Man Versus Machine at Simply Pilates

If you think Pilates is in fact a bunch of models and rich people lying on their backs posing and breathing, you would only be partially right. Pilates is an intensive workout, initially developed for armies and police academies, and anyone who has attempted to master the mat, let alone the machines, knows that you leave with pain in muscles you didn’t know existed. 

Mr. Janeček also studied Pilates in the US under Lolita San Miguel, a first-generation instructor who learned the craft from Mr. Pilates himself. After two years of her tutelage, perfecting the motions and movements, Jiří became a Second Generation Master’s Instructor, of which only three exist in the entire Czech Republic (two of them located in the Simply Pilates Studio). 

The Simply Pilates Studio offers machines and reformers versus traditional mats. As Janeček explained:

“Mat work doesn’t give you much chance to change your body because it’s just the mat and you, but on the reformer [or a host of other machines available] you really need to work with the equipment and it can give you the response so that you know what you are doing wrong.” 

Having taken numerous mat classes in upscale LA studios, I was curious to see if Simply Pilates would live up to the hype. On a cold Saturday morning, I joined a class of five, six if you included Mr. Janeček who taught our class; teachers will vary based on the room that the class is held in for the day. The class began at 9am and after a round of stretches we all boarded our machines to begin the hour-long workout. Between Mr. Janeček’s calming (fluent English) coupled with the methodical rhythms produced by the carriage ‘coming home’, I was hard pressed to notice the five other people in my class.   

After an hour of sweating, cursing, and some serious muscle shaking, we jumped off the machines and I all but collapsed on the floor. I felt the machine workout for a further week and muscle aches aside, craved the chance to get back onto the reformer for another go.

The one thing that has struck me time and again when entering the studio is first how pleasant everyone is – staff, patrons, cleaning people – everyone is genuinely happy to work there. The other interesting phenomenon? Men. For what is considered a “feminine” activity the amount of men that frequent the classes is astounding. Men ranging in ages from young adults in their 20’s up to octogenarians take part in the fitness regime that Mr. Pilates himself did well into his late years. That said, Simply Pilates serves a diverse clientele of all ages and, as evidenced by my own experience, both sexes.

So, did Simply Pilates live up to the hype? Yes, completely and fully. Between the friendly atmosphere, the knowledgeable staff – who all speak fluent English – the post-card views of Prague, and the quality and quantity of machines available, this is perhaps the best studio in Prague and one of the top studios that I have ever been to anywhere in the world (New York and Los Angeles included). 

Regardless of whether you are a guy who has never taken a pilates class in your life or someone who has taken a million, there is comfort to be had in the knowledge that this studio offers something that very few other places do. So relax, wear comfortable clothes, jump on your carriage, and enjoy the ride.

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