They may be able to pump iron and flex their muscles, but so-called ‘gym bros’ have revealed they’re struggling with a particular form of exercise they thought would be easy.
Indeed, these mega-athletes – who spend hours each week working out – seem to fold like a pack of cards when it comes to Pilates.
Hilarious videos on social media sites including TikTok and Instagram have captured sculpted men from around the world being ‘humbled’ by the low impact exercise, which is practiced to improve overall physical strength, posture, and flexibility.
While many bodybuilders can deadlift a couple of hundred kilograms and chin up over double their weight, these hilarious clips show them struggling to manoeuvre their own bodyweight.
Reformer Pilates – conducted on a platform with a sliding carriage, adjustable straps and a foot bar that varies in height – proves even trickier, with many of the ‘bros’ unable to make it to the end of a session.
One chiseled gym goer invited his followers along to watch him try out Pilates for the first time, after which he said the experience left him ‘humbled’.
British digital creator and fitness enthusiast Marino Katsouris attended a Pilates class with his girlfriend but soon struggled to keep up with her.
‘Pilates is no joke,’ he captioned the TikTok video. ‘I’ve been lifting heavy weights four to six days a week for the last 12 years but this absolutely HUMBLED ME’.
Videos floating around TikTok capture sporty men from around the world being ‘humbled’ by Pilates (Pictured: A gym bro tries out a Pilates class in Dubai)
Hilarious clips show body builders grossly struggling to maneuver light weights or their own bodyweight
In the video, he slid one one leg backwards and forwards in a lunge motion while lifting two dumbbells before collapsing to the floor.
Elsewhere in the clip, his sizeable toned thighs were shaking as they tried valiantly to cling to a blue ball wedged between them.
By the end of the video the class had become too much for him to bear and he was seen clinging to his thighs in pain.
Another video showed ‘bodybuilders’ and ‘gym bros’ at DRYP in Dubai where they attempted to try out a Reformer Pilates class.
Despite the group of men looking lean and fit, closeups revealed one man clenching his teeth in pain as he struggled to work the reformer machines.
One attendee was seen shaking as he attempted to balance his hunky body on a thin foot bar and moving platforms.
As the class continued, shouts of ‘no way’ ‘that’s crazy!’ and ‘you don’t have to do this!’ could be heard from the stressed out gym bros around the room.
The creative director of the class, Jessica Casalegno, claimed some of her male students also broke down in tears and dared anyone who thought Pilates was ‘easy’ to try one of her classes.
Over in Australia, a tradesman who attempted a Reformer Pilates class totally abandoned the exercise and instead cowered on his side
‘The amount of dirty looks and groans I got,’ she wrote under the video.
‘I promise that they actually loved it, despite being extremely challenged. If anyone tells you “Pilates is easy” it’s only because they haven’t found the right teacher yet (and clearly haven’t done Pilates with me yet).
‘Watch until the end for some sweat puddles and sound on loud to hear men cry,’ she joked.
Australian weightlifter Jordan Anderson documented his experience with Pilates in a post on TikTok, which he captioned ‘POV [point of view] a male tries Pilates’.
Jordan shared a video of himself looking heavily fatigued and drenched in sweat despite wearing a black vest and miniscule shorts.
The short clip showed him attempting side lunges and hip thrusts using only dumbbells, but in between intervals he was seen seated as he seemingly tried to catch his breath.
Meanwhile a number of women in the same Pilates class could be seen completing the same moves with ease, while one of them even smiled.
Australian weightlifter Jordan Anderson shared a video of himself looking heavily fatigued and drenched in sweat during a Pilates class
Elsewhere in Australia, another group of gym bros could barely make it through a session of side-lying lunges and pulses.
The group of tradesmen attended a reformer Pilates class at NRG Pilates in Canberra, where much of the instructions confined them to a wooden machine that contained pulleys with ropes and straps.
In a post capturing the class, a few red faces gave away how stressful they found found it, meanwhile one man totally abandoned the exercise and instead cowered on his side.
In a hilarious twist, two unnamed men grabbed their glutes while wincing in pain and appeared desperate for the session to come to an end.
And just as the female instructor exclaimed ‘We did it gents! Take your legs out of your foot straps!’ a chorus of ‘phew!’ and sighs of relief could be heard coming from around the room.
On the Reddit thread r/Pilates, people have debated the real reason gym bros find it so hard to deal with Pilates.
One man sought a debate on why ‘men seem to struggle much more with Pilates than women’, adding that the ‘most muscular’ guys ‘seem to be sweating the most, shaking the most, and sometimes even turning red’.
At NRG Fitness in Canberra, Australia, one unnamed men grabbed his glutes while wincing in pain
He continued: ‘So exactly what explains this? These are guys who work out every day, they’re pretty strong, large muscles.
‘I am assuming that despite hypertrophying and targeting the big muscles that can do a lot of work, a lot of conventional exercises don’t target the stabilizing and intrinsic muscles like Pilates does?
‘And these guys are strong, but it’s also a lot of extra weight for them to handle compared to women who are smaller’.
The poster then questioned if women were perceivably better at Pilates due to their ‘centre of mass’ being in their hips and core, while men were most likely to harbour most of their strength in their upper bodies.
‘I’ve seen lean women who don’t even seem like they work out that much seem to do certain exercises easily such as the short box series, the hundred, and footwork while the big guys struggle through them’ he added.
‘My female coworkers seem to do things much easier than me on certain exercises, especially the short box series.’
Agreeing, one man with self proclaimed ‘broad shoulders’ said doing Pilates made him feel like ‘a weeble wobble just rolling around’.
‘[I feel] too heavy’ he continued. ‘Feel like I am always going to roll off the box’.
UK digital creator and fitness enthusiast Marino Katsouris said he was left ‘humbled’ by a Pilates class
By the end of the video the session had become too much for him to bear as he was seen clinging to his thighs in pain
One expert disagreed that successful Pilates was down to gender, but rather the type of training one was accustomed to.
They wrote: ‘It really depends, I have worked with a lot of male patients who range in athleticism, the body builders struggled with focusing on mobility over strength, but still performed well isolating muscle engagement.
‘I’ve also worked with male gymnasts who have some of the most beautiful form I’ve ever worked with – some of my favorite and most challenging clients! I’ve also worked with a lot of women who have found themselves happily challenged as well! It totally depends.
‘If you have only ever focused on “strength” building (like weightlifting), you will be challenged with Pilates! Regardless of gender’.
Elsewhere on Reddit, one user shared a post reacting to the viral video of ‘buff’ guys ‘struggling’ with a Pilates class in Dubai.
Responding to the video, one person explained that Pilates ‘is no f***ing joke’.
They continued: ‘These fellas are not used to these movements/the different core strength required’.
Someone else wrote: ‘Pilates focuses on very different muscle groups than bodybuilders. It also has a focus on precision and control. Body builders can brute force through things (quick snap movements), but Pilates requires like exact 90 degree movements and a slow sustained control that rigid muscles are too stiff for’.
Another person explained that ‘gym bros’ often carried a lot of weight on their bodies and so were perhaps too bulky to do Pilates with ease.
‘These dudes are carrying wwwwaaaayyyyy more body mass than your average Pilates enthusiast and it’s a recipe for an ego check’ they wrote.
Another user theorised that gym bros struggled to work with ‘their own body weight’ which was a fundamental part of most Pilates classes.
One man equated Pilates to the first time he took yoga, which he said left him ‘shaking’.
‘This was me with yoga. I thought I was a fit dude. Did lots of cardio, and worked out. Talked a lot of s*** on yoga.
‘My ex asked me to go to class with her. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Had a literal puddle of sweat under me. Legs and arms were shaking like these dudes.
‘Riding 100 miles on my bike would have been way easier than that one hour class. I take back all the s*** I said on yoga, and eat all my words. All hail yoga.
And flipping the script, one user wrote: ‘Videos like this like to insinuate how strong Pilates is. These guys did your full Pilates workout, now go bench press 500lbs show how strong you are lol.’
