Health
Viral videos show ripped gym bros collapsing during Pilates workouts
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Pilates may have a reputation for being “girly,” but a new social media trend is crushing the assumption that it’s easy.
Male athletes and “gym bros” are being humbled by the challenge of Pilates and sculpt — workouts that are typically dominated by women.
Viral videos show men wincing, clenching and shaking their way through classes, both on mats and on strengthening machines called reformers.
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Melania Antuchas, a Florida-based hot Pilates and sculpt instructor, jumped in on the trend, posting videos of private classes with men that have received millions of views.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Antuchas, who teaches a 50-minute signature class combining strength training and mat Pilates, said that athletic men find the class surprisingly difficult due to their training history.
“We target the tiny muscle fibers, so it’s the muscles that you don’t use in the gym,” she said. “We’re using those big quads in the gym, we’re using heavy weights, but with just your body weight and heel raises and a band and the layering, that is the true challenge. They’re not used to challenging their balance, their mobility, their instability.”
“After I taught that first initial class for all men, every single one of them was asking for the next one because of how much it challenged them,” Antuchas added.
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After recently hosting the men of the Raleigh Rugby Club, Raleigh Pilates in North Carolina posted a video where the men appear to struggle through sets of leg lifts, lunges, shoulder presses, abs and stretches on the reformer.
Athletic men are trying out Pilates in a viral social media trend and finding it to be a challenge. (TikTok @raleighpilates/TikTok @fitbyma)
Studio owner Rae Matthews noted that Pilates challenges “stronger people” differently, as athletes and weightlifters typically focus on “big global muscles,” while Pilates asks them to “slow down, stabilize and control movement through full range of motion.”
“A lot of people are surprised because the exercises look small, but they feel really intense because the work is coming from deep stabilizers rather than momentum or brute force,” she told Fox News Digital.
What is Pilates?
Pilates was originally developed by Joseph Pilates in the 1920s to help rehabilitate injured soldiers and ballet dancers, according to Brookelyn Suddell, director of group fitness strategy and development at Crunch Fitness in New York.
The method aimed to put muscles under controlled tension to build strength, flexibility and mobility, which is the “foundation for effective movement,” she told Fox News Digital.
Today, Pilates has incorporated more equipment, sculpt techniques for strength training, and heated settings, Antuchas noted.
“It’s a slow and controlled, non-stop, low-impact workout,” she said. “It’s about precision, it’s about control, it’s about core strength.”
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Suddell added that Pilates builds a “special kind” of balanced and functional strength, working the stabilizers around each joint.
“That means your whole body is working in harmony, from your core to your limbs,” she said. “Even our Crunch CEO Jim Rowley — a Marine vet, lifelong lifter and all-around powerhouse — credits Pilates with skyrocketing his core strength and mobility.”
Melania Antuchas, a Pilates and sculpt instructor, has gone viral on social media for her challenging workout videos. (Melania Antuchas)
The experts agreed that men can benefit from the exercise just as much as women, as the practice can improve their overall gym performance, athletic pursuits, posture and longevity.
“I think the key to getting more men involved is reframing Pilates as intelligent strength training and injury prevention, not a soft workout,” Matthews said.
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Words of caution
The primary reason that most people seek strength training and Pilates is to help with lower back pain, according to Antuchas.
The trainer warned that no one should feel pain during a Pilates and sculpt workout, and that modifications should be made as needed, particularly when there is strain in the neck or lower back.
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Antuchas, who teaches all ages ranging from 18 to 70+, said her workouts are intentionally challenging without requiring extra equipment, as the foundational movements are demanding enough on their own.
Pilates is built on principles like breath, control, precision, alignment and flow, according to a studio owner. (iStock)
Those new to Pilates should consult a doctor before starting to make sure it is appropriate for them.
“People should be mindful if they have recent injuries or surgeries; chronic back or neck pain; hip, shoulder, knee limitations; or limited spinal mobility,” Suddell advised.
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Matthews agreed that those with acute injuries, recent surgeries, osteoporosis or pregnancy should work with “well-trained, educated instructors who understand modifications.”
“When Pilates is taught thoughtfully, it’s actually one of the safest and most supportive forms of movement available, but expertise matters so much.”
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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