I did Pilates for a month to see how it would impact my health

Can Pilates make me enjoy exercise again?

I’ve been in a real exercise slump lately. Prior to this year, I’d finally found a consistent gym routine that I enjoyed but recently, it just hasn’t been doing it for me.

The second university started, I found every excuse under the sun not to go to the gym: I don’t have time, I have too many readings and I want to see my friends in the little spare time I have. I was like a little witch, cooking up a cauldron of excuses. 

Kickstart your wellness journey over at our Health section.

Maybe it’s because I wasn’t seeing the results from working out that others were showcasing all over my Instagram feed, or maybe I finally got sick of doing the same routines over and over again. Honestly, it was probably a combination of the two that created a mental block that made me physically unable to get in my car and drive to the gym.

I was craving something new but didn’t know what to do. The only form of exercise I was enjoying was my weekly mat Pilates class on a Wednesday night at my gym (the only time I was using my membership for a good three months). After some consideration, I thought it might be a good idea to try out Pilates at a proper studio.

I knew Pilates was a form of exercise rapidly increasing in popularity (the industry grew by 250 per cent in Australia and New Zealand in 2022). I’d wanted to try reformer and hot Pilates for quite a while but had never gotten around to it because I was busy stirring up my cauldron of excuses. So I decided to cancel my gym membership and purchase a one-month trial at CorePlus. 

This $100 intro offer included eight reformer classes and unlimited mat, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to dive right in and make the most of the month.

I decided I would aim for two reformer and two hot mat Pilates classes each week, as I wasn’t doing any other type of exercise. I managed to stick to this for most of the month, but if I couldn’t fit in that fourth class I dropped a hot mat session.

How the classes went

I was really nervous going into my first Pilates class. Before signing up for CorePlus, I hadn’t done many exercise classes and due to my social anxiety, I was nervous that everyone would already know each other and I’d be the only person going in alone. 

You know how everyone talks about the stereotypical Pilates girlies who go to class on a Saturday before going out to brunch together? That wasn’t the case at all. While some people knew each other, it wasn’t the exercise cult that Pilates haters make it out to be. I was able to walk in, find myself a reformer machine and quietly wait for class to start, and others did the same. Everyone simply minded their own business.

When I say I’ve never had so much fun exercising, I genuinely mean it. I adored doing reformer Pilates throughout the month; the bed is like your own personal playground. With springs, loops for your arms and legs, squishy balls and weights, the workout was never dull. And the instructors switch up the workout every time (even if you attend the same class every week) so you don’t get bored.

As for hot mat Pilates, it was like having a frenemy. Conducted in a heated room, I absolutely hated it while I was in the middle of the workout (I was cursing the instructors in my head while doing shoulder taps). However, I felt absolutely amazing afterwards. There’s nothing quite like sweating out all of your frustrations after a long day at work.

How Pilates impacted my physical and mental health

I didn’t expect my body to dramatically transform after only one month. To be honest, I didn’t really have high expectations after my experiences with weight training at the gym. But I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed I’d definitely gotten stronger and more toned than I was when I first started.

And my abs? They’ve never been more defined (all those crunches paid off). Sure, I’m still a while away from looking like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, but give it a few months and he might have some competition.

I’ve also found that I’m more flexible. After each class, the instructors guide participants through five minutes of stretching, and while it’s nothing dramatic, I can now touch my toes without wanting to cry out in pain.

As for my mental health, I feel as though Pilates gave me a boost. We know that exercise releases dopamine and serotonin throughout our bodies, and once I got into a consistent routine, Pilates definitely did this for me. I left classes feeling content, despite my body aching from the hard work I’d just done.

Doing reformer Pilates was a great way to start my mornings and put me in a productive mood for the day, whereas hot mat Pilates gave me a little mood boost, ending my day on a high note.

One of the greatest changes to my mindset during my first month of Pilates was that I genuinely looked forward to exercising. I would plan out my classes for the week on a Sunday, assessing my schedule and eagerly slotting in classes wherever I could. While I used to dread going to the gym and breaking a sweat, I couldn’t wait to get into that hot mat studio (which sounds insane, I know).

If you’ve been considering investing in Pilates, I couldn’t recommend it enough. Bite the bullet, book in a class and see what the hype is all about – I promise it’s worth it.

For more on doing a Pilates class for the first time, head here.