Lucy Tomlinson has been teaching Pilates for three years and, at the beginning of this year, the instructor took over a business teaching around Rotherhithe and the south east. Needless to say, in the current Coronavirus conditions, it’s been a baptism of fire.
The instructor, like many others in the fitness field, has adapted to the current lockdown by shifting her teaching to online streaming where she’s currently teaching fifteen classes a week. “At least we can still teach online and people are keen to do it,” Lucy said.
The Pilates instructor regularly teaches classes in Rotherhithe at the Docklands Settlement Centre, and upstairs at the Finnish Church on Albion Street.
“I trained at Body Control Pilates in Holborn. I did the intensive course; it took about a year and a half to qualify completely. The course was very thorough,” she said. “Then this year I took over a business so I inherited the classes I was doing. So that business started, then Corona!”
Originally from Twickenham, Lucy now lives on the Isle of Dogs and cycles around to classes.
“I discovered Pilates while at uni where I was studying graphic design, which I think is similar to Pilates in the control aspect and attention to detail,” she said. “It was just a gym class but the teacher was really great and inspiring. She said to me ‘you should think about doing it on the side’ but I was focused on my degree. Then I came back to London, worked in the industry and I found sitting at a desk and being on a computer all day wasn’t for me.”
The best thing about Pilates? “Strength,” Lucy says. “Lot of people tend to come to it and want to improve their core. Which is a good one to draw people in. Pilates is really good for back pain and management of injuries. People come for rehabilitation, just general strength, flexibility, mobility, agility. And the mental wellbeing is really important.”
“You attract very different people to Pilates than you do to yoga. There’s some very basic similarities. I describe Pilates as a crossover between yoga and physiotherapy.”
So, what’s the teacher’s favourite move? “I actually really like the rollover. It’s not one I teach loads because lots of people have neck injuries. But it’s a very classical Pilates thing and when you do one after the after you really feel it working. It’s just a bit of fun.”
Even in virtual form, Lucy says of Pilates classes: “it’s so nice to see other people and have that sense of community. It’s about having that hour of human connection, an hour to focus on yourself, and having a teacher correcting you and guiding you.”
For live-streaming classes with Lucy, visit: https://www.pilateslucy.co.uk
For more local fitness classes online see our article on how to Stay Fit during #StayHome