The Fitness Industry Has Sold Us A Lie About “Balance”
We talk about balance a lot in life. Work life balance, the balance between exercise and eating what our body needs. we hear this word “balance” a lot…yet balance can’t come first if your goal is change.
Work hard, but make time for yourself. Eat well, but enjoy your favorite foods. Train consistently, but don't overdo it. Get enough sleep, drink your water, spend time with your family, have a social life, answer your emails, take care of your house, make time for your friends...
Sounds great.
But here's the problem:
You can't have balance when you haven't built the foundation that makes balance possible.
I see this all the time with fitness.
Someone wants to "find balance" with exercise, but they haven't established any consistency yet. They want to know how to fit workouts into their life without feeling overwhelmed, but they haven't actually made taking care of themselves a priority.
So they keep trying to find the perfect schedule that somehow requires no sacrifice.
And that doesn't really exist.
Why Continuing To “Think About It” Is Keeping you Stuck
There is a group of people I see all the time in fitness.
They are researching.
They're comparing.
They're reading reviews, saving Instagram posts, asking their friends what they do, looking at class schedules, wondering whether Pilates-inspired strength training will work for them, wondering whether it will be too hard, wondering whether they need to lose weight before they start, wondering whether they should lift weights instead...
And six months later, they're still thinking about it.
Meanwhile, there is another group of people who started. They weren't particularly confident. They didn't know what they were doing during the first 5-10 sessions. They missed classes. They had weeks where their nutrition was a mess. They had busy work weeks and stressful family weeks and vacations and weekends where they ate too much and moved too little. They didn't do it perfectly. They just kept coming back.
And those are the people I watch change.
You're Working This Hard in Class. Are You Actually Fueling It?
If you've been doing Pilates-inspired strength training for a while, you already know the workout is demanding.
You know the feeling when your legs start shaking halfway through a hold. You know what it feels like to move slowly when every part of you is begging to speed up. And you definitely know that "low impact" does not mean easy.
But here's something I see all the time in consultations and goal reviews. People are willing to put in the work in class while completely under-fueling the work they're asking their bodies to do.
And if you're consistently doing Pilates-inspired strength training, your nutrition matters.
Not because you need to eat perfectly. Not because you need to count every calorie. And definitely not because you need another set of rules around food.
You need to give your body enough energy and the right building blocks to actually perform, recover, and get stronger.
HIIT Training, Cortisol Belly, and Perimenopause: Should You Break Up?
When Hillary Duff recently shared that she changed the way she trains during perimenopause, it sparked a bigger conversation: Are women over 40 doing the wrong workouts?
If you've spent more than five minutes on social media lately, you've probably seen someone say:
"Stop doing HIIT. It's causing your cortisol belly."
Then someone else says women over 40 should only walk.
Another person swears by lifting heavy.
And suddenly you're left wondering...
What am I actually supposed to do?
As a woman who has spent years coaching clients through different seasons of life—including perimenopause—I think this conversation deserves a little more of a conversation.
Is Reformer Pilates Hard?
The short answer?
It depends.
But probably not for the reason you're expecting.
Most people think "hard" means jumping, sprinting, burpees, or leaving class completely spent.
Pilates-inspired strength training is different.
Instead of asking your body to move faster, it asks your muscles to work longer.
And that's where things get interesting.
How Many Calories Does Reformer Pilates Burn?
Sometimes we get asked,
"How many calories does Reformer Pilates burn?"
And honestly...
I think it's the wrong question.
Not because calories don't matter.
But because calories are only one tiny piece of a much bigger picture.
Strength Training Without Weights: Can You Really Build Lean Muscle?
Have you ever noticed that when most people picture strength training, they picture barbells, squat racks, and someone deadlifting a ridiculous amount of weight?
They probably aren't picturing someone moving painfully slow on a spring-loaded machine while their legs shake uncontrollably.
Yet both people might be building muscle.
One of the biggest misconceptions in fitness is that you have to lift heavy weights to get stronger. In reality, your muscles don't know whether resistance comes from a dumbbell, a cable, a resistance band, or a spring.
They simply respond to challenge.
What Should I Wear to Pilates?
Let's start with what everyone is really wondering.
No...
You don't need the matching workout set.
You don't need the trendy socks.
And absolutely nobody is judging your outfit.
We promise.
How Many Times Per Week Should I Do Pilates as a Beginner?
When I first started working out during my senior year at Michigan State, I thought the only way I'd see results was if I worked out every single day.
Then one of my friends convinced me to join an eight-week fitness challenge.
The commitment?
Just two classes a week.
I'll admit...I laughed.
Two workouts? That wasn't going to change anything.
Fast forward eight weeks, and not only had those two workouts become one of my favorite parts of the week, but they completely changed the way I looked at fitness.
Because I learned something I still tell clients today:
You don't need to do more. You need to do what you can actually sustain and then build from there.
Should I Do Cardio or Pilates First?
If you've ever combined running, walking, cycling, or another form of cardio with Pilates-inspired strength training, you've probably asked yourself:
Should I do cardio or Pilates first?
The answer depends on your goals.
If your goal is improving endurance for a race or specific athletic event, your cardio workout may take priority.
But if your goals include:
Building lean muscle
Improving body composition
Getting stronger
Supporting metabolism
Creating more definition
Then Pilates-inspired strength training should usually come first.
And here's why.
What the “Pilates Shake” Actually Means for Building Lean Muscle
If you've ever taken a Pilates-inspired strength class, you've probably experienced it.
Your legs start trembling.
Your arms begin shaking.
Your core feels like it's vibrating.
And somewhere around the halfway point of the movement, you start wondering:
"Is this normal?"
Or maybe you've heard someone say:
"If you're shaking, you're building muscle."
Then someone else chimes in:
"Nope. That's just a Pilates thing."
So...who's right?
The answer is somewhere in the middle.
Is Reformer Pilates Strength Training
When most people hear the word Pilates, they picture stretching, shaking, and maybe a few hundred tiny pulses.
And while Pilates has always been built around control, precision, and core strength, the word “Pilates” can sometimes make people underestimate how physically demanding it can be.
So the question is:
Is reformer Pilates actually strength training?
The answer depends on the type of reformer workout you’re doing.
Strength Training for Perimenopause: Why Building Muscle Matters More Than Ever
Recently, Hilary Duff opened up about something many women experience but don’t always talk about: the changes that happen to your body during perimenopause.
One of the biggest conversations happening right now is around the “perimenopause pooch”—that frustrating shift where women may notice more softness, a different body shape, or that the things that worked in their 20s don’t seem to work the same way anymore.
And if you’ve ever thought:
“Why is my body changing when I’m doing the same things I’ve always done?”
You are not alone.
The truth is, your body is not failing you.
Your body is changing because you are changing.
Looking for a Pilates Student Discount? Here's Why We Offer One.
I remember being a senior at Michigan State University when a friend asked if I wanted to join an eight-week fitness challenge. I hadn't worked out consistently since playing high school basketball, so I figured it was probably a good idea. The challenge was simple: two workouts a week for eight weeks.
On the first day there were about 30 people in class, and before we even got started the coach looked around the room and said, "By week eight, fewer than ten of you will still be here."
My friend and I laughed. Yeah, okay. We were convinced we'd be two of the people who finished. So every Tuesday and Thursday we rolled out of bed before sunrise and walked to this little studio just off campus for the 6:00 a.m. class. Eight weeks later, the coach was right. There were six of us left.
So what made working out in college such a challenge for those other 24 people?
Is Reformer Pilates Good for Weight Loss
If you’ve been searching for a workout that helps you lose weight, you’ve probably seen Pilates come up. But does reformer Pilates actually help with weight loss?
Before I answer that, I want to tell you why I found this style of training in the first place. Because my relationship with fitness hasn’t always looked like it does today.
In my 20s, I was doing what a lot of people do when they’re trying to get in shape. I was doing bootcamps (what many people now call circuit training), OrangeTheory, running, strength training, and pushing myself through intense workouts.
The problem? I wasn’t supporting my body the way I needed to.
How Often Should I Do Pilates as a Beginner?
Starting something new always comes with questions and a learning curve, but honestly how often do we get the opportunity to be beginners as adults? When kickstarting your Pilates-inspired strength training journey, we typically hear these questions from potential clients.
How many classes should I take?
How often should I come?
When will I start seeing results?
The answer depends on your goals, your current fitness level, and your schedule—but the biggest factor is consistency.
It’s all about creating a routine your body can adapt to and your schedule can support.
You Don’t Have to Earn Rest to Get Results
Growing up Hollywood taught us that rest is a reward. We had to completely destroy our bodies (and our brains) in order to earn rest. That if you skipped a workout, you have to "make up for it." That if you took two days off, you should double your workouts. Or worse..that you needed to “earn” food.
The truth?
Your body doesn't only get stronger during the workout. It also gets stronger when it recovers from it. Training creates the stimulus. Recovery is where the adaptation happens.
If you're constantly pushing without giving your body time to rebuild, you may be limiting your progress.
Is Mat Pilates Harder Than Reformer?
If you've ever taken a mat Pilates class and thought, "That was way harder than I expected," you're not alone.
It's one of the most common questions we hear:
Is mat Pilates harder than reformer Pilates?
The answer is...it depends
Do I Have to Lift Heavy to Build Lean Muscle?
The internet is screaming about Pilates vs Strength Training and lifting heavy vs the pilates body. And while I get that people have experienced transformation doing different modalities, we also have to understand that one of the most persistent myths in fitness is that muscle growth only happens with heavy weights and low reps.
Scientific consensus has largely debunked that idea. To get technical for a minute..multiple randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses—including landmark research led by Stuart Phillips at McMaster University—show that hypertrophy (muscle growth) can occur across a wide range of loads, as long as the working sets are taken close to muscular failure.
In other words, muscle growth is driven less by how heavy the load is and more by how close you get to the point where the muscle can no longer perform the task.
That is the definition of hypertrophy stimulus: sufficient mechanical tension and fatigue. Heavy loads are simply one way to reach that threshold. They are not the only way.
Exercise is Healthcare
At Core (LP) Berkley + Rochester Hills, MI, we believe exercise is healthcare.
Because exercise is what improves our every day lives. We see it every day. Pilates-inspired strength training improves mobility, supports metabolic health, reduces pain, improves energy, and helps people move better. It’s one of the most consistent, evidence-backed tools we have for long-term health.
So when people ask whether they can use HSA/FSA funds toward their Core (LP) private training or Pilates classes, the answer is often yes, if exercise is being used to prevent or support a medical condition.
Here’s how it works.