There’s a moment that happens in almost every class I teach. Someone will finish a session, sit up, and say something like, “Wow… I didn’t realize how much my arms or my legs or my back were working. I thought Pilates was just abs.”
And every time, I smile. Not because they were wrong — but because they just discovered something important.
Pilates has a branding problem.
Somewhere along the way, it got labeled as “core work,” as if everything else in the body is just along for the ride. And yes, the abdominals are part of Pilates. The deep support system matters. But Pilates was never meant to isolate one area. It was designed to teach the whole body how to move together.
I like to think of Pilates as a conversation between everything you are. The feet talk to the hips. The hips talk to the spine. The spine talks to the arms. The breath talks to all of it. Nothing is working alone, even when it feels subtle.
When I first started teaching in New York City, I watched people come in who were incredibly strong in one area and completely disconnected in another. Runners with powerful legs but collapsed posture. Dancers with beautiful lines but fragile backs. Desk workers with strong willpower and very tired bodies. Pilates met all of them where they were, not by hammering one muscle group, but by helping their whole system organize itself.
That’s why it feels different from a lot of workouts. You’re not just “doing reps.” You’re learning how to place your body in space. You’re learning how to support yourself from the inside. You’re learning how to move in a way that feels coherent.
Your abdominals are part of that, but they’re not the star of the show. They’re more like the quiet stage crew making sure everything else can perform.
Think about something as simple as lifting your arm. If you only move your arm, it feels heavy. If your ribs collapse or your spine shifts, it feels awkward. But when your back muscles, your abdominals, your shoulder blade, and even your feet subtly organize underneath that movement, suddenly it feels light and easy. That’s Pilates.
Or take a leg lift. People often think it’s about the outer hip or the thigh, but the truth is the entire side of the body is involved. The waist has to lift. The bottom ribs have to support. The pelvis has to stay steady. The arms and shoulders quietly keep you from rolling. The leg just happens to be the part you see moving.
That’s what I mean when I say Pilates is a full-body workout. Even when something looks small, everything is participating.
And that’s also why it’s so accessible.
You don’t have to be young or flexible or already fit to do Pilates well. You just have to be willing to pay attention. The work meets you where you are and then gently invites more of you to show up. Over time, people start to stand taller. They move more confidently. Their backs feel supported. Their balance improves. Their joints feel less cranky. Not because they did hundreds of crunches, but because their whole body learned how to cooperate.
There’s a kind of quiet joy in that. A sense that you’re not fighting your body, but partnering with it.
I see it in my clients all the time. They come in thinking they’re going to work one thing, and they leave feeling connected everywhere. Their feet feel awake. Their arms feel lighter. Their breath feels easier. Their spine feels more at home in their own skin.
That’s the love story of Pilates. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t scream for attention. It just keeps showing up, teaching the body how to support itself a little better each time.
So yes, Pilates works your core. But only in the same way that a great conversation works your voice. It’s part of the whole, not the whole thing.
And that’s exactly why it lasts.
