Pilates is all the rage in Atlanta
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We're no longer in the heyday of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and CrossFit. Now, low-impact workouts like Pilates are all the rage.
Why it matters: As longevity becomes a primary health focus, a growing number of exercisers are opting for movements that advance their day-to-day functioning and better protect them from injury.
Zoom in: In Atlanta, ClassPass bookings for Pilates classes increased 125% in 2023 compared to 2022, according to data shared with Axios.
- The city's most popular studio on the platform was solidcore, which has locations in Midtown, Buckhead, and the Madison Yards development.
- Overall, Pilates was the most popular ClassPass workout of 2023, with booking reservations up 92% from 2022, according to data shared with Axios.
Flashback: About 15 years ago, we "went through an era [of] high-intensity interval training," from Insanity to CrossFit, says Nima Alamdari, honorary professor of sport and health sciences at the University of Exeter.
- When done too quickly, those kinds of high-impact workouts can lead to back, knee or ankle injuries, Alamdari says.
Now, Pilates, in particular, is taking off.
- Pilates — a low-impact exercise that benefits balance, flexibility and core strength and can help athletes recover from injuries — was the most popular ClassPass workout of 2023, with booking reservations up 92% from 2022, according to data shared with Axios.
- And Yelp searches for Pilates increased 25% from the previous year.
Functional fitness and low-impact exercises like Pilates are "particularly important" for people 40 and older because that's the age that muscle mass and function can start to decline, says Alamdari, who's a clinical advisory board member of functional fitness workout company Pvolve.
- In a 2024 small healthy aging study Alamdari helped conduct, researchers found that compared to their peers who simply followed the CDC physical activity guidelines, perimenopausal and menopausal women who specifically performed Pvolve exercises had greater lower body strength and muscle mass.
What we're watching: Alamdari says more exercise research is in the works, including studies he's working on related to recovery and injury prevention in runners.