Pilates North: the Evolution of Functional Pilates

Over 10 years ago Lisa Schklar completed the full Stott Pilates Certification and then continued her training with Moira Stott (founder) to become an Instructor Trainer. After working for a year at the Stott International Training Centre in Toronto Canada, Lisa opened her own studio in early 2000 to fill the demand for Pilates just north of the city. Pilates North opened with huge success.

During the first few years at Pilates North, Lisa had an extraordinary opportunity to work with hundreds of different clients of all levels and abilities. Lisa and her staff noticed that most of the clientele found it difficult to perform the standard Pilates sequencing because of postural issues and injury. It was becoming clear that “one-size” did not fit all, and although the Stott method was an excellent tool to teach the basic language of movement and principals, many clients required much more.

“ I came upon this realization after training classes with a diverse population of clients ranging from mothers, to office executives, to injured athletes. I was noticing, more often than not, that I was leaving out exercises that were part of the standard Pilates syllabus as they were contraindicated and ineffective on a majority of body types. Instead, I developed improved exercise movements that enabled clients to succeed in strengthening the areas of their bodies that were not as strong as a traditional Pilates workout demanded.”

“ I wanted to come full circle and spent time between 2003 and 2006 attending workshops, courses and classes all over North America to learn how dancers conditioned themselves. I traveled to San Francisco, Boston and Monterey attending classes and workshops in the Bar Method, Ballet Tone, and Gyrokenisies. I also started to look at anatomy in a different way. I studied Tom Myers; Anatomy Trains with Mark Finch and worked with Deanna Villa to complete my Level 1, 2 and 3 of Thai massage. Further to that, in 2008 Pilates North hosted Yamuna Body Rolling workshop and I attended Resistance Flexibility and Strength Training (RFST) in Las Vegas with Anne Tierney and Steve Sierra."

“ Our studio is one of the busiest in North America and the clients that attend the Studio to benefit from this progressive method of Pilates include - NHL players - Olympic medalists - Media personalities - ISU World Figure Skating Championship competitors - and junior & senior Skate Canada competitors. Right along side them, we have clients with neuromuscular disorders, rehabilitation clients, pregnant mothers, and seniors.”

“ Over the past 10 years we have inspired at least 30 clients to further their training by becoming certified Pilates instructors. Mentoring and teaching is a huge part of our success and the reason why there is a strong desire to work at Pilates North. We are innovative, open and always upgrading our knowledge. There is always more to learn. We have hosted teacher training at out facility and will continue to do so for those interested in starting the process of becoming functionally aware of how the basic Pilates exercises apply to real bodies.”

I encourage you to indeed, come feel the difference!”