Bringing the dynamic to Pilates

Imagine teaching Pilates for around 20 years. Naturally, your style and approach would develop over the years.

When I started my Pilates journey, I used to think that I had to stick exactly to the book and only teach what I had been taught, whether it made sense or not to me! I remember teaching the way Body Control Pilates taught me to begin with, which was very slow and as a result, none of the clients stuck around. It did teach me the very basics though and gave me a really good knowledge of the foundations, but the reality is, that most people do not have the patience to start so slow. They want to see results and they want to feel the burn and right or wrong, that’s the truth for most clients. I soon changed my approach and started to make my classes more challenging and they have continued to get more and more challenging over the years. These days I now teach dynamic reformer pilates mainly in my studio ‘Power Pilates UK’ and the classes are creative and results-driven. They are a fusion of Pilates and fitness with an emphasis on the principles of Pilates throughout. I am very much about keeping my clients fit and strong, and in order to do that the body needs to be challenged.

When I started there was very little talk, if any, of Reformer - even in London. That’s definitely changed over the last 15 years or so. I started working at one of the first dynamic reformer studios in London around 14 years ago and from there they’ve been popping up all over the place. It’s not hard to see why it’s so successful and dynamic reformer group classes definitely make it more accessible which is great. I love Classical Pilates too, but Classical Pilates studios are very pricey and just less accessible for most, so I think it’s great that more people are able to do Reformer Pilates nowadays.

However, as it’s become more popular, there are a lot of PT’s and gyms who have jumped on the bandwagon and the level of Pilates has diluted in some studios, especially the chain studios I find. People are being sold a ‘Pilates class’ when really they are doing a workout on the reformer. Don’t get me wrong, these classes can still be a great workout, but there’s very little of the Pilates principles there, simply because the trainers are not always Pilates qualified. And yes, I know the way I teach is not classical or contemporary Pilates even, but I do have a thorough knowledge of the Pilates technique and I apply this to my dynamic classes and that’s the difference. 

I opened Power Pilates UK (PPUK) in 2014 and haven’t looked back since. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Beckenham, where we are situated, didn’t have anything like it and so it just took off straight away. We were part of a busy yoga studio for the first six years and then moved across the road during Covid into our own premises.

Power Pilates UK is a Boutique studio, and last year was awarded one of the top 12 fitness studios in London. Unlike a lot of the chain dynamic reformer studios you might find, we really do have that very unique and personal touch. I am very selective with who I take on (whereas bigger companies do not always have that luxury) and I am very hands on with the studio and I think that comes across. A lot of our clients have been with us a long time, some of them since the day I opened, which I think speaks volumes.

I am blessed to have some amazing trainers who teach there. I’ve also faced some challenges with staff who I thought were loyal and who I could trust and I learnt some very harsh lessons about not being so trusting and being so open. They are the exception rather than the rule and through these learnings, I always make sure I treat my trainers well as I know that they are the core of my business and they represent me when I am not there, so I want them to enjoy working for me.

Our classes are pretty tough and so are our clients as a result. In fact, new trainers often remark how strong PPUK clients are in comparison to other studios they’ve worked at. We have more intermediate/advanced classes on the timetable than beginners, which again probably reflects that, but I would say most people are intermediate. I only teach four classes a week myself and I see a lot of the same faces every week. I love my ladies, they are so strong and so dedicated and they like to be pushed, so I push them in a safe but effective manner.

We have also recently introduced classes like Strength Pilates to the timetable, as I realise how beneficial and important strength training is for women over 40 especially, which is our main demographic, and since introducing it into my own training the past couple of years. We all know Pilates is amazing and has so many benefits, but as we get older it’s not enough on its own, we need to add weights and by weights in our classes I mean a 5-kilogram weight or more. I’ve often seen a lot of Pilates teachers use light weights, around 2lbs (1 kilogram) and in my opinion, it’s not enough. In our classes, we always use lighter weights on the reformer that’s for sure, as it’s harder to do both. But let’s be clear, you can gain more strength, but you cannot build significant muscle mass with light weights in the 2-3 kilograms. As we get older, (post 35) women decline their muscle mass at a rapid rate, so we have to work even harder to maintain it, let alone build it. Strength training that incorporates lifting heavy weights creates the stimulus our body needs to do this hence why we offer strength Pilates classes at our studio. Yes, there are various types of strength training and obviously, you can’t do it straight away, you need to build good foundations like we do in Pilates and then add load but it’s an effective way of doing so.

In my view Pilates and Strength training combined is the magic formula. Last year I bought some 10kg and 7.5kg weights and added them to our collection at the studio. Of course, we do not use these weights on the reformer, but we use them in our strength Pilates classes, which goes between floor work with heavy weights and the reformer. 

I think sometimes Pilates teachers think their clients need to master the perfect technique, alignment, form etc before progressing them to anything more advanced. But I don’t think we should strive for perfection, people generally are stronger, and more capable, than we think, and they will only get stronger with challenge. I believe it’s our job to give them what they need. I read somewhere recently that it’s highly unlikely that a client is going to injure themselves if they are working with bad form, so I think we can afford to loosen up a little.

Mixing it up

I also believe that we need to mix it up for our clients. I trained as a dancer, so creative movement comes more naturally to me. I’m also a Gemini and I get bored easily, so I have to keep things fresh for me as well as for my clients! I hate going into class and knowing exactly what’s coming next. Doing the exact same exercises over and over again, sometimes your body just switches off. Of course, there are so many beneficial traditional exercises, so I don’t abandon them. I also work a lot with weights to add extra resistance and I like to keep the body guessing, by introducing new flows and varieties on exercises to keep the challenge going and the clients engaged. 
When it comes to creativity, I do think we can sometimes get caught up with being creative for the sake of being creative, rather than creating a class with exercises that are actually the most beneficial for our clients. Sometimes, being creative is not always needed and simple exercises that work well, just do the trick. I try not to over complicate my class plans, I like to have a mix of exercises I know my clients will ‘get’ and not spend half the time working out the correct way to do, and then throw in a new challenge or two. 

More channels means reaching more people

In addition to my studio business, I am also the co-founder of Dynamic Pilates TV (DPTV).  I met Tiffany Burke from Studio Core Pilates in Utah, USA on Instagram when I was pregnant with my third baby. I asked other trainers for some pregnancy-friendly reformer exercises and she responded and we got chatting. She came to London to visit and we met up and hit it off! We decided that there was a gap in the market for online dynamic reformer classes and the next thing I knew we were creating DPTV. I had five months to ‘get in shape’ after having my baby, as we started filming and needed a good amount of content to launch the site. Tiffany had to do a lot of the hard-core work as I had a prolapse after my son Jack and I remember she was in agony after we had filmed so many classes within just a couple of days! We both had decent Instagram followings, so our followers supported us and it grew fast in the first year. Then Covid hit and everyone went online. The good thing about that time is that it changed the way people worked out and again, it made Pilates and Reformer Pilates more accessible for people who did not live near a studio. (So many people bought reformers during that time) I am very proud of DPTV and what we have achieved to date. We have a lot of guest trainers appear now and the standard of our content is high. I love what we’ve created together and getting feedback from all our members makes it all worthwhile.

As teachers and studio owners, I think the key is variety in our teaching and finding new ways to bring Pilates to more people, to share the joy and help people to challenge themselves. 

Korin is the Founder of Power Pilates UK. She started her career in dance and completed her Pilates teacher training with Body Control Pilates in 2004. Korin discovered Dynamic Reformer Pilates in 2011 and trained at the first Dynamic Reformer studio in London. She opened her very own studio ‘Power Pilates UK’ in 2014 in Beckenham, UK. Korin also co-founded Dynamic Pilates TV in 2018.

Korin’s studio was recently featured as one of the Top 16 Pilates studios in the UK in Women’s Health Magazine, and the Top 13 Fitness studios in London in Cosmopolitan.