Criminy!!
I saw a Pilates segment on the news today that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and then fall out!
What in heaven’s name is going on in the Pilates world?
Anyone who can get their hands on a list of Pilates exercises seems compelled to shred it to pieces and then dress it up real “purty-like” with paper and a bow and call it something “new”. Something “better”. More “intense”, they say.
Know what I say?
Crap!
It’s crap.
First of all, if Pilates wasn’t already great, you wouldn’t be ripping it off in the first place.
Second, if you have been doing Pilates, and it wasn’t intense or hard enough for you….well then it wasn’t real Pilates!
And finally, if you’re going to completely deconstruct the method, bastardize it with accessories, and blast mindless, ear-piercing music while you teach, well don’t you dare call it Pilates! Call it calisthenics and let’s move on with it!
Mind you, I’ve got no problem with mindless exercise done to bad music. It’s fine by me – I even go to classes like that when I feel like tuning out and just swaying to music.
My problem here is with the misrepresentation.
Conning customers in with the promise of Pilates and delivering something completely unrelated is false advertising, an abuse of public trust and an insult to the dedicated professionals who actually do teach Pilates.
Pilates police, where are you? Can’t someone regulate the marketing of senseless and anatomically damaging workouts that are posturing as Pilates and ruining the reputation some of us have worked so hard to build….
What do you think? I’d love to hear from you!!
Alycea