Broomhill based studios, Breathe Pilates, are the only fully equipped Pilates studios in Sheffield offering small group Pilates classes on all of the traditional Pilates apparatus.
Founder Lee Miller has been working in the health industry as a therapist over the last ten years – travelling the world to gain the knowledge and expertise she has today.
Lee tells us: “I have studied many different approaches both traditional and holistic, Eastern and Western – attending courses all over the world from Australia to Thailand to India in order to expand my field of knowledge and discover new methods and techniques to adapt into my treatment of each individual.”
Her passion for what she does shines through as she proudly welcomes me to her studios. A former house, the studios have retained a friendly and relaxed home-from-home feel.
I slip off my trainers and leave them at the entrance in the shoe rack before I begin a warm-up with the regulars in the downstairs apparatus room.
Breathe Pilates has become a popular venue with local workers who visit in their lunch break – making a quick change from their suits to their sweats – as well as Mums who want a refreshing mind-body workout and sports enthusiasts who use Pilates as a means of rehabilitation.
A ballet dancer and mountain climber were both in the lunchtime class I attended – they use Pilates to give them greater strength and muscle tone, improved flexibility, balance and co-ordination.
After 30 minutes working on our legs using the downstairs apparatus, we moved upstairs for floor work using spring boards for upper body strength.
I’d never come across the traditional apparatus Breathe Pilates use – made from wood and springs. Most people would assume Pilates is a relatively new concept but it actually dates back more than 100 years. Joseph Pilates devised this method, exercise repertoire and way of thinking back in the early 1900s. He was the first to focus on deep torso strength, flexibility and the importance of correct breathing and control over the whole body to facilitate the correction of imbalances and create a strong, aligned body. Breathe Pilates has used and adapted many of Joseph’s methods and thought processes.
Lee first discovered Pilates during her time studying in Australia. She said: “Everyone there was using Pilates as a health and fitness tool.
“The physiotherapy centre I was working in was applying it to nearly every client. Coming previously from a personal training and fitness background I understood immediately the benefits Pilates could bring to the health and fitness world.
“On my return to the UK and throughout the final year of my degree in Sport Rehabilitation, I undertook a Pilates qualification with the Australian Physiotherapy and Pilates Institute in London, where I learnt to apply Pilates at a fitness level and more importantly as a rehabilitation tool.”
Experience Pilates the traditional way! You have not tried Pilates until you have tried Apparatus Pilates. Contact Lee at Breathe Pilates to find out more or to book a block of five classes (£67.50).
Breathe Pilates and Injury Rehabilitation
85 Clarkehouse Road
Sheffield
S10 2LG
07860 777100
info@breathe-pilates.co.uk
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