Introducing To The Core, Illawong’s Answer To Reformer Pilates
Blending Community With Core, This Brand New Studio Is Doing Things A Little Differently
To The Core, Illawong
“We want people to feel at home, feel comfortable and feel warm in the space. It’s more so a community than a studio.” This is how Ash and Lys describe the experience at To The Core, their brand new studio bringing pilates to Illawong.
Pilates has steadily gained a huge following over the years, promising fun, challenging exercise that tightens your core, betters your breathwork and strengthens your mind. It’s clear this phenomenon is here to stay, but after spending years immersed in this world, Illawong locals Ash and Lys felt that there was a gap that desperately needed filling.
To The Core founders Ash and Lys
“We have experience working in a gym and owning a gym and the community that gyms create is on another level to what people experience in the Pilates world. Pilates studios, have kind of always been a walk in, walk out situation. You go in, you get the job done, go to work, and that's the end of the story. Where our Pilates studio is all about the community. We have a big focus on client trainer connection too,” says Ash.
Entering the studio through a big archway, the interiors at To The Core are all curves, gentle lines and soft colours. 14 Allegro 2 reformer beds line a bright and breezy studio that is kitted out with bala beams, pilates rings, bands and dumbbells. Off to the side there is a room dedicated to matwork and stretching. Free of harsh lighting, cramped equipment and carpet tiles, it’s not somewhere you’d want to ‘get in and get out’ of. “You walk in and you have the space to be able to just take a deep breath and clock off.”
The other point of difference that Ash and Lys pride themselves on is exactly that: difference. Where some studios will fall to a rinse and repeat cycle, To The Core is all about variety. “We're a very modern, contemporary studio in that way. You're not going to come in and do the same lunge series, or the same feet-in-strap series every day,” says Lys, explaining that all classes are cross-checked to ensure their members aren’t doing the same tired routine week after week.
“It's just always different, ever-changing. People who have been doing pilates for years are going, ‘Oh my God, I've never done any of that before’.”
But if you don’t fall into the ‘pilates veteran’ category, there’s no need to fret. Ash and Lys say, “Pilates is perfect for everyone.”
To The Core offers two types of reformer classes: active and flow, along with traditional mat pilates.
“Flow is suited for all levels, but if you haven't done reformer before, we always recommend that you start with flow,” explains Lys, saying that it is a more “lights down, slow and controlled” affair. Active, on the other hand, is “more intense”, she says. “It’s more go, go, go. There’s upbeat music, a quicker pace; it’s more of an athletic style.” The team are also well-versed in pre- and post-natal pilates. “We have different equipment that pregnant clients can use. We also make small alterations and adjustments to the exercises for them.”
Unlike many other studios, which only have paid introductory offers, To The Core offers a ‘Three for Free’ trial, giving newcomers access to three free classes to really get a feel for the studio and the exercise.
To find out more and explore the studio, pricing and timetable, head to tothecorestudio.com.au.