work on an open-access textbook that, once published, will be available online for students at any time.

"One of the key things was to be able to show Pilates exercises with lots of different body types," Harrington said. "[To] show the difference between how it looks on someone who is more muscular, versus someone who's more lean, and how it may look for someone who's more flexible or less flexible and just be able to show the wide range and how it's inclusive. Everyone can find a way to be able to do the exercises for their body type."

Harrington said it is important to address common mental barriers such as the belief that people are unable to do something due to their body type or that they can never achieve their goals because they don't look like the people portrayed on social media. Harrington said even textbooks do not portray inclusive exercise — another motivator for her own.

"I felt [it was] very important for NC State students to be able to have that visual and knowledge through the online textbook rather than one that just shows what a dancer's body looks like doing that exercise," Harrington said.

Though Wellness and Recreation does not currently offer Pilates group fitness classes, there are alternative classes that interested students can take.

"We offer 19 mind-body classes per week," Satterfield said. "We have your typical yoga, we have yoga flow, restore, which is more of a relaxation-focused yoga class, and then power yoga, which you can consider to be a little bit more of a challenging, intense yoga class. I would say, although these are different from Pilates, they still focus a lot on that strength aspect and its strength, stretching [and] mindfulness."

It can be difficult to ensure that people are following professional advice. Once the open-access textbook is published, it will include photos and videos to help students try Pilates without having to enroll in the Pilates course. Until then, Harrington advises caution when observing online videos and encourages students to reach out to NC State Pilates instructors for information.

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