13/10/2026
There are Pilates Studios popping up everywhere, they are definitely having a moment BUT what are you getting?
The vast majority are Group Reformer Studios or Fitness Reformer Studios but they are not really teaching Pilates and you are not gaining everything that Pilates can give you.
Sure it’s getting people exercising and that’s great but there are major differences between a Reformer Fitness studio and a fully equipped Pilates Studio.
Training is a big difference, you can teach Reformer classes with as little as a weekend course, maybe a few weeks and even fully online.
These short courses have limited information in biomechanics and anatomy and NOTHING to help with injuries or common pathologies.
My training was 690 hours including hundreds of hours are personal practice and observation AND supervised teaching.
The group Reformer Studios have large class sizes anywhere from 6 to 20 people.
A proper Pilates studio teaches Privates or Semi Privates with a maximum of 4 PEOPLE. Every person is doing individual exercises, tailored to their needs.
In a Fitness Reformer studio you may get an introductory session which teaches how to adjust the Reformer.
At a proper Pilates Studio you do a thorough Initial Assessment which runs for at least 1 hour, running through a detail injury history.
Fitness Reformer is fine if you don’t have an injury and if you are not injury prone but you are not gaining the full benefits of Pilates.
Pilates is great, it helps you move with ease, makes you stronger, more flexible and live well.