Pilates is a body conditioning method that works in a different way to other fitness techniques. Targeting the deep postural muscles, it works by building strength from the inside out, rebalancing the body and bringing it into correct alignment. It helps to reshape your body which will become longer, leaner and more toned. It will also improve your posture, achieving the perfect balance between strength and flexibility without adding bulk, and is a great way to relieve unwanted stress and tension.

Ideal for first time exercises, for those who spend too much time hunched over a desk, post- injury, post- natal or for athletes looking to enhance their peformance and avoid the risk of injury. Its slow controlled approach, means that it gives longer-term results - and is especially recommended by medical specialists for those with back, neck or shoulder problems. Pilates also plays a key role in many injury rehabilitation programmes.

Precise, controlled movements mean that the muscle and ligament damage sometimes associated with other fitness regimes, is avoided.

By working on the deep architectural structure of the body, 'core stability' is achieved, and then maintained, through increasingly complex movement sequences. Specific problem-areas can be targeted by an exercise, but always in relation to the rest of one's body.

Body Control Pilates is remarkably effective - and medically-approved.