My name is Carol Bartram and with my husband Bob we make up the Tubby2toned Exercise team. We both love Pilates and the benefits it can bring and we hope to persuade you that Pilates is worth the time and effort required to master it.

What Is Pilates?

Pilates is a relativity new exercise system developed by Joseph Pilates in the 1920's.

Many people start Pilates because they gave been referred to it by their health professional to help correct some postural imbalance which may be causing them some pain. That's why we both started Pilates; to get rid of pain we had!

I, after a lifetime of falling off horses, have amongst other injuries a twisted pelvis. Bob has nearly constant back and neck pain due to appalling posture. Once we started to feel the benefits (less pain, better posture) we decided to invest in teacher training so that we could teach it to other people.

Did I say I loved Pilates? I love the fact that we receive people into our classes in such a state that it is a miracle they got into the studio! No, they haven’t been in multiple car crashes, they just have half a lifetime of bad posture and feel the pain. They have such poor core stability that they struggle with the simplest of exercises – even standing on one leg is nearly impossible at first. But if they stick to attending regularly for 6 months – well, all I can say is – the difference in them is amazing! They are much stronger, walk taller and look the world right in the eye. Their pain is much improved, if not gone altogether, and their stress levels are way down, too.
Lets be honest here. Pilates is good, but it can't work miracles. Half a lifetime of postural incorrectness can't be fixed in 6 sessions. You have to stick to it, probably for the rest of your life. Although that’s not as terrible as it sounds; once you get the hang of the basic principles, you start putting them into your everyday life almost automatically. I have many clients who tell me they hear me nag “Shoulders back and down!” when they’re walking sloppily round the mall and I am miles away!
Sadly, we do sometimes get clients who are looking for a quick fix and get frustrated when results are not instant. They tend to drop out quite quickly, convinced that Pilates “doesn’t work”. Hey, you can lead a horse to water…

Although you can teach yourself Pilates from our Free Exercises, books or DVD's, taking a class is much more effective. A qualified instructor knows how to get you into the right position and give you correct teaching points. It is impossible to check your own form whilst doing the exercises so you'll never be 100% sure you’re doing the exercises correctly.

Free Pilates Exercises are helpful to see if it's the sort of exercise you'd enjoy doing and after you've been to a class you will have the material to remind you of what your supposed to be doing and where you are supposed to be feeling it!

Remember practice doesn’t make perfect it makes PERMANENT! If you learn an exercise incorrectly and practice a lot, you will permanently do it wrong. Then you will have to unlearn the exercise (which takes a long time) before you can re-learn the correct movement pattern.

So if you think Pilates may be for you – and I’ve never met anyone it wouldn’t benefit - then find a qualified instructor and join their classes. You won’t regret it, I promise you.

Carol J Bartram
(Pilates Instructor, Personal Trainer & Massage Therapist)

What Is Pilates