My Views on muscle “tone”

My views on muscle “tone”…. Because it comes up often from women asking if Pilates will deliver it…. And because Pilates is still largely marketed using this language.

Muscle tone isn’t actually a physiological concept—muscles either grow larger and stronger (hypertrophy), shrink and weaken (atrophy), or stay the same. The idea of ‘toning’ is an aesthetic myth marketed primarily toward women by the fitness industry that mainly wants us to be thin but with defined muscle. It’s really boring.

It’s time we shift the narrative: for the most part strength training isn’t about creating a certain look (with maybe the exception of professional body-builders); it’s about building a body that’s powerful, resilient, and capable.

If you want to be able to swing your grandkids around & wipe your own arse at 80, you should probably just worry about staying strong (mobile, agile and balanced - all the things that Pilates delivers 😉), and worry less about what that muscle looks like.