The Morning Bun: Quick blurbs with a fresh take on our Yuppie lives that we would probably share over mimosas…if it were not a weekday.
Alright, I’m not sure there is any other way to say this so I’m just going to say it: I just started my Class Pass free trial. Even more ridiculous, I went to my first Pilates class last night and let’s just say I was a little outnumbered gender-wise (by “little,” I mean I was the only dudeeeee). Now, before you add this to my scarily growing list of Nouveau bro qualities, hear me out.
You need to go in with a completely objective mind. Without the faintest clue of what to expect, I constantly looked for feedback during my mind-blowing first-ever Pilates class. We’re supposed to throw around these big blue balls (no pun intended) next to all of our mats, right? Nope. Are we supposed to use this rope thing as a jump rope? Not quite. What I guessed would be a more active yoga class turned out to be an extended ab/hip/leg workout. Although I’m by no means a Pilates master one class in, I held my own out there, fam! Okay, I only needed three water breaks, fell off-balance four times, and received three chuckles from my fellow Pilates classmates. That’s right, I held my own!
Regardless of my performance, I couldn’t help but think about the fitness priorities for most of my male peers and the negative perception pilates holds amongst us. We hit the weight room to get BIG, we play FOOOOBALL and we ball (granted I love basketball but still) to relive the glory days. Why American men in their 20s are not going to yoga or pilates doesn’t surprise me. Why American men in their 20s are not even trying yoga or pilates does surprise me. Even though yoga is significantly better for our long-term health, my peers are still crushing that bench press often two, three times a day.
Why you ask? In the States, we [men] think our health validation is solely based on how big we are. We see the athletes , the Nike Ads, and even Arnold Schwarzzenger still holding down the fort. It’s a skewed approach and leads to long-term back, health, and even brain issues for a lot of my peers. In other places around the world, the macho culture is much less pronounced. In America, the media perpetuates stereotypes of both the “perfect” male/female bodies that are often misguided, inaccurate, and just plain, “bro-y.”
So here is what I’m proposing, don’t judge a book by its cover. Try yoga, try pilates, lift a couple days less a week, and even try a Spin class. Let’s slowly chip away at the gender-based stereotypes on the types of workouts we should be doing.
PLUS…
Is there a more serendipitous way to meet her then by accidentally asking for advice on your Downward dog?
Harrison Forman 