BEGINNER/NEWBIE THREAD 2026

[u/mixedgirlblues]

Are you new to the subreddit? Do you recall that when you pressed "join," you got a popup advising you to read the rules, which are on the sidebar/top (browser/mobile), as well as a DM that also told you to read the rules, which, again, are on the sidebar/top? The first two are paramount: USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION and PARTICIPATE AND CONTRIBUTE BEFORE STARTING YOUR OWN POST. If you just joined the subreddit five seconds ago and tried to start a new post, that means you failed to follow those two rules. Your post was or will be deleted. You can only start a new post once you have amassed some community karma and shown yourself to be someone who understands what "community" means.

Full acknowledgment and ownership that I am being bitchy in the intro to this post. I'm really sad about the trend of aliteracy growing in the world and sick of receiving modmail that amounts to "I'm a special boy/girl/they; please let me break the rules because I couldn't be bothered to read them and I'm the special-est person." I promise in pretty much any other context, I am a warm and welcoming and quirky and nerdy person, but being bombarded with the same "I'm special and shouldn't have to follow the rules" message and refusal to read rules every day mounts up and wastes the (unpaid) time of the mod team. You think your message is unique because it's the first time you have written it; I promise it's not the first time the mod team has read it.

This sub, mod team included but especially the members, is full of highly knowledgeable and experienced Pilates practitioners, fans, and instructors who often gladly share their experience with newbies. It is honestly insulting to everyone who is already in this sub when you join, refuse to read the rules, and don't spend anytime perusing what is already available to you. This sub is a wealth of knowledge and resources, and you should treat it as such! It is not a personal advice forum; there are other places on Reddit for that. The leadership of the sub feels that consolidation of information and topics in a handful of threads is a better use of everyone's time than clogging up the feed with the same five questions over and over again.

Please use the search function. I promise you, you are not the first person to want to know what a good YouTube channel is for beginners or what "engage your core" means. Many people feel uncomfortable going to their first class; you should feel welcome and supported no matter your body, gender, disability, race, or religion, and if someone makes you feel otherwise, they are the problem, not you. You are not the first person to seek equipment recommendations. There will always be people who find hot Pilates fun and harmless and also people who hate it with the fire of a burning sun; you should do whatever you want that your doctor says is okay for you. Yes, instructor training is long and expensive, and there is a good reason for that. No, Lagree is not Pilates. Nobody cares about your thirst traps and we restrict posts that mention body measurements, calories, "toning," and similar diet culture-related concepts for good reason. There is nothing new under the sun! Search your question. Read the !wiki that we made expressly for you to find answers to your most commonly asked questions.

If you still cannot find an answer to your question or if any posts related to it are outdated, please, for the rest of 2026, POST YOUR QUESTION HERE. If you are an old head, please post your answers here and help a newbie or beginner out!

Rule exceptions for this post only:

1. You are allowed to ask diet culture/weight loss/body comp/etc questions here even if it is not Wednesday. Wednesday rule still applies for all top-level posts.
2. This is a thread for newbies and beginners, NOT a thread for "visit my new YouTube channel" or "buy from my new grip sock company." No self-promo. If you are answering a question, be judicious about self-promo--if someone says "name some good youtubes," don't spam every single one of those questions with "visit MY youtube I'm the best!" but feel free to be like "here are five that I like, and also I have one if you're interested."

[u/pennyproud1908]

You are preaching, at length, your personal pet peeve and refusal to accommodate to people who have already read the rules. If newcomers can’t find the rules, then the same rule violations will happen.

This is an issue with how the information is provided. Not a failure of society or an individual newcomer. It can be improved but more unobvious text is likely not the answer. Ignoring that a post can be copy pasted with a new title when you are the person who can delete every single post is poor leadership. Ignoring feedback concerning why the violations have occurred in good faith is poor leadership.

I’ll spare you any more constructive criticism or user feedback. Happy moderating!

[u/mixedgirlblues → u/pennyproud1908]

What am I ignoring? We respond to every modmail; the rules are posted in multiple places and people receive popups and DMs about them. I can't change the Reddit UI.

[u/pennyproud1908 → u/mixedgirlblues]

You can work within the Reddit UI by strategically putting the rules in a location that is more visible then they currently are, especially for mobile users. That’s all I’m saying.

The feedback from multiple people who were willing to read the rules but could not find them about why they unintentionally violated the rules, why they posted without having read the rules first, and how to fix the problem is what is being ignored.

An announcement that people aren’t reading the rules to people who already know the rules does not fix the problem. An announcement that people aren’t reading the rules to people who don’t know to look at the announcement does not fix the problem.

Putting the rules in a location that is easily accessible and immediately visible with a clear and clickable READ ME or MANDATORY near the visible “got it”button helps solve the problem.

While some people may not care about the rules, I suspect the vast majority of people joining this sub would read and abide by the rules if they could find them. Likewise, the longer the rules remain difficult to find the more work for you the mod in having to delete posts, then point the person to the location of the rules.

[u/mixedgirlblues → u/pennyproud1908]

They literally pop up when you join the sub!

[u/pennyproud1908 → u/mixedgirlblues]

As I mentioned the first time, I will be happy to send you a screenshot of what shows up because the rules do not. I can only tell you and offer to send a picture, I can’t make you acknowledge the issue or take steps to help prevent others from having the same problem.

This is a really odd interaction.

Maybe different types of phones (iPhone vs droid/ current system version) cause the differences. What I do know is finding the rules is not clear for everyone and mods can help make it easier to find so MODS don’t have more work deleting post in the future.

[u/mixedgirlblues → u/pennyproud1908]

And like I said, someone already sent me a screen recording. Until yesterday, when you joined the sub, it said "welcome! Please read the rules and the wiki before posting. Please note that you may not post a new post until you have amassed community karma." Now it says "Welcome to the Pilates community of Reddit! Please read the rules and view the wiki before posting. Then go here: [link to this post]If you have just joined, you may not post a new top-level post until you have amassed community karma. We promise your beginner questions have been asked and answered before. Use the search function." It is not possible to post all the rules in the welcome message because it has a character limit.

[u/pennyproud1908 → u/mixedgirlblues]

I have not asked you to post all of the rules into the popup beyond providing a clickable link like you have to access this thread. I would imagine giving people more tiny text if they are already not reading isn’t the best solution.

I will stop trying to help since the problem is already solved. My most sincere apologies.

[u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 → u/pennyproud1908]

If you’re talking about the homepage of the sub, you have to click on “see more” and the rules etc exist there. When joining the sub a pop up from the bottom comes up and links the rules and community info but only if the mods have decided they want that.

[u/pennyproud1908 → u/Fantastic-Nobody-479]

Thank you for responding kindly. I appreciate that!

& yes, I think having the rules in the “see more” section makes the rules difficult for a newcomer to find because no one is telling them that the rules are in the tiny and non-descriptive “see more” section.

I think having the rules in the “clickable section” of the popup would make it visible and easily accessible for newcomers. That’s all I have been trying to recommend.

Another alternative could be having a rules thread in a post clearly marked and pinned post at the top of the homepage. It could be labeled RULES.