Think you’re a Pilates pro? This classical studio, crammed full of strange and surprising equipment, will probably prove otherwise. On arrival, Exhale Pilates studio, opposite Camden Roundhouse on Chalk Farm Road, is pretty intimidating. In the petite space you’ll find Pilates reformers, towers – with chains and coils – a cadillac, wunda chairs and barrels, an electric chair and heaps of magic circles. If the majority of that sentence made no sense, it’s because the focus here is on traditional Pilates, as Joseph Pilates himself originally designed it, rather than the quirky, amped-up or watered-down versions you can find in gyms and fitness studios all around London.
You’ll definitely have new equipment to master, even if you’re familiar with the reformer and all its springs and loops, but thankfully instructors are super knowledgable, friendly and infectiously energetic. There are classes for all fitness levels and every class is very small, so you always get a lot of detailed, individual attention. You can throw yourself in at the deep end, book a 1:1 induction or try the beginners tower class for a detailed intro to the apparatus that’ll still leave you with aching abs.
The equipment might look wild, but Exhale is all about careful movements and correct form. Founder Gaby Noble trained as a classical Pilates instructor and opened the studio after the exercise helped her recover from a serious car accident – and it’s clear from each class that the studio, which is popular with a high-profile London crowd (including a certain member of One Direction), takes its teachings super seriously.
