Is Pilates the next Fitness Craze this 2026?

The new year is here, and that means resolutions are on everyone’s mind—especially when it comes to getting fit. In Belize, gyms and at-home workouts have been the go-to, but now there’s a fresh option shaking things up. Sabreena Daly went behind the scenes at Belize’s first-ever Pilates studio, set to open on January 5th. She also spoke with the woman behind this latest venture to find out if Pilates could be the perfect addition to your fitness resolutions. Here’s that story.

 

Sabreena Daly, Reporting

For most people, the new year feels like a fresh start, a blank canvas to paint the version of you would like to be in the year ahead. For many people, that looks like setting intentions and recommitting to goals, and fitness often rises to the top of that list. In Belize, health and wellness have long been shaped by gym memberships and at-home workouts, but a fresh approach is now drawing interest…Pilates.

 

Destiny Wagner, Owner, Belize Pilates
“ It focuses a lot on core strength as well as mindful movements and breathing of course. So it’s great for people who have. Recent injuries. It’s great for people who want to improve their posture as well as become more flexible and lean.”

 

Destiny Wagner is no stranger to the public eye. In 2021, she put Belize on the world stage after capturing the Miss Earth crown, becoming the first Belizean to win one of the top four international beauty pageants. Beyond the crown, she is an author and the business mind behind the beloved Belizean card game Weh Yuh Di Seh. Her most recent venture introduces something entirely new to the local fitness scene with the launch of Belize’s first-ever Pilates studio and membership, aptly named Belize Pilates.

Destiny Wagner
“Every year, I make a bingo board for the new year and I put Pilates on there and I thought it was more so me diving deeper into my own practice. Little did I know that I would literally be opening up a studio toward the end of the year. So it was one of those things where I just looked at the market and I realized that we don’t have this sort of fitness here in Belize that is popular, that people know about. So I definitely wanted to tap into it, and as long as I could remember, I’ve always been health conscious and wanting my friends to be the best version of themselves. I believe that when you’re passionate about something and you wanna do something, you just do it. You ignore the outside noises and you just focus on yourself. We’re here for a limited time on this earth, so take advantage of it. You never know when your day is gonna come, so all the dreams that you have, you don’t want them to be staring at you. While you’re weak and while you’re older, you wanna fulfill them now. So that’s kind of the mentality that I have.”

 

The studio is set to open to the public on January 5th, and Wagner says attendees will not only have access to the fundamentals of mat work but also reformer machines. Today, I got a firsthand understanding of what makes Pilates such a unique experience. Starting with the attachment of one-pound wrist straps, I expected the workout to feel as light as the straps themselves. But I soon realized it was anything but that.

Destiny Wagner
“ Go in with an open mind. Some of the movements are going to look simple, however, we’re not focusing so much on intensive workout, it’s more so slow and controlled movement and how many reps we can do at the right pace and movement of it all. So even though it may look a little simple and fine, you will still definitely get a full workout.”

 

Sabreena Daly

“So what got you into fitness?”

Destiny Wagner

“I feel like I was always into fitness, but more so creative avenues of it. So not traditional fitness like lifting and running. But like dancing, Zumba, boxing, I always wanted to try new things and during COVID, that’s when I really tapped into YouTube Pilates. At the time, I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew that I was exercising and moving, and it felt really good.”

 

Wagner’s commitment to her business goes beyond outfitting the studio with top-of-the-line machines and accessories. She herself became certified in Pilates training and made sure other women in Belize could do the same, opening the doors for anyone interested in learning and sharing in this new wellness journey.

Destiny Wagner
“Competition is definitely good for the economy, first of all, but also I believe collaboration is equally as important. I don’t want it to be women against each other. I want it to be women helping each other and uplifting each other. And I think if you’re gonna be the first person to do something, it’s very important that you’re not the last person to do it either. So as much as I’m grateful to be the first, I wanna ensure that I’m not the last.”

 

And while this experience might be the first of its kind at this scale, it definitely opens the doors to new options for people kickstarting their health and wellness journeys this 2026. But Wagner says, it’s also the formation of a community.

Destiny Wagner
“ I want people to have fun. That’s like my main thing. A lot of people associate fitness or being healthy with eating nasty food, or running and sweating so much. I want to change that narrative and make fitness fun again. So I want them to have fun and I also want them to build community. The older I get, the more I realize it is difficult to find friends and meet new people when we’re all kind of doing our own thing now. So I definitely want it to be a community where everyone networks, support each other, motivate each other, see each other in the studio, say, hi, hang out afterwards, and the whole shebang.”

 

So, Support, Stretch, Strength, repeat? That sounds like a new year I can get behind. Looking on the Bright Side, I’m Sabreena Daly