Matching outfits, Stanley Cups, and two best friends stretching side by side on the reformers; If you’ve been on Instagram lately, you’ve seen the image. But Pilates, developed by Joseph Pilates, is much more than aesthetics or the search for “thin” and “toned” bodies. Once dismissed as a lazy girl’s exercise, it is now recognized as a discipline based on breathing and strength. It starts with core control, using your body to strengthen and stretch every part of yourself. Ask gym buddies trying Reformer Pilates for the first time, legs shaking, sweat pouring, and questioning every life choice that brought them here. Pilates girls don’t like aesthetics.
Or you could ask Yasmin Karachiwala, celebrity trainer and pioneer of Pilates in India. A self-proclaimed lazy girl, her accidental journey into fitness began when she was dragged to an aerobics class by her best friend, who had just started dating someone and wanted to get in better shape. The first sessions were hard. “I didn’t realize it then, but I’ve always had an ego. I couldn’t tolerate being told I was bad at something. I immediately set out to prove them wrong,” Karachiwala says.
Karate legend Sensei Pervez Mistry once told her that she was “skinny fat” – someone who looks thin but stores more fat than muscle on her body – and Karachiwala, dismayed, began weight training with him every day to build muscle. “After training in aerobics and weights, I went to the US to become a certified Pilates trainer, encouraged by my aerobics teacher in 1990. I came back and started taking classes while also teaching kindergarteners, which was my initial goal, and soon after I moved into fitness full-time. That was 35 years ago.”
Today, Karachiwala is one of the most sought-after fitness trainers in the country with 11 studios across India, each equipped to train and certify fitness instructors, teach Pilates and weight training, with the latest sprawling studio opening in Rajendra Nagar, Delhi.
“Pilates is a holistic approach to fitness, but to really benefit from any workout, I recommend splitting between Pilates and strength training,” she advises. “It also depends on your goals, but lifting weights is essential, especially as we age. Two days of weights and two days of Pilates is the ideal balance for anyone’s body.”
On the topic of weight loss, I wanted to know your opinion on GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro. “If you have type 2 diabetes, then, sure, go for it. If you’re over 100kg and your last resort is bariatric surgery, then medications may be helpful. But,” he cautions, “if you’re looking to lose just five to 10kg, avoid them. We don’t know the long-term side effects yet, so it may not be worth the risk.”
