How Pilates Has Been Rebranded as the Ultimate Hot -Girl Workout

Workout trends are cyclical and seem to bend to the wind, almost at random and virtually overnight. For many years it seemed every young woman was espousing the virtues of yoga, insisting they had found a higher plane of mental acuity by spending an hour in a heated room chanting and bending. Then it seemed everyone switched over to the gym, lifting heavy weights and preaching the virtues of muscle-mass building diets like keto and paleo. Barre had a moment, as did Soul Cycle. And of course, once COVID hit, we all became slaves to the Peloton.

And look, yes, we know Pilates has been around for a long time (actually, since the 1920s) and has never stopped being a popular exercise. However, it’s undeniable that it is currently having a major resurgence. This new embrace of Pilates among young women has a different flavor. Because it’s not just about embracing the exercise itself; it’s also about the subtle messages that being into the discipline telegraphs. Many young Pilates enthusiasts preach its virtues not only for the results they see on their bodies, but the ethos they want to project to the world.

To them, being into Pilates is coded as being “feminine,” being lithe and subtly strong, and being a well-rounded woman. It’s a part of the larger soft-girl trend, an online movement of mostly young women who are embracing what they call traditionally feminine pursuits like homemaking and prioritizing leisure over chasing career or status.

And if you’re a soft girl, you’re probably also doing Pilates. In the collective online consciousness, the workout has come to be a symbol of being a woman who doesn’t worry about pushing herself to the limits, but is focused on a “softer” form of exercise that can almost double as self-care (of course, many, though not all, are extremely thin).

Online, they refer to themselves as Pink Pilates Princesses, a title that oozes with girlish charm. For adherents, it’s not a workout; it’s a lifestyle.

“Being a Pink Pilates Princess is all about romanticizing living a healthy lifestyle while still embracing my femininity,” Ashley Noelle, a 25-year-old wellness influencer, tells Glamour. “I love how I can feel so soft yet so strong at the same time.”