Pilates Archives - Wharf Life

London Dock development welcomes American chain as the business expands to the UK

Club Pilates' Wapping studio can host classes for up to 12 participants and boasts a wealth of equipment for people to use — Club Pilates’ Wapping studio can host classes for up to 12 participants and boasts a wealth of equipment for people to use

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It would be nice to think that those living in the prosperous capital of a G7 country would have access to pretty much the best stuff in the world.

But it’s clear London is lagging behind in some areas.

A recent visit to Tokyo left me agog at its bullet trains, spotless streets and high quality cuisine.

Its urban planning makes the City look like a rather unambitious provincial backwater.

Then there’s the astonishing level of hygiene facilities – plentiful and mostly free – in a culture that really wasn’t content for the evolution of the toilet to essentially stop with the invention of the manual flush in 1596.

A trip to Wapping made something else plain – that the UK is also behind on certain health and fitness trends.

Pilates is clearly starting to have a moment in London.

Visit Third Space in Canary Wharf and you’ll find its Reformer Pilates classes consistently oversubscribed.

It’s really the extra kit that makes the difference.

Mat-based Pilates sessions are not so rare in community centres across the country.

But studios that allow groups of people to stretch and strengthen their bodies on equipment such as the spring-loaded reformers, Pilates chairs and springboards are far less common.

Club Pilates has opened its third UK branch at London Dock in Wapping

seeing an opportunity

It’s a niche Club Pilates is looking to fill.

Founded in San Diego in 2007, the business has expanded to more than 1,000 locations globally via a franchising model.

With a target of 50 clubs for its initial UK roll out, it recently opened its third location in the capital at London Dock in Wapping.

Offering classes for up to 12 participants, the Gaughing Square facility is packed with Pilates paraphernalia and offers locals a range of classes to cater for all fitness levels and ages.

Jada-Rae Poku, master Pilates instructor and director of sales, marketing and education at Club Pilates

Club Pilates: a one-stop shop

“It’s an all-inclusive, one-stop shop for all your Pilates needs,” said master Pilates instructor and director of sales, marketing and education at Club Pilates, Jada-Rae Poku.

“We’re an American company, founded in California by Allison Beardsley whose mission was to bring Pilates to the masses.

“Historically, it wasn’t accessible to many people, so, by having more equipment, she could have more people at one time and that brought the price point slightly lower.

“It’s about community and bringing people, who might not otherwise take part, into the practice.”

Jada-Rae is currently splitting her time between the States and the UK, having been with the business for seven years.

“At school I did track and field, and my first experience of Pilates was in rehab from an injury – I was a high jumper,” she said.

“I was planning to become a physical therapist, but found Club Pilates along the way, and now I’m involved in the management of the business as well as teaching the practice.

“Having started on the sales team, I was working to open up branches on the coast of New Jersey, then in Irvine, California.

“I also run a certification course at Wapping for people wishing to become instructors themselves.

“We offer a fully comprehensive Club Pilates certification for everything you can see in our studios and those who complete a course can take those skills wherever they like.”

Of course, with a further 47 branches of Club Pilates expected to create some 900 jobs across the UK, those 500-hour programmes could well be a route to employment with the company as it grows.

Jada-Rae takes a class at the Wapping branch of Club Pilates — Jada-Rae takes a class at the Wapping branch

a little history

That interest in this country is increasing feels especially apt given the exercise system’s roots.

Born in Germany, Joseph Pilates had overcome childhood asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever thanks to a passion for exercise and martial arts.

Having become a gymnast and bodybuilder, he moved to England in 1912 and earned a living as a circus performer and a self-defence instructor for the police.

However, when the First World War broke out he and many other German citizens were imprisoned through the Government’s policy of internment, first at Lancaster Castle and then on the Isle Of Man.

It was during these periods of incarceration, teaching his fellow inmates wrestling and self-defence, that he developed the fitness regimen of mat exercises that evolved into Contrology, the basis of modern Pilates.

He taught thousands of men his methods during these years.

While the evidence is inconclusive, the spring systems used to create resistance in his Reformer machines may have been inspired by those in the frames of the hospital beds he helped to rehabilitate injured prisoners of war on.

He returned to Germany after the war but decided to emigrate to the USA, meeting his future wife on the crossing and dedicating his life to teaching his method and spreading its benefits from their base in New York.

Club Pilates shares that mission as it expands to the country where the exercises it teaches had their genesis.

Exercises on the Reformer are often performed on the back making them accessible to people of all abilities

a warm welcome at Club Pilates

“People can expect super-friendly, smiling faces, here to make sure they have the best experience,” said Jada-Rae.

“There is a lot of equipment and it can be overwhelming, but we’ll make sure you have a full-body workout – that you move your spine, feel good and get stronger – in every class.

“You’ll always be working on the stabilisation of muscles, mobility and flexibility, which are all needed for proper functional movement.

“I go to a gym as well and, when I have a solid Pilates practice, I’m not getting injured as frequently and I’m getting stronger more quickly, because I’m rehabbing my muscles in the Pilates classes.

“You’re able to push more if your muscles are more limber, so it’s great for any movement practice.

“Pilates is life-changing. It’s great for rehabilitation, it’s low-impact, so literally everyone can do it.

“The method is a very controlled and precise way of moving your body – we’re very focussed on the mind-body connection.

“The more you do it, the better you get.

“It’s about engaging every single muscle, so there’s a lot to take in when you start, but it becomes easier and easier.”

key details: Club Pilates in Wapping

Club Pilates is located in Gaughing Square at Wapping’s London Dock development.

New clients can take advantage of an early Black Friday offer and purchase three classes for £30 via the link below.

Membership options are also available with prices ranging from £150 to £299 for unlimited classes.

One-to-one training options are also available.

Find out more about the studio here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

Pilates and group exercise lead instructor Eve Powell on why she sought help with weightlifting

Eve Powell, Pilates and group exercise lead instructor – image Matt Grayson

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It’s January, the time when for reasons more traditional than functional, people take stock of their lives and pledge to make changes for the better.

But how to make those resolutions stick once the novelty value has worn off?

Wisdom is generally gained from experience, so a good starting point in any fresh venture should be to seek out the thoughts of those who are already pretty good at what you’re trying to achieve.

With the festive bloat at maximum, increased exercise is generally bobbing around the top of people’s lists.

But motivation can wane rapidly, so I sat down with Eve Powell of Third Space in Canary Wharf to discover her tips for sticking with the programme and how she personally stays in shape and maintains her enthusiasm.

A certified Pilates coach and group exercise lead instructor, Eve has been described as “the superwoman” on Trustpilot by a gym member, who praised her “meticulous performance on the gym floor and in classes”.

Eve says personal training can help deliver motivation – image Matt Grayson

Having first qualified as a trainer while at university, Eve initially embarked on a career in the film industry before realising she got more out of her weekly combat class at the weekend than five days spent on set.

“That’s when I made the transition to thinking I wanted to do it full-time,” she said.

“The main thing is the job satisfaction because we’re lucky to have endorphin-high, sweaty people telling us how great they feel at the end of a class.

“It’s a job where you help people and now, having got into Pilates, that’s even more the case.

“I’d never practised it before I joined Third Space – I’d done Yoga and thought it was basically the same – but my boss here asked if I wanted to go on a training course and I said yes because I thought it would be another skill to have.

“I’m so glad, because it changed my life and the way I train completely.

“Not knowing anything about it, I thought Pilates was good if you had a bad back, or if you were a bit older and your physio told you that you needed to do it.

“But I really fell in love with the history of it, the discipline and practice. It’s conditioning, building that strong, solid foundation for other exercises so you can run, lift weights and do Crossfit.”

Eve has a coach for her Olympic weightlifting – image Matt Grayson

Another key element to Eve’s approach to fitness is seeking out one-on-one expertise, especially for those new to the gym or branching out into new areas.

“Using myself as an example, I’m a coach, but when I decided to take up Olympic weightlifting I went to a personal trainer because I was a total beginner,” she said.

“I had a bit of a head start because of the endurance, flexibility and mobility I’d built up with Pilates, but I needed someone with that experience.

“For people who are new to the gym, maybe they don’t even know what their goals are, so I’d recommend having a session with a trainer and trying lots of different things.

“That’s why Third Space is a great place to start because there’s so much to choose from here. Then we have so many great trainers it’s easy to work one-on-one with someone on general fitness or on something specific.

“With weightlifting, it was a brand new skill to me and it’s so technical – I knew I would benefit from having the time and eyes of a coach.

“It’s also easier to commit and to work on smaller short-term goals in pursuit of what you’re trying to achieve.

“The trainer I see is on me to hit those targets. If you’ve got a good coach, invested in you, and you’re investing in yourself, it’s amazing.

“I have that one hour where it’s me and her and I’ve got a goal – snatching a particular weight or focusing on my hip mobility in my overhead squat.

“Whatever it is, it’s my time with that person and I call it my therapy. In between sessions we stay in touch – I send her videos of my progress and I really miss it if I can’t make a session. It really helps with motivation.

“It also helps me from a professional standpoint because my trainer will use cues and commands while I’m exercising that I find I can use.

“Even though the Pilates classes I coach aren’t the same, something that works for weightlifting might also work for me when I’m doing banded overhead squats with a group.”

From the other side Eve said one-on-one sessions gave trainers the chance to go into great detail with individuals.

She said: “You have more time to really look at a person’s body. You have time to ask the client questions and get their feedback, to find out where someone is feeling something and what it feels like for them.

“Initially, trainers use their first sessions to see how their client is moving, what their core strengths are and if they have any imbalances to address.

“It starts with identifying a goal – what the client wants to get out of their time with a coach.

“That might be to lose some weight, to increase their fitness, to tackle an injury or some pain they’re getting or to improve their posture.

“Then the trainer will come up with an individual programme tailored to achieve that. In general that will be a 360-degree approach that delivers a full body workout as a way of delivering those goals.

“It’s also great for trainers because after I’ve had a session with someone I’ve always learnt something.

“Everyone has a different body. A cue that might work for one person might not work for another so you have to be very adaptive.

“It’s a process of discovery, you have to make sure you’re using the right language.

“You might have a client who spends all day working at a desk and has no knowledge of the fitness industry so you have to find a way to communicate that makes sense to them.”

Membership of Third Space Canary Wharf costs £180 on a rolling monthly contract.

Personal training rates at the club are available on request, with a discount for new members on their first two sessions.

Group-wide membership for all clubs including City and Tower Bridge costs £210 per month.

New members get two guest passes, a meal or shake at Natural Fitness Food, 25% off their first treatment at the Canary Wharf spa and an ongoing discount of 5% as standard.

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