Toxic muscle mommy versus Pilates princess trend can have lasting negative effects, experts say

“Thin is in” — again — and social media is to blame, critics say.The rise of trendy weight-loss drugs like Ozempic has turbocharged a new wave of toxic body standards.But it’s not just the shots fueling the shift.In digital wellness circles, a not-so-subtle transformation is playing out.Once celebrated for strength and powerlifting prowess, the “muscle mommy” movement — a term used to describe strong, muscular women who strength train — is being replaced by a wave of Pilates-obsessed influencers pushing a leaner, daintier aesthetic, which was originally reported on by PureWow.After years of hyping up CrossFit and lifting heavy in the name of being “strong, not skinny,” gym-goers on TikTok and Instagram are now sharing why they’ve ditched heavy deadlifts for leg circles, blaming weights for making them look too beefy.And sadly, these people pushing their pilates obsession are creating a bigger problem.Body types shouldn’t be a trend, critics argue, warning that this narrow image of what a “fit” body should look like may actually discourage people from working out altogether — or worse, spiral them into obsessive, unhealthy routines.Case in point: TikTok is filled with videos of women analyzing their bodies, torn between the “muscle mommy” look or the “Pilates princess” aesthetic.Social media videos captioned “Pilates hourglass” and “pilates body > gym body” are just adding to a body insecurity epidemic among women.“It’s important to remember that exercise is about feeling strong and healthy, not fitting a certain look.

Enjoying Pilates or any workout doesn’t mean you have to look like the people you see online,” Dr.Sanam Hafeez, a neuropsychologist based in New York City, told PureWow.“Seeing the same body type repeatedly on social media can make people feel like they have to look that way to be accepted,” she told the outlet.

Hafeez said that comparing your body to others online leads to low self-estee...