Equipment pilates classes

A mind-body approach to exercise built on core stability, balance, strength and flexibility, with real attention paid to muscle control, posture and breathing. It suits people of pretty much any age or fitness level.

Clinical Pilates is built around you specifically, often during or after an injury or surgery, rather than everyone in the room following the same programme. It's shaped around your particular needs, not a general fitness goal.

Both are low-impact, mind-body forms of exercise, but yoga tends to move through or hold positions using bodyweight to build endurance, flexibility and calm, often alongside breathwork and meditation. Pilates focuses more on muscle control and core strength, challenging that core through movement of the arms and legs, or through equipment like the reformer.

Pilates performed on a carriage-style machine fitted with springs, straps, a footboard and a bar. We'll often add extras like a box, a Pilates ring or a ball to bring more resistance into a session.

Pilates supports rehabilitation from both acute and chronic injuries, taking in the whole body rather than just the site of the problem. It's particularly useful for chronic back pain, postural pain, hip and shoulder pain, whiplash, arthritis, fibromyalgia and recovery after surgery, partly because it helps rebuild proprioception, your sense of where your body is in space, which plays a real part in recovering well.

Yes, if you haven't had a physiotherapy appointment with us before. An initial 1:1 lets us properly understand your history and goals, so your Pilates programme is built around you from the very first session.

Most Pilates instructors hold a Level 4 certification. For our clinical Pilates specifically, instructors also come from an allied health background, physiotherapy or occupational therapy, alongside additional Pilates training.

Whatever you feel comfortable exercising in. Grip socks are required in every class, simply to keep you steady and reduce the risk of slipping. We have grip socks available to buy at our clinics. 

It can play a part, particularly over a longer period, and it's often a comfortable option for people who find higher-impact exercise hard on the joints. That said, it works best as part of a broader, sustainable approach to movement rather than a quick fix on its own.

Across our 13 Pilates studios, with a full range of timings, City lunchtime classes, six-days-a-week sessions at our residential clinics, and both physiotherapy-led and instructor-led options at Putney. Virtual mat-based classes are also available if you'd rather join from home. Check our clinic pages to see what's running near you.