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Hi everyone,
With the new school year approaching, I want to use this month’s newsletter to make a case for something I believe deserves far more attention than it currently gets: Pilates for teenagers.
This one is personal to me.
When I think back to myself as a teenager, I wish Pilates had been part of my life. My posture, along with many of the daily habits I didn’t even notice I had, was quietly shaping how I carried myself and, over time, my confidence too. At that age, we rarely stop to consider how the way we sit, stand, walk, study and move every day affects how we feel, and eventually, shapes the body and posture we carry into adulthood.
I’ve seen this pattern up close in hundreds of clients. The habits that shape how we move for life are often established before we turn 20.
September is when routines reset anyway. It’s the perfect time to make sure the right ones stick.
THE CASE FOR TEENAGE PILATES
I don’t want this to be a feel-good claim. Here’s why Pilates, specifically, deserves a place in teenager’s routine.
Growth creates imbalances. Pilates helps address them. Adolescence brings rapid, uneven growth. During growth spurts, bones grow faster than muscles can keep up. That’s often why teenagers can look clumsy, slouched, or out of sync with their own bodies. Pilates works directly on postural muscles and spinal alignment during this important stage of development.That’s why it’s increasingly being used as a corrective tool for teenagers, not simply as a fitness class.
”Tech neck” is real. Pilates is designed to counter it. Hours of daily screen time and desk-based studying are contributing to forward head posture and rounded shoulders in teenagers at a scale we haven’t seen before. Reformer work, footwork, arm and leg circles, and spinal articulation can help rebuild the postural and core endurance needed to counteract these patterns. A recent clinical study using Reformer Pilates with adolescents found meaningful improvements in trunk endurance and postural control after just six weeks.
It supports young athletes. Teenagers who plays sports are still developing the stabilizing muscles around their joints. Pilates strengthens many of these muscles, which running, kicking, jumping, swimming, and dancing alone don’t fully train. It also develops body awareness, helping young athletes move more efficiently and potentially reducing the risk of overuse injuries. That’s why many professional academies now use Pilates-based conditioning to support their athletes , rather than replace their sport-specific training.
It helps with more than ”average” posture. For adolescents managing conditions such as scoliosis, structured Pilates programs have been shown in clinical research to meaningfully reduce back pain. This is a benefit that goes well beyond aesthetics or general fitness.
The confidence effect isn’t just anecdotal.
Movement that isn’t about competition, comparison or appearance can change how teenagers relate to their own bodies. When a teenager learns to control their body with precision rather than judge it by how it looks, self-esteem can follow. For the first time, the body becomes something they are building, not something they are being measured against.
This is the part that matters most to me.
Pilates gives teenagers a rare kind of space, one where movement isn’t about who’s better, who’s faster or who looks a certain way.
You learn.
You move.
You become more aware.
You progress.
I would have loved to experience that as a teen.
ALGO STUDIOS, YOUR TEENAGER’S BODY
This is exactly why we’ve built ALGO the way we have.
At our Motorcity and DIP studios, teenagers train on our full line of 10 Reformers. It’s an ideal starting point for building core control, postural strength and body awareness, with adjustable, low-impact resistance that can grow with them.
Whether your teenager is just beginning to understand their body or already training at a high level in sport, we provide the right apparatus, specialized tools, and expertly trained instructors to meet them exactly where they are and guide their development with precision and care.
BACK TO SCHOOL AT ALGO
As families reset their routines this September, it’s a good time to get teenagers back into movement, and to give them a space that is entirely their own.
At ALGO, we believe Pilates is something teenagers should have the opportunity to experience early. Not because they need to ”fix” their bodies, but because learning how to move well, understand their bodies and build strength with intention can stay with them for life.
To make the first step easier, throughout September we’re offering teenagers 3 introductory Pilates classes for 200 AED at our DIP and Motorcity studios.
For some, it will be their first experience with Pilates. For others, it may become the beginning of a new way of moving and feeling in their body.
The habits we build today shape the way we move, the way we carry ourselves and, ultimately, the way we feel in our bodies for years to come.
I wish you and your family a healthy and active start to the new school year.
Warm regards,
Anesti Mano