Let me be clear: I have sweated through every sport imaginable. I know what pain feels like, what it takes to build endurance and strength. And every time someone insists Pilates is the holy grail of being “long and lean,” I wonder if we are all watching the same reality.

Let’s be real: I have never seen anyone step out of a reformer class looking like a shredded Greek statue. Lean? Maybe. Stronger posture? Sure. But shredded? Unless Pilates instructors are sneaking into the squat rack after hours — and I would bet my Apple Watch they do — it is simply not happening.

I will give Pilates its due: it was invented by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century for rehabilitation, and it excels in specific areas:

In other words, Pilates is a great side dish: it makes you more resilient, mobile, and mindful.

Here is where marketing and reality part ways.

That is why most instructors who look “fit” also lift weights, run, or train in other ways. Pilates is part of their recipe, not the whole cookbook.

Ah, the reformer — that intimidating machine with springs and straps that looks like Fifty Shades of Joseph Pilates. It does add resistance, which increases muscle recruitment. Some studies show reformer-based Pilates improves muscular endurance more than mat classes. But still, the load is limited. You will get tone and endurance in stabilising muscles, but not hypertrophy.

Think of it like flossing: a great habit, makes you feel virtuous, but no one ever transformed their body on flossing alone.

Because it sells a dream: minimal sweat, graceful movements, and a promise that you will look like a dancer. It is aspirational, marketable, Instagrammable. No one is filming themselves grunting under a barbell for the ‘gram — but reformer stretches with mood lighting? Content gold.

It is also popular because it feels accessible. Many people intimidated by gyms find comfort in a calm Pilates studio. And that isn’t a scam — accessibility matters. But selling it as a standalone solution for fat loss or shredded abs is.

It isn’t the main course — it is the side salad. Nice to have, but you won’t survive on it.

Personally, I will still roll my eyes when someone says they got “shredded” from Pilates. But I will also admit that one class a week could save me from tight hips after 9 hours on a bike.

So yes — Pilates has value. But if you want to look like Chris Hemsworth or Gal Gadot, don’t expect a reformer bed to do the work. You will still need dumbbells, sweat, and probably a very boring set of squats.

Because bodies don’t lie, even if fitness marketing sometimes does.