Hurstbridge Pilates & Yoga

02/04/2026

Speed kills.

You'll hear it on the radio this long weekend. On the highway signs. Every time someone overtakes you.

But here's the thing nobody mentions: the most dangerous part of the trip isn't getting there. It's the drive home. Tired, in a hurry, not paying attention.

Guess what? The same thing happens on a reformer.

The push? That's the part everyone thinks is the exercise. But the real work happens on the return. When the springs pull the carriage back and your muscles have to resist it, slow it down, control it.

That's where the bones get denser. The tendons get stronger. The muscle quality improves. Not from speed, not from intensity and a thumping soundtrack. From attention.

The slow part is the good part. On the reformer and on the road.

Happy Easter. Drive safe.

- Mel

P.S. Eat the chocolate. Just do it slowly and with full concentration. Joseph Pilates would approve. Probably.

25/03/2026

What 43 Studies Actually Found About Hot Yoga

Someone asked me last week if we'd ever heat the studios. Hot Pilates is everywhere right now. The marketing sounds great. Deeper stretches. More calories. Detoxification.

So I went and looked at the research.
43 studies. 942 participants. Mostly women aged 30-50.

The finding: heat didn't increase calorie burn, didn't improve flexibility, didn't produce better cardiovascular outcomes. The method was the active ingredient. The heat was just... heat.

And the part that got me: 60% reported dizziness. 61% light-headedness. 35% nausea. The demographic most aggressively marketed hot yoga is the one most likely to be harmed by it.

You don't need a hotter room. You need the right method, done properly, with someone who can actually see what your body is doing.

No gimmicks required.
Link to our blog in bio for the full article.

25/03/2026

What 43 Studies Actually Found About Hot Yoga

A member asked if we'd ever heat the studios. Fair question. Rather than just say "not our thing," I went and read the research.

43 studies. 942 participants. The conclusion: heat doesn't add what the marketing says it does. But it does add risk that doesn't need to be there.

Worth a read if you've been curious about hot Pilates or hot yoga.

https://hurstbridgepilatesandyoga.com.au/what-43-studies-actually-found-about-hot-yoga/

The research is clear: heat doesn't help. A systematic review of 43 studies found that claims about hot yoga providing greater health benefits than regular practice are "at present unsubstantiated." Heat didn't increase calorie burn, didn't improve flexibility more, and didn't produce better cardiov...

12/03/2026

Your muscles can look fine in the mirror and still be failing you.

There's a word for it: dynapenia. Losing strength without losing size. Your body looks the same on the outside while the inside quietly changes.

Researchers found that muscles losing density become "marbled" with fat. Great for a wagyu steak. Not great for the body you're actually using.

The fix isn't more cardio or faster reps. It's the quality of contraction. Slow, controlled, precise movement where every fibre has to work.

Mel wrote about it this week - what actually changes how your body looks (and why it's not what most people think).

Link in comments.

Your arms can look the same. Your legs can look the same. You can weigh the same. And underneath, your muscles are quietly becoming less dense, more infiltrated with fat. Researchers call it "marbling." Great if you're a wagyu steak. Not great if you're still using your body.

05/03/2026

Around 70% of women experience widespread joint pain, stiffness, and fatigue during perimenopause, and most never find out why. In today's blog, I break down what's actually happening, why pushing harder at the gym can backfire, and what the research says about the kind of movement that helps.

Around 70% of women experience widespread joint pain, stiffness, and fatigue during perimenopause, and most never find out why. In October 2024, researchers finally gave it a name: the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. Mel breaks down what's actually happening, why pushing harder at the gym can...

24/02/2026

“Should I start with a beginner class?”

We hear this all the time. Short answer: no. Because there is no such thing here.

There are no beginner, intermediate, or advanced labels. Every class is designed to work for someone walking in for the first time and someone who has been showing up for years. That is not a slogan. It is how the sessions are built.

Classes are intentionally small. That changes everything. The instructor is not performing at the front of a crowded room. They are coaching real humans with real bodies. They can adjust exercises, simplify movements, or increase challenge without the whole group needing to do the same thing.

Same class. Different versions. Different bodies. Different needs.

Large studios often need levels because they are managing scale. When there are too many people, everyone must follow identical instructions. Ability groupings become a logistical necessity. In smaller sessions, individualisation becomes normal rather than exceptional.

If you are brand new, start with a Foundations session. No experience required. No pressure to “keep up.” You'll learn the ropes, get acquainted with the equipment, you come back (for free) as often as you like. After that, the entire timetable is open to you.

There is no ladder. No graduation system. You are not behind. You just start.

There's a reason you handle stress better since you started coming here. And it has nothing to do with your core.

18/02/2026

There’s a reason you handle stress better since you started Pilates. And it has nothing to do with your core.

The Stoics had a simple idea: if you practise discomfort by choice, you stop being rattled when life delivers discomfort without warning. Not punishment. Training.

You are already doing this.

Every time an instructor says “hold,” and everything starts shaking, and your brain looks for the exit, that is voluntary discomfort. You chose to be there. You could stop. But you stay. You breathe. You keep control.

Your nervous system learns something important: discomfort is not danger.

You cannot hold a plank on a reformer while mentally running tomorrow’s schedule. You cannot balance in warrior three while replaying yesterday’s frustrations. The movement demands attention. The breath anchors you. There is no space left for background noise.

That is why you leave class feeling different. Not just worked. Clearer. Steadier.

And it carries over.

It shows up when the morning is chaotic and you do not instantly react. It shows up during stressful weeks when pressure does not completely hijack your mood. It shows up in difficult conversations where you notice you are still composed.

Do this consistently for a few months and a pattern forms. Stay present. Stay controlled. Stay calm under strain.

That is not Pilates magic. That is training.

You do not need elaborate rituals or extreme hacks. You just need deliberate movement, done with attention, repeated often enough that your brain rewires what it considers stressful.

After your next class, pause for a moment.

Is your mind quieter?
Has your breathing slowed?
Do you feel more like yourself than when you walked in?

That is not random. That is adaptation.

And it is happening far beyond your muscles.

There's a reason you handle stress better since you started coming here. And it has nothing to do with your core.

11/02/2026

One of the first things people notice when they walk into our studios is what’s missing.

No mirrors.

In a Pilates studio. Where form matters. Where alignment is everything. No mirrors.

People ask about it all the time. Sometimes politely (“Oh, are you getting mirrors installed?”). Sometimes bluntly (“How am I supposed to know if I’m doing it right?”).

It’s a fair question. And the answer is: that’s not your job.

YOUR JOB IS TO FEEL IT. OUR JOB IS TO WATCH IT.

Here’s the thing about mirrors in a movement studio. They seem helpful. You can check your alignment, see if your hips are level, watch your posture. But what actually happens is more complicated than that.

When there’s a mirror in front of you, your brain shifts from feeling to watching. You start performing the movement instead of experiencing it. You adjust based on what looks right rather than what feels right. And those are two very different things.

There’s a concept in motor learning called internal vs external focus. When you focus internally, on how a movement feels in your body, which muscles are firing, where the tension is, you learn faster and develop better control. When you focus externally on what it looks like, you tend to compensate. You find positions that look correct but aren’t actually engaging the right muscles.

In Pilates, this matters enormously. A pelvic curl might look fine from the outside while your lower back is doing all the work instead of your glutes. A plank might look solid while your shoulders are carrying everything and your core is checked out. The mirror won’t tell you that. But an instructor who’s watching you will.

THAT’S WHAT SMALL CLASSES ARE FOR

We keep classes to 10 to 12 people for this reason. Not because we couldn’t fit more machines in the room. Because your instructor needs to be able to see you. Actually see you. Watch your movement patterns, spot the compensations, give you the specific correction that changes everything.

“Tuck your tailbone slightly.”
“Soften your ribs.”
“You’re gripping in your hip flexors. Let that go.”

That’s the stuff that transforms your practice. And none of it comes from a mirror. It comes from a trained set of eyes paying attention to you specifically.

Joseph Pilates didn’t use mirrors in his original studio. He used his hands and his eyes. He watched every client, corrected in real time, and expected them to develop what he called body awareness, the ability to know where your body is in space without needing to see it.

That’s the skill we’re building. Not mirror dependent form checking. Genuine proprioception. The kind of body awareness that follows you out of the studio and into your life.

THERE’S ANOTHER REASON TOO

I’ll be honest. There’s a simpler reason we don’t have mirrors, and it matters just as much.

For a lot of women, exercising in front of a mirror is not motivating. It’s the opposite.

You walk into a class feeling good, ready to move, then you catch sight of yourself mid exercise and suddenly you’re thinking about how you look instead of how you feel. You’re comparing yourself to the person next to you. You’re sucking in your stomach instead of engaging your core.

We didn’t want that in our space. HPY is about how movement feels, not how it looks. We want you thinking about your breath, your control, your connection to your body. Not your reflection.

It’s a small decision that changes the entire energy of the room.

TRUST THE PROCESS (AND YOUR INSTRUCTOR)

If you’re new to HPY and you’ve been wondering about the mirrors, now you know. It’s not an oversight, and we’re not getting them installed.

Close your eyes during your next class, even for one exercise. Feel what your body is doing without visual input. Notice what your instructor corrects. That feedback is worth more than any mirror.

And if something doesn’t feel right, ask. That’s what we’re here for. Every instructor at HPY has been trained to watch, correct, and guide, so you can focus on the only thing that actually matters: how it feels.

See you in class,
Mel

If you're new to HPY and you've been wondering about the mirrors - now you know. It's not an oversight, and we're not getting them installed.

04/02/2026

Something strange has been happening at our new Eltham studio.

People who swore they’d “never be a morning person” are showing up for 6am classes. People who told us they’d “never done anything like this before” are already on waitlists for their fourth and fifth sessions.

Here’s what nobody tells you about fitness: the problem was never your willpower.

It was never that you weren’t disciplined enough or motivated enough. It wasn’t that you needed to try harder or push through more.

The problem was that you hadn’t found the right thing yet.

There’s a difference between someone who exercises and someone who has to exercise. One is an identity. The other is a chore.

When exercise is a chore, every session requires a decision. You negotiate with yourself. You look for reasons to skip.

When exercise is part of who you are, the decision is already made. You just go.

I watch this shift happen with new members all the time. The language changes from “I’ll try to make Tuesday” to “I’ve got Pilates on Tuesday” - stated as fact, not intention.

They didn’t become more disciplined. They became someone who does Pilates. Or yoga. Or both.

If you’re new to our Eltham studio - if you’ve just done your first class or your third - you might have just found your thing.

Pay attention to how you feel when you walk out. That feeling is worth following.

Keep showing up. Stay on those waitlists. Let it surprise you.

Because when fitness stops feeling like punishment and starts feeling like the best part of your week - that’s when consistency becomes effortless.

See you in class.
• Mel

When exercise is part of who you are, the decision is already made. You don't debate whether to go. You just go. The same way you don't debate whether to brush your teeth or have your morning coffee.

31/01/2026

Here’s something I don’t usually admit publicly: I haven’t done a proper Pilates session in nearly a month.

New business launch. Kids’ programs. Two weeks away. Two Christmases. Opening a third studio. Something had to give, and it was my own practice. Again.

I’ve fallen off more times than I can count over the years. After having kids. During rough patches. When life got too full. And every single time, my practice was the thing I sacrificed, even though it was the thing I needed most.

I used to think fit people were just consistent. That they had some discipline gene the rest of us missed. Turns out that’s rubbish. The people who stay active long term aren’t the ones who never stop. They’re the ones who keep starting again.

I wrote about all of it. The falling off, the coming back, and why persistence beats consistency every time.

If you’ve been putting off coming to class, this is your permission slip.

Early mornings, late nights, a thousand small decisions. I'm usually up before 6am anyway - but somehow that time keeps going to emails and planning instead of getting on a reformer. I've been telling myself I'll get back to it "once things settle down."

22/01/2026

The truth about that “torture device”

I hear it all the time. Someone walks into the studio, spots the Pilates reformers, and their eyes widen.

“That thing looks like a medieval torture device.”

I get it. Springs, straps, a sliding carriage, foot bars at strange angles. If you’ve never been on one, it does look vaguely menacing. Like something designed to extract confessions rather than build core strength.

But here’s what most people don’t know: that reaction is almost perfectly backwards. And the real story of where the reformer came from might be the best argument for why you should stop being afraid of it.

Joseph Pilates was interned as a German “enemy alien” in England during World War I. He ended up at an internment camp on the Isle of Man, working as an orderly in the camp hospital.

Picture it: bedridden patients, no proper rehabilitation equipment, and a man who believed passionately that movement was medicine.

So he improvised.

He attached springs from hospital beds to create resistance that patients could work against while lying down. Not resistance to fight against. Resistance to guide movement. Gentle, controlled motion for people too weak to stand up and exercise normally.

The “torture device” was literally designed to help sick people heal.

Think about most gym equipment. Weights, cables, resistance machines. They’re all designed to work against you. You push, you pull, you fight the load. The resistance exists to be overcome.

The Pilates reformer does something different. The springs aren’t there to punish you. They’re there to teach. They give your body constant feedback. If you’re rushing, you’ll feel it. If you’re out of alignment, you’ll know.

Here’s the counterintuitive part: sometimes less spring tension is actually harder. Because with less resistance, there’s nothing helping you control the carriage. Your muscles have to do all the stabilising work themselves.

This is what researchers call proprioception. The awareness of where your body is in space. Reformer Pilates trains this constantly. Every spring adjustment, every movement of that carriage, is information flowing between your muscles and your brain.

Joseph Pilates had a name for his method before the world called it Pilates. He called it Contrology. The mind controlling the body. That’s exactly what reformer Pilates trains.

So next time you see that strange contraption with all its springs and straps, remember this: it was invented by a man trying to help sick people move again. The springs exist to teach your body, not test it. The whole thing, as odd as it looks, was designed for healing.

If you’ve been curious but a bit intimidated, our Foundations class is a good place to start. Link in comments.