Jenna Dewan does it in her dirty garage. Kate Hudson does it while wearing pink socks. And the Kansas City Chiefs, well, they do it as a team, of course. The “it” in question? Pilates.
If it feels like every man, woman, and celebrity you know is suddenly hopping on a reformer or perfecting teasers on the mat, you’re not entirely wrong—the century-old modality seems to be more popular than ever, with ClassPass reporting a 92 percent increase in Pilates bookings in 2023.
Created by German boxer, self-defense instructor, and circus performer Joseph Pilates in the early 1900s, Pilates (originally called Contrology) is a system of movement with strengthening and stretching at its core. Interestingly, the term “Pilates” is not trademarked: A 2000 court ruling determined it was a generic name, like yoga. So over the ensuing years, the Pilates name has been co-opted and commandeered to describe a host of modalities that emphasize the core and precise, controlled movements. Meaning that “Pilates” has gotten muddled over the years.
But, as any Pilates purist will tell you, the heart of classical Pilates lies in the system created by Pilates himself. And at the heart of that system, is the matwork. (Sorry, reformer!)
“Mat is the foundation of the Pilates method,” says Carrie Campbell, a Pilates instructor in Hoboken, New Jersey. “Pilates was born on the mat first, and then Mr. Pilates realized that the exercises are very challenging and people needed assistance, so then he built the equipment. Today, a lot of people think we need this fancy equipment to do Pilates, but Pilates can be done anywhere, anytime with a mat or a towel because most of the foundational core-strengthening exercises are from the matwork.”
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Pilates actually outlined his movement philosophy and original 34 mat exercises (including photos of a bare- and barrel-chested Pilates!) in his 1945 book Return to Life Through Contrology.
“All of the exercises are there for a specific reason, one flows seamlessly into the next,” says Tracy Belcher, a Pilates instructor in Miami, of the matwork. “Really, the goal is to return your body to its factory settings of when we were bouncy little children running and playing and hopping and climbing and doing all these things pain-free, moving through life with zest and pleasure.”
Sounds pretty good, huh? If you’re ready to get a bit of your zest back and get started with mat Pilates, here’s everything you need to know in a handy beginner’s guide.
Benefits of mat Pilates—and who it’s best for
It’s hard to mention the word “Pilates” without the word “core” escaping in the next breath, but that’s not all Pilates is about, according to Belcher.
“One of the myths about Pilates is that it’s a core workout,” she says. “In actuality, it’s a full-body workout. We do focus a lot on the core because you’re moving from your center, flowing out. Your core is going to become strong, but the rest of your body will become strong too.”
And strength is only one of the many benefits of incorporating Pilates into your movement regimen. With its “strengthening through stretching” exercises, the method allows many people to increase their flexibility and range of motion. Posture often improves with Pilates too—as the muscles of your core become stronger, you may find yourself able to sit or stand up straighter; as you stretch the muscles in your shoulders and chest, you may find yourself less hunched or rounded forward. Pilates may also help alleviate chronic aches and pains: In a 2021 meta analysis, Pilates was found to help relieve lower back pain better than other singularly focused workouts (think: aerobics, general strengthening).
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Pilates is also a great companion exercise to other physical pursuits, says Campbell. “It complements pretty much anything else you want to do in life,” she says. “If you want to be better at boxing, go to Pilates. If you want to be better at golf or tennis, go to Pilates. If you want to be better at carrying your load of laundry to the basement, go to Pilates.”
Given that it’s a low-impact exercise that primarily takes place in supine and seated positions, mat Pilates is an accessible workout for most people.
“As long as you are cleared by a doctor to work out, then you can do Pilates,” Belcher says. “Every age, every ability—there’s a class out there for everybody.” (For folks who are prenatal, postpartum, or have a chronic injury or condition, it’s important to let your instructor know so they can offer you modifications and guide you safely through exercises, as some might be contraindicated for your condition.)
Benefits of Pilates, at a glance
- Improved core strength
- Improved posture
- Helps alleviate chronic pain
- Improved flexibility and mobility
- Low impact and joint-friendly
How mat Pilates differs from other types of workouts
Hot Pilates. Wall Pilates. Yogilates. With the method being reimagined in so many new forms and blended with so many other exercises, it can be a little confusing to delineate mat Pilates from similar workouts that incorporate mats, mindful movement, and stretching. Here’s how to tell them all apart:
- Mat Pilates vs. yoga: A mat Pilates class and a yoga class both take place on a mat and incorporate various stretching exercises, but that’s really where the similarities end, Belcher notes. “Working from the center is one of the distinguishable things about Pilates versus yoga,” she says. “In Pilates, you’re really focused on what we call the ‘powerhouse,’ and that’s the muscles at where your center of gravity is, basically working from there out.” Even the stretching aspect is different, Campbell adds. “A lot of yoga poses are static stretching, whereas in Pilates, it doesn’t look like you’re holding a stretch. You’re stretching through movement. That dynamic stretching is better for people who have limited flexibility because they will gain flexibility quicker with dynamic versus static stretching.”
- Mat Pilates vs. barre: “And pulse for 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1…” Pilates cue or barre cue? Hard to tell. Both modalities get into those teeny-tiny muscle groups you hardly knew existed. But unlike mat Pilates—where you’ll typically start lying down and work your way to standing at the very end—barre is rooted in ballet-inspired motion and largely takes place standing at a literal ballet barre (hence the name).
- Mat Pilates vs. reformer Pilates: Whereas mat Pilates is you working against gravity, reformer Pilates adds spring tension into the mix. “The springs give you resistance and they also give you assistance,” Campbell says. While springs make some exercises more challenging, they make others less challenging. “Some exercises that you find very hard on the mat will actually feel a little easier on the reformer because the straps and the springs and the machine itself is guiding you through the movement,” she says.
- Mat Pilates vs. sculpt classes: While sculpt classes may include Pilates-inspired movements, they’re typically more of a hybrid workout blending strength and cardio and don’t follow a prescribed flow.
What you need for a mat Pilates workout
Tips and advice for your first mat Pilates workout
Before you sign up for your first flow, it’s a good idea to check out the teacher’s credentials. In a perfect world, say both Belcher and Campbell, a Pilates instructor would be comprehensively certified through a 600-hour program. This rigorous teacher training means they are not only experts in all the exercises and apparatus, but they also have an understanding of anatomy and how to safely modify the work for special cases, such as pregnancy, osteoporosis, or a knee injury.
All that said, Belcher adds that there are many great instructors out there who’ve only been mat certified, and they could be a good option too. “Some sort of Pilates-focused certification would be the very least I would be looking for,” she says. (That certified personal trainer who’s dabbling in Pilates at your neighborhood gym but has no formal Pilates training? You’ll probably want to pass.)
Another thing Belcher says to look out for: class size. Ten students or fewer is ideal for getting personalized attention and corrections. If a teacher is trying to mind 30 different bodies, they probably won’t be paying too close attention to yours.
If you sign up for a classical mat class, it will likely follow what Pilates pros call “the order”—a sequence prescribed by Pilates himself for maximum flow. The teacher may start with a few warmups that focus on your breath or stretching out certain parts of the body (this is often called “pre-Pilates”), but the official start of the work will be marked by the hundred (see instructions for how to do that below!).
From there, each exercise will seamlessly flow into the next—the hundred into the roll-up, the roll-up into single-leg circles, single-leg circles into rolling like a ball, etc. You will be in pretty constant movement but the rep count will most likely be low—and that’s by design, says Campbell: “We’re not working the muscles to fatigue, but we’re working them to efficiency.” That also means if an exercise doesn’t feel good on your body, you can feel free to sit it out, knowing that you’ll rejoin the flow a minute later.
Keep in mind that most teachers do not demonstrate the actual exercises but rather verbally walk you through them, so Campbell recommends avoiding the front row in your first class and opting instead for the middle or back where you can see what other more seasoned students are doing. “Give yourself some grace and some patience and some time because there is a lot of terminology and there’s a lot of things that’ll be foreign at first,” Belcher adds.
Common mat Pilates terms
- Powerhouse: “One big word that we use in Pilates is ‘powerhouse,’” Campbell says. “Some people think of it as just your abs, but it’s really everything from your sternum to your kneecap—it’s your abs, it’s your low back, it’s your glutes, it’s your hip flexors.”
- Midline: Another anatomical-leaning term, the midline refers to the center line of your body that runs from head to toe. “Hug the midline is something I often say, and that’s kind of weird to somebody who’s never done Pilates or yoga, but it’s very common in our practice,” Campbell says. “That’s where you really squeeze your inner thighs together or squeeze your sit bones, your glutes together.”
- Pilates curl: This is the standard body positioning for many core-focused exercises, like the ab series. As you lie on your back, you curl your head, neck, and shoulders off the mat so just the tips of your shoulder blades are grazing the mat.
- Pilates stance: This describes the slight external rotation of your legs, where your feet create a V-shape—heels are together, toes are apart to about the width of your fist.
As for how many mat classes a week you should take, that really depends on your goals, Campbell says: “Three times a week is really the magical number. If you have an active lifestyle elsewhere, and you’re doing Pilates once a week, that’s great. If Pilates is all you’re doing and you want to see results, you’ve got to do it at least three times a week.”
This article originally appeared on Women’s Health U.S.
