Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles had said to Jimmy Fallon that she trained seven hours every day, with four of those days working out twice a day. Safe to assume that the days leading to the Paris Olympics were no different. Strength training, circuit training, endurance, and whatnot. After all, pulling off something like the dreaded Yurchenko Double Pike vault is no joke. Bur despite workouts being at the center of the mastery she displays on the bars, beams, and floors, do you know that there are exercises that she would prefer to avoid?

Yes, you heard that right. Three months after picking up her fifth, sixth, and seventh Olympic gold in Paris, Simone returned to the gym. Sharing this news on her Instagram story On December 4, she declared the exercise that she was never going to do again.

“First time working out since the Olympics… This is what I wore to a Pilates class that I will never be attending again! Y’all stay strong out there, lmao. It’s too hard.” Simone wrote. A typical Pilates class involves machines, which use bands and movable benches. Developed by Joseph Pilates, the exercises focus on improving flexibility and building muscle strength. When done properly, Pilates has also been known to help lower back and leg muscles. And for gymnasts, Pilates has some definite advantages.

Particularly with equipment Pilates, many exercises in the Pilates repertoire help participants stretch into the end range of their movement. This is very valuable for gymnasts. They also need mobility in the spine. Many popular ‘stretches’ fail to address spinal mobility. Pilates is particularly helpful for keeping the spine mobile. Alongside, Pilates focuses on body awareness and good movement patterns, which reduces the chances of injuries because of inefficient or faulty movement patterns. In fact, Aly Raisman had once vouched for it.

As Aly had pointed out, Pilates has been helpful because of the focused, deliberate approach to movement. “What I like about Pilates is that tiny movements make a big difference. The slightest movement of your leg can fire different muscles. It really helps me stay present and in my body,” she had said. But none of these seem to convince Simone enough to go for Pilates sessions. And this is not the first time she has opened up about her love-hate relationship with Pilates!

Back in 2020, she admitted she was pretty bad at it and had no plans of trying it again. As they say, even Superman has his kryptonite, Achilles has his vulnerable heel, and for Biles, it’s Pilates. The eight-time Olympic gold medalist and most decorated gymnast on the planet shared that she struggled through an “elite-level” Pilates class. Despite her incredible flexibility, strength, and athleticism, Pilates just wasn’t her thing.

At a “Gold Medal Goals” event sponsored by Visa and Capital One, Biles, Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, and host Joi Wade were talking about fitness goals when Ledecky mentioned squeezing Pilates into her intense routine. That’s when Biles couldn’t help but laugh and share her experience, saying, “I will not be doing that again,” and admitting she was “so sore” the day after her class. It’s safe to say Pilates is a no-go for her! But does it have anything to do with her age?

During the Netflix docuseries Simone Biles: Rising, Simone opened up about her ripe age for gymnastics and how she feels differently now than she did earlier in her career. “Since I’m older, my body is like a ticking time bomb,” she had said in the series. Maybe that is why she has also talked about doing away with YDP.

“This is my last, definitely Yurchenko double pike [vault],” Simone told reporters following the Paris Games. However, the intrigue around her return for the LA28 remains. Coming off her successful Gold Over America Tour, Simone has been tight-lipped about her future in gymnastics. But in Paris, she had said, “The home Games — the next Olympics is at home, so you just never know. But I am getting really old.” Interestingly, Simone Biles has someone in her life who will do pilates for her!

Why Simone Biles swears by Pilates (and her husband’s surprising role in it)!

Simone Biles’ husband, Jonathan Owens, is super supportive when it comes to her workouts, especially when she’s not training for gymnastics. In an interview with Bustle, Simone shared that she and her husband love doing Pilates together during their downtime.

“I’ve tried Pilates about three times with my husband because he swears by it,” she said, adding that while he has more time to dedicate to it in the off-season, she still enjoys it—even though the intense sessions are definitely challenging. “We did intense Pilates, which was very difficult, but I did enjoy it,” she admitted. Interestingly, there is one more workout regime that she had found hard.

“Last year we did cross-training. We swam twice a week—almost a mile! I swore I was going to drown, it was so hard, and then we would run. And the year before that we would bike 10 miles outside once a week. If we didn’t bike, we would run a mile before practice, and as soon as we finished the mile we’d have to go inside and do a beam routine. My legs were absolute jello. But it got easier because the cross-training helped.” Simone had said in 2016 to Women’s Health magazine.

Nevertheless, given the benefits Pilates has for a gymnast, it might surely be a part of her training if she comes back for the 2028 Olympics. But even if she does not come back, Jonathan Owens will surely be there to support her just like he has been there during the Pilates sessions. “If she feels like it is time to focus on life … because when you are locked in, you do have to sacrifice a lot and you do miss a lot. That’s the one thing that she would just have to figure out for herself. And like I said, man, I’m here to support her a thousand percent whatever she decides to do,” Owens had said to People. What do you think is in store for Simone?