Workout: Push N Pull on the Reformer with Sam Wilkinson

“Work your two way stretch on the Reformer”

Looking for a deeper connection in your Pilates practice?

This workout on the Reformer will help you to stabilise, and at the same time find your longest connections. Helping you to lengthen your spine and feel grounded in your practice by finding the two way stretch through the body.

Let’s get curious – how much more reach can you find in one area whilst grounding and pulling away in another?

Equipment needed: Reformer

Workshop: Pilates for Knee Pain: How to strengthen the knees and keep pain free with Sonia Ahmed

Tired of experiencing knee clicking, knee popping, or knee pain in general? In this workshop, you will learn about the knee anatomy and some common conditions. Then we will cover some simple at-home knee strengthening exercises that you can do to keep your knees stronger for longer!

All you (k)need is a resistance band, a Pilates ball (or soft cushion) and a Wunda Chair (or a regular dining chair!).

Let’s free your knees!

Equipment needed: Mat, Wunda Chair, Therabands, Pilates soft ball

Workout: Core from the Floor Up: Pilates with pelvic floor considerations with Erin Donohue

The pelvic floor is the basement of your core and integral to your posture, balance, and stability. This workout focuses on coordinating the muscle groups of the core with those that surround them within the framework of the classical mat order. Modifications to avoid bulging (diastasis recti) are given. If you’re core curious or just tired of Kegels, this workout is for you!

Equipment needed: Mat with Magic Circle

Workshop: Doing Pilates When Hypermobile with Mindi Westfall

Hypermobility can change the way we experience and perform exercises in Pilates. Sometimes it means we cannot go all the way and need to hold back and find a different connection! There are people with hypermobility with pain and there are those without pain. In this workshop, we will go through ways to get more stretch by adding more strength keeping you more pain free. More strength is needed to really get the stretch because the joints are able to go beyond where they should. We will also cover the difference between Hypermobility and EDS (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). We will breakdown some of the exercises on the mat and the reformer to make sure we are keeping the joints safe!

Equipment needed: Reformer and Mat

Workout: Tower of Power Happy Hour with Liza Osoteo

Wanna play on the Tower to discover how it can support and challenge us so we can feel more empowered in our Pilates practice? F yeah!!!

Bring yourself and your drink of choice (mine will have bubbles) as we mull over what the Tower can teach us about Pilates AND life in general, with requisite laughs in between, because that’s how we roll (like a ball) in Tower of Power Happy Hour.

Equipment needed: Tower

Workshop: Your Control Balance on the Mat with Christine Kam-Lynch

Control Balance exercise – Raise your hand if you sighed or groaned. Or maybe you usually skip it? Promise, we won’t tell. Completely understandable as it’s the second to last exercise in the mat order, and even on a good day, it’s a challenge.

Or maybe you slay this exercise, but want to learn more?

Let’s strip it down to the fundamental exercises that you most likely practice today, but just didn’t see them as the building blocks to Control Balance. Let’s check in to see how you connect in those exercises using a Magic Circle, a theraband, or a pole as tools to help us along the way.

Then, we’ll put it all together in a workout preparing you for Control Balance. By the time we get to Control Balance, you’ll be ready. Either ready to give the exercise a try, or ready to try variations if the full expression of the exercise is not there YET, or ready to build on any of the connections you need for the next time you try Control Balance. Whichever adventure you choose, celebrate your movement today!

Equipment needed: Mat, Theraband, Pole, Magic Circle

Workout: Ladder Barrel Workout – Stretch and Strength with Lesley Logan

Explore some creative ways to do some Mat exercises with your Ladder Barrel while also deep diving into the classical Ladder Barrel exercises. Discover connections in this workout to benefit your Pilates Mat and Reformer practice.

Equipment needed: Ladder Barrel

Workshop: Keep Your Pilates Practice Strong Through Pregnancy and Beyond with Katie Donnelly

You love OPC (or sub ‘Pilates’). You’ve got this whole “fill your cup first” thing down pat. You know 30 minutes of movement can turn any bad day around.

…But now there’s a baby on board.

New things are starting to hurt.

You’re no longer sure what’s safe and what’s not.

You’re scared of losing yourself and your routine to all the unknowns of pregnancy and postpartum.

But it doesn’t have to be that way! This workshop will add the right education to your already stellar knowledge of your body and self-care skills. At the end of this workshop, you’ll know how to create a Pilates practice that will take you right up to delivery and beyond.

Equipment needed: Mat

Workout: Happy Hips on the Reformer with Yasmin Scholten

Are you struggling with tight hips? I do! Let´s relax overworked muscles and wake up your hips, glutes and legs with a 50 minute Reformer workout which is designed to make your hips feel happy.

Equipment needed: Reformer

Workshop: The Long Stretch Series with Rachel Piper

Are you ready to take a shot at the Long Stretches Series??

Long, Down, Up, Up Down, Elephant, & Long Back…no we aren’t trying to make you dizzy here at OPC!! We are just super excited about this workshop dedicated to the Long Stretches!!

Grab a foam roller, a chair, a mat, an open mind…and of course your Reformer because during this workshop, you’ll find creative ways to learn the Long Stretches Series ON and OFF the Reformer!

We’ll go through each of the exercises one by one on the Reformer and break them down. Then we’ll break them apart further and find the same work on the mat. Everything we do will help you have a deeper understanding of each one of the Long Stretches, so you know how to build strength no matter where you are or what you have access to.

Equipment needed: A foam roller, a chair, a mat and of course your Reformer

Workout: Power Chair Workout for Endurance Training with Megan Lauman

This chair workout will help strengthen and increase mobility to help support your favorite endurance training. While we will focus on running, this will be a great workout for the person who enjoys long walks, cycling, or just plain moving forward. We’ll focus on glutes, hamstrings, all the side muscles we need to initiate and control the movement of, and of course the core. Be prepared to feel challenged, encouraged, and excited for your next run!

Equipment needed: Wunda Chair

Workshop: Strength & Bone Building on the Reformer with Tami-Adrian George

Everyone knows you can build longer, leaner muscles doing Pilates!

Did you also know that Pilates happens to be a great way to increase your strength and your bone density?

In this workshop we’ll take one of the best bodybuilding techniques …Pyramid Training… and we’ll apply it to our Reformer workout.

How does that work?

Well, a little Contemporary thinking to the Classical Method is all it takes.

What is Pyramid Training?

This is a longtime bodybuilder’s regimen where you either increase the load /resistance OR you increase the number of reps in a particular exercise, as you move through sets. There are many variations in this type of training, and we’ll explore a few options.

Will I get bulky muscles this way?

No! Gaining that kind of mass takes a lot more. You will, however feel a great pump in your muscles!!

Join me and find out how to apply Pyramid Training to your Reformer workouts. Variety, Challenge and Connection…totally Pilates! Totally OPC!!

Equipment needed: Reformer

Workout: EmpowerMAT: Resilience in motion after breast cancer with Heather Ingram

This Pilates mat workout is designed for anyone who has experienced the impact of breast cancer. Whether you’re a survivor, thriver, or currently living in NED status like me, this session will offer variations and modifications to honor your body wherever it’s at. Join me for this empowerment workout to reconnect, rediscover, and reimagine what might be possible in your movement practice after breast cancer.

You will only need a mat and are welcome to bring/use any small props you have/want to use. For example: theraband or leggings, weights/soup cans, ball/pillow, bolster/rolled towel.

Equipment needed: Mat with props (theraband or leggings, weights/soup cans, ball/pillow, bolster/rolled towel)

Workshop: Modifications for the Back on the Chair with Lori Watson

The chair can be a great way to get some movement in when your back isn’t feeling it’s best.

In this workshop, I’ll show you some ‘variations’ for common chair exercises. We’ll be looking at the classic chair exercises to see how we can make them work with a back injury whether it’s temporary or long-term.

You will need to have access to a Pilates chair (Wunda chair, baby chair/arm chair)

Equipment needed: Pilates Chair (Wunda chair, baby chair/arm chair)