Ahh… the New Year.  Everything seems ripe with possibility. This will be the year – the decade – where we really start to take our health seriously and Get in Shape! Lose the weight. Get the body we want! Print and social media will be promoting every diet plan and exercise scheme under the sun. The hype will last, maybe, until the end of the month.

In the 20 -plus years I have been teaching Pilates, I have seen fitness trends come and go. The Pilates method of exercise started trending in the late 1990s and began saturating the fitness market in the 2000s. Today, Pilates is an entrenched part of the fitness culture. In-house Pilates studios exist in most major health clubs, and the American chain, Club Pilates, is one of the fastest growing franchises in the US. Group mat classes, and less commonly group Reformer or Apparatus classes remain hugely popular.

The Instagram images of Lycra-clad women and men with 6-pack abs performing hard-core body-weight exercises don’t really tell the true Pilates story. Sure, lots of those fabulous folks exist and credit Pilates with sculpting their incredible physiques (though be reminded, 6-pack abs are created in the kitchen, not in the studio). But most Pilates clients are regular people like you and me who want to get and stay fit, healthy, and strong. They want to feel better as well as look better, and Pilates delivers.

Pilates has endured in the fitness lexicon because it is founded on sound exercise science. The work is effective, accessible and adaptable. It is the exercise of choice of health-care practitioners as well as professional athletes, dancers and celebrities because it works.

Most Pilates studios are small, owner-operated studios focusing almost exclusively on private lessons and small group training. Retrofit prides itself on the quality of its group class–training.

But Pilates people know, truly body-changing work happens most often in private sessions.

Pilates can work magic. It can change your life. It is not a quick fix but an ever-evolving, infinitely interesting and fascinating process of discovery, change and refinement. Not everyone wants to work like that. Not everyone has to. But if you really want to make qualitative change to the way your body moves, to get rid of the pain, to continue to do all the things you love to do and live as full a life as possible for as long as possible, private training is for you.

We have made it easier for you to reap the benefits of private training with our Private Training membership. It’s convenient, affordable and prioritized in your schedule to keep you accountable. Because like any worthwhile endeavor, success as you define it will only come with commitment, perseverance and consistency.

Exercise is a celebration of what we are capable of, not a punishment for reckless behaviour. Movement is joy. Physical fitness is the first requisite for happiness. It’s a new decade. Who knows where we will be in 10 more years. I am choosing  to go forward strong, determined, patient and hopeful. Join me.