Rachel Lawrence is a Pilates teacher – certified by BASI Pilates – and YouTuber, with close to 100,000 subscribers on the platform. Her most viewed video has been watched more than two million times over the course of the past year and her channel is showing no signs of slowing down. She releases new Pilates workouts each week, including strength and flexibility workouts, routines for seniors, and dance-related Pilates content too. Here’s what she had to say when we caught up with her… Tell me about your journey with Pilates. What’s your story? I trained as a dancer from the age of three, and ..read more

The fitness industry continues to boom and in the UK alone, it’s now worth over £5bn. This staggering figure is thanks, in part, to the rapid increase in new premises opening. There are now over 7,000 gyms currently operating in the UK and exercise participation, with 1 in 7 adults in the UK now being a member of a gym. This rapid rise, the explosion in popularity, isn’t just contained to mainstream gyms and health clubs either. Boutique studios and gyms, the likes of Barry’s Bootcamp, F45 and others, have experienced tremendous growth in the last few years as well. Away from exercise in physi ..read more

Aneliese Foxwell is a qualified yoga and Pilates instructor who runs Foxy Yoga, her very own studio. After previously being in the police for 14 years, she decided to change her career and involve herself more in fitness. We recently talked to her more about her journey. Let’s start at the very beginning, how did your fitness journey start and what prompted your career change? I have practised karate since I was six years old so have always enjoyed being physically active. As I became older I especially enjoyed taking part in group exercise classes – in particular aerobic combat classes, HIIT ..read more

There are many ways that fitness professionals can grow their business and take things to the next level. The first 12 months are critical in a professional’s journey but after that period, what can be done to elevate a career even more? One popular route is to gain more qualifications, allowing you to appeal to a wider range of clients. For example, a yoga teacher becoming qualified in Pilates (and vice versa) or a personal trainer upskilling with sports massage. Another way to grow a fitness business and expand the brand is fitness retreats, a burgeoning market rife with possibilities and op ..read more

It’s estimated that the UK health and fitness market is worth over £5bn and the number of gyms has far exceeded the 7,000 mark. Many, many factors have contributed to the sheer popularity and profitably of the fitness industry and one such major player has been group exercise. Recent survey figures from EMD UK estimate that 4.86 million in England alone take part in group exercise classes and according to the American College of Sports Medicine’s latest Worldwide Survey of Fitness group training/group exercise is firmly planted at number three. The meteoric rise of mainstream fitness classes a ..read more

Izabella Angelova is a recent HFE Pilates graduate and Head of Brand and PR for Europe’s number 1 sports retailer Decathlon. We recently caught up with her to discover more about her experiences. Considering you have a wealth of marketing experience across a range of industries, what inspired you to pursue a Pilates qualification? I am a very active person and I enjoy constantly developing myself and learning new things. I started practising Pilates about eight years ago as I had back problems and I simply fell in love with it. Later on, I also pursued yoga and I am currently completing my yog ..read more

Mariella Murray is a recent HFE Pilates graduate who focuses on Pilates, fitness and wellness classes in Hertfordshire. We spent some time talking to Mariella to discover why it’s never too late to start a career in the fitness industry. Let’s start at the beginning, how did your interest in Pilates come about? Having been a health and wellbeing enthusiast for as long as I can remember, I finally took a leap of faith at the age of 39 to formally retrain as a fitness instructor. I closed the door on a career that spanned over 20 years and walked away from a successful freelance marketing consul ..read more

Over the past few decades, Pilates has become a staple of personal training and group exercise. Once solely practised by professional athletes and dancers, the mainstream popularity Pilates has helped people the world over improve their posture, flexibility, stamina and strength. It’s also been used to reduce back and neck pain and as a form of rehabilitation following injury As a personal trainer or group exercise instructor, you may be asked about the differences between mat-based and reformer approaches and which style clients should choose. Like any mode of exercise, it’s important to reme ..read more

“Contrology develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind, and elevates the spirit…” – Joseph Pilates The original work of Joseph Pilates has developed significantly since its inception in the early 20th century. While modern interpretations, Stott, Body Control Method, Integrative Approach et al, have brought in a more scientific approach to exercise and training, they still retain the core tenants of Pilates’ original ‘Contrology’. Pilates felt that his work was decades ahead of his time, implying that the modern way of living, poor p ..read more

According to a recent HFE opinion poll, 70 per cent of fitness enthusiasts in the UK, which included regular gym-goers and trainee fitness professionals, would rather participate in Pilates than yoga. In our recent infographic, we compared the two forms of exercise and subsequently conducted a poll to see which one is the most popular in the UK at the moment. While there are significant advantages associated with both modes of exercise, it’s clear that Pilates holds more appeal among those we questioned. What is it about Pilates that people prefer? As well as confirming which of the approaches ..read more