The genius of Joseph Pilates' authentic work is that it is for every body.
Why is it I hear so many times from my female clients, "I wish my husband would come and take Pilates, but he thinks we just stretch"?
To find the perfect answer to convince more men to discover and do Pilates, I enlisted my husband of 25 years. After many years on the road, he finally had time to look after himself, get back in shape, regain flexibility and strength, and address tightness in his neck, shoulders, and hips.
He came to the right place: ABsolute Pilates, an authentic Classical Pilates studio. The first lessons on the Gratz apparatus were private sessions. Then he joined an apparatus class, where he and his classmates discovered that even though men and women are very different, the genius of Joseph Pilates' authentic work is for every body.
As a man new to Pilates, his first observation was that there are too few men in the Pilates world, except of course its creator. Joseph Pilates, judging from photographs of him at an advanced age, gave men every reason to study this art form of movement.
If Pilates is perceived as easy, it is simply not being done right. The work asks for the powerhouse: belly, butt, and back. It builds awareness, control, strength, and coordination in muscles many people do not realize they have.
The answer to whether it works was clear: yes. He felt stronger, looked stronger, and gained tone in a way that became a personal testimony to Joseph Pilates' method.
Cornelis J Hoekstra, 52 years old. Pilates strong.