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Beautcamp Pilates

Get fit quick with the muscle blasting, resistance workout, Beautcamp Pilates

I've taken a Pilates class at my local gym before. It wasn't that taxing. Yes, I felt my core muscles working and yes, I felt pleasantly stretched and maybe I stood a little straighter and taller afterwards, but I wasn't exactly dripping with sweat and my muscles weren't burning. Half an hour into a one-on-one Beautcamp (as in boot camp) Pilates lesson and it was a different story.

Beautcamp Pilates was pioneered by Sebastien Lagree and brought over from LA (where else?) by British ex-TV producer Dominique Day. The format is pretty straightforward; an instructor takes you through a series of moves and exercises while you stand, lie, balance, lunge, squat and stretch (not all at the same time) on a contraption called a 'reformer', which is basically a bed with springs and pulleys. According to the website it is, 'London's answer on how to get that toned taut Hurley-esque physique.'

Celebrity fans are many. Everyone from Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox to Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Jodie Kidd, Elizabeth Hurley, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Simpson, Natasha McElhone (Californication) and Rebecca Romijn (Ugly Betty) are fans. It's also popular with a lot of athletes and city-based exercise junkies. Who was I to argue?

I shuffled down to the Beautcamp City studios feeling very un-Liz Hurley-esque, quite the opposite in fact. I felt a bit lardy and lazy. I was met by Daniel Le Roux, a toned and taut instructor. He looked like he worked out for hours at least three times a day. Gulp.

He got straight down to work by explaining the breathing pattern, telling me when to contract my abs and push my back into the bed and when to create a curve. Lying down on my back with my feet in the air, I was instructed to place a band around my feet before stretching them out above me as far as they would go. It didn't feel so bad to start with, but after I'd been in that position for a few minutes, I started to feel the burn. This continued as we progressed through the movements, including a carriage lunge (pictured and much harder to perform than it looks) hamstring stretch, hip flexor stretch, inner thigh stretch and many more.

The pièce de résistance however came when the pulleys were introduced. The exercises on this piece of equipment were along similar lines to the Gyrotonic movements, and involved me placing my feet in two stirrups and circling my feet, legs and hips in the air to encourage a full range of motion in all my joints. You have to use a serious amount of stomach control to stop the straps pulling your legs over your head.

By the end of the session my body felt like it had experienced a complete workout, I felt stronger and my head felt clearer and more focused. The next day my muscles ached and I swear I could see a bit more definition in my upper arms, but maybe this was wishful thinking after only one session. However, having experienced the 'burn', I can see how honed and toned body could be yours, if you attend regularly, and there is the rub. At present, there are only two studios offering Beautcamp Pilates, both in London, but if the phenomenon ever reaches a town near you, it's well worth giving it go.

To find out more about Beautcamp Pilates visit www.beautcamppilates.co.uk Looking for an aerobic element to your workout? Make sure to ask about the Beautcamp Pilates Jumpboards.

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