Exclusive | Guys are joining men-only Pilates classes but those thinking its an easy workout get humbled really quickly

Let’s hear it for the boys — in the Pilates classes.To avoid talks of lip gloss and lattes in a room full of Alo-clad ladies, men are doing bro-lates — or men’s-only Pilates classes — with no girls allowed.And that’s the way they like it.“All in all, it’s better being with six other guys than six other women and you,” Matt Goldschmidt, 41, who enrolled in the bro-lates class eight months ago at Pure Pilates in Merrick, New York, told The Post.“It’s good camaraderie among us, and it doesn’t have the same kind of competitive nature that you find in a gym,” added Mark Reiss, 72, a fellow participant in the class at Pure Pilates.Reiss, a grandfather and avid tennis player, had never considered taking Pilates until his wife and daughters suggested he try the workout.He and some of his friends, all of whom are also in their 60s and 70s, decided they would try a class if — and only if — it was men-only, prompting them to become the original group in the studio’s bro-lates class that launched in 2023.“We’re all in decent shape, and while we all stay active outside of class, it helps us work on different muscles than we would normally,” he said.Before trying Pilates himself, Goldschmidt, a father of three and Long Island-based chiropractor, had recommended it to many of his patients.“Most men would laugh at me, so I started educating myself about it, and I found that it was actually started by a man — but it still has a stereotype around it,” he said.The movement’s founder, Joseph Pilates, developed the routine as a way to repair his own health and strengthen wounded soldiers during WWI.

He most likely didn’t envision that it would one day become a favorite fitness workout for women — so for Goldschmidt, a men’s-only Pilates class made the idea much more palatable.“It’s always more comfortable to be with your own sex when doing any out-of-the-box kind of exercise or movements,” he said.Of course, a workout craze larg...