Pilates Life Studio

Meagan has done it again!

Our family photos for my graduation are so lovely. Thank you Meagan ❤️🤗

I started my journey to complete my Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology university degree in January 2022. And graduated this Spring 2026.

I have been in the fitness industry as a certified Personal Trainer since 1999. I later added yoga teacher, group exercise instructor, and Pilates teacher certifications.

Through out my career I have always wanted to finish my degree in Kinesiology. I tried when my children were younger, but it was too much at that time.

So four years ago, I set out on my journey. It was challenging juggling family life, taking care of the pups, making time for dear friends, and opening the studio all while taking university classes. It has also been rewarding. I truly love learning, so I really enjoyed delving more into the science of movement.

Thank you to my family and friends for your support. As well as my fabulous clients who inspire me to teach. You make this career so worth it. I get to teach healing movement to such an amazing group of clients, you are a gift ❤️

Please note: two of the photos were taken at the commencement ceremony taken by me and my son Harrison. The rest were Meagan.

The last few photos I couldn’t help myself but post, Meagan took gorgeous photos of my pups: Cassie, Murphy, and Sophie 🥰❤️

Three years ago I came across a recent meta-analysis researching which modes of exercise reduce low back pain and wrote a short article about it.

This massive meta-analysis looked at 118 randomized control trials (RCT) of ways to reduce LBP and to determine which type of exercise is best for reducing pain and disability in adults with chronic LBP.

RCTs reduce bias and provide a rigorous tool to examine cause-effect relationships between an intervention and outcome, so analyzing 118 RCTs is an amazing way to see accurate outcomes (Hariton & Locascio, 2018).

This particular study looked at LBP and different modes of exercise:

* Stretching
* Generic strength workouts
* McKenzie method
* Aerobic workouts
* Pilates
* Core-based workouts
* Specific motor control exercises

Pilates had the highest likelihood for reducing pain (93%) and disability (98%) (Fernández-Rodríguez et al., 2022).

Full article linked in profile

Photos by

Phew 😮‍💨 we did it!

Vancouver Sun Run 10k

And even with all the amazing 58,000 runners Gwyneth (60:00) and I (59:12) were able to improve our 10k run time from last year - woot woot!!

Great start to the summer racing season 😍🤩

Thank you Vancouver Sun Run and other participants for making this event so enjoyable 🏃‍♂️ 🏃🏻‍♀️ 🏃

One of our favourite pieces of Pilates apparatus is the Arm Chair.

It’s also known as the Baby Chair because its springs are the lightest in the studio. But don’t let that fool you, this apparatus is challenging!

It strengthens the arms, upper body and core, promoting good posture (Grootenhuis & Barck, 2016). Due to the spring placement, the Arm Chair improves the functional stabilization of the shoulder joint, along with providing important feedback from the backrest. The Arm Chair teaches the two-way stretch beautifully, where we lift and lengthen to create space to breathe and lengthen the spine (Ross-Nash, 2024).

The springs of the Arm Chair are attached on the moveable backrest. The padded back of the chair moves as you move, making it an amazing piece to help you truly connect with the spring system. Additionally, it keeps the spring tension the same during the entire movement of the exercise.

We have five Arm Chairs, one for each client in our small group classes. Everyone really enjoys the Arm Chair, it brings a wonderful addition to our Reformer, Tower, Wunda Chair, and Barrel work we do.

Classical Pilates is a system. A beautifully connected method where each exercise builds upon the next. The creator, Joseph Pilates, developed Pilates with the purpose to create an uniformly developed body. Creating strength and balance in the body so that it works effectively and efficiently. Pilates is a method of corrective exercise: correcting joint strength and mobility, fixing muscles imbalances, and building a solid foundational core.

At Pilates Life Studio we respect the entire Pilates method so we provide our clients with the opportunity to workout on all pieces of equipment (called apparatus) so they can feel the beneficial effects of the entire system.

Our high quality equipment is from Tecnopilates and our photos were taken by the amazing Meagan and Erin

Resources
Grootenhuis, R., & Barck, Dr. I. (2016). The Pilates Arm Chair. Pilates Powers. www.pilates-powers.de

Ross-Nash, K. (2024). The Little White Baby Chair Book (1st ed.). https://www.kathirossnash.com