This article first appeared in The House of Wellness magazine.
The mind-body fitness space is booming, and reformer Pilates classes are expanding fast. Once overlooked by men, Pilates is now recognised for enhancing strength, preventing injury and improving body condition. We caught up with Les Mills CEO Brett Sutton to chat about why the business is adding more reformer classes to its offerings.
Why are men switching on to Pilates? People are shifting their mindset around fitness, recognising that it’s not just about how much you can lift or how fast you can run. Recovery, mobility and longevity are a big part of the conversation now, and Pilates sits at the intersection of all three. At Les Mills, expanding into the mind-body category wasn’t a reaction to a trend. It was a deliberate move into a space we knew was growing for the right reasons. Men are realising that the reformer isn’t a trend, it’s a tool, and when the programming and instruction are right, the results speak for themselves.
What’s an ‘aha’ moment men have when they first try a class? Usually, it happens about 10 minutes in, when they’re shaking through something that looks deceptively simple. A guy who can deadlift twice his body weight suddenly can’t stabilise through a single-leg stretch without wobbling all over the place, and that’s genuinely humbling. The reformer has a way of exposing the gaps – not to embarrass you, but to show you exactly where the work needs to happen.
