FAQs

The Innerform intro offer is three group classes for £33, valid for fourteen days from the day you buy it. You can use it across any of the five disciplines we teach: Reformer Pilates, Mat Pilates, Barre, Small Group Personal Training and Yoga. There's no auto-renewal, no membership commitment, and no follow-up sales call - it's the most direct way to see whether Innerform is the right studio for you.

Fourteen days from the day you buy it - the clock starts at purchase, not at your first class. So book your first class soon after you buy, then spread the other two across the fortnight however you like: three in one week, one every few days, or all three in a single stretch.

The schedule opens for booking ten days in advance, so you're working within a rolling ten-day window - you can't lock in a class that's a fortnight away on the day you buy. It's not a problem in practice: book your first class or two now, and the later days open up while your fourteen days are still running. Just don't leave all three to the last few days of the window.

Yes - across Mat Pilates, Barre, Small Group Personal Training and Yoga the offer covers any class on the schedule, including any teacher. For Reformer Pilates the same applies, with one practical note: if you've never done Reformer before, your first Reformer class should be a Reformer Foundation class - that's the beginner-specific Reformer class. Reformer Open and Reformer Intermediate move faster and load heavier; they're sized for members with a settled Reformer practice. If you turn up to Open as a genuine beginner, the teacher will look after you and guide you back to Foundation for next time.

Nothing automatic - the offer just ends, and your card doesn't get charged for anything else. If the three classes clicked and you want to keep coming, that's what membership is for; it picks up from there, one membership covering all five disciplines. And if you want a longer think first, that's completely fine - the door's open whenever you're ready.

Reformer Pilates is low-impact strength training done on a machine called a reformer - a sliding carriage with springs that add or take away resistance. You work against that resistance through controlled, full-body movements, with a teacher watching your form throughout. It builds core strength, better posture and more mobility, and because the springs scale to any starting point, it genuinely suits all levels - at Innerform we teach it in Lewisham, in classes of up to 11, across three levels.

Completely - most people in our Foundation classes are starting from scratch. Foundation is the level built for your first time: we show you round the machine before anything moves, keep the pace steady, and offer easier and harder options the whole way through, so you're never stuck and never lost. If you're brand new we'd point you to Foundation first - and we'd suggest a few Foundation classes before moving up. Book the £33 intro offer and come to a Foundation class first.

Wear something you can move in - leggings or shorts and a top that won't ride up when you're lying down. Grip socks are required for Reformer (they keep you steady on the carriage), and if you don't have a pair we sell them at the studio, so you're covered. Bring a water bottle; the showers are stocked with everything else - shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, hairbands. That's it.

The reformer adds adjustable resistance; Mat Pilates uses just your bodyweight on a mat. Think of it this way: your leg weighs what it weighs - on a mat, that's the load you're working with; on a reformer, the springs can make it lighter or heavier to suit you. They're not a ladder, with one above the other - they're different, and they complement each other well, which is why a lot of members do both. If a roomful of machines isn't where you want to begin, Mat Pilates is a calm place to start; if you like the idea of resistance you can dial in, start with Reformer Foundation.

Once a week keeps you ticking over nicely; come twice or more and you'll progress faster - the work compounds. There's no rule, and nothing you have to commit to up front. Mat Pilates does the same job, so either one on its own maintains you and a combination is good for progress; some members add Barre or Small Group Personal Training for more intensity, or Yoga for mobility - all five are in the same membership.

Mat Pilates is the same strength, control and breath work as Reformer Pilates - done on a mat, with your own bodyweight as the resistance instead of springs. You move through a full-body sequence on the floor, building deep core strength, control and steady, honest mobility, with a teacher watching how you move and offering easier and harder options the whole way. It usually opens with some breathwork - finding your centre, settling the pelvis into neutral - before you get stuck in. It’s open to every level, and your first class can be any class on the schedule.

Mat Pilates uses your own bodyweight; Reformer Pilates uses a sprung carriage where the springs can make a movement lighter or heavier. That’s the real difference - on a mat, your leg weighs what it weighs, and that’s the load you’ve got; on a reformer, we can adjust it. Neither one is the easy version, and neither is the foundation of the other - they’re different kinds of work that go really well together. Mat is more stripped back, which makes it a brilliant way to build control and the fundamentals; the reformer gives you more variation and more options on resistance. Either one on its own keeps you strong; doing both is a good way to progress, and both sit inside the same membership.

Yes - it’s one of the easiest classes to walk into for the first time. There’s no machine to get the hang of and no level to pass: one open-level class, and your first one can be any class on the schedule. Most classes start gently, with some breathwork to find your centre, before the work picks up - and the teacher gives easier and harder options the whole way through, so you’re never stuck and never lost. If you’ve never done any Pilates before, this is a calm, capable place to start; if you already do Reformer, you’ll find the mat work sharpens the control you bring back to the carriage.

Something you can move in - leggings or shorts and a top that won’t ride up when you’re on your back, basically. Mats are provided, so there’s nothing to carry. You’ll want socks, but they don’t have to be the grippy kind - normal socks are fine on a mat. Bring a water bottle; the showers are stocked with everything else.

Once a week keeps you ticking over alongside the rest of what you do - there’s no rule, and we’re not going to pretend there is; come more often if you want to progress faster. The £33 intro offer is three classes over fourteen days, so you can come a few times and see how it sits before you decide.

Barre is high-intensity, low-impact strength and conditioning at the barre and on the mat. (Yes, “barre” is the actual name of the bar - that’s where the class gets its name.) You work in small, controlled moves - pulses and holds, often with light weights - with a teacher counting the room through it. It gets your heart rate up while keeping the load off your joints, and you’ll usually feel it the next day, in a good way. It’s fitness-led, not dance-led - there’s no choreography, and the class is set to music with the lights down a little, so it moves.

It’s a different kind of hard - Barre runs at a higher intensity. Reformer Pilates is controlled, precise, low-impact strength work on a moving carriage; Barre keeps the low-impact part but turns the intensity up - more pulses, more holds, your heart rate higher for longer. People who mostly do Reformer sometimes find their first Barre class a bit of a shock, in a good way. Neither is the “advanced” one - they do different jobs, and most members do both, in the same membership.

No - none at all. Barre at Innerform is fitness-led, not dance-led: there’s no choreography to learn, no ballet background needed, and no one’s going to ask you to point your toes like a dancer. The barre is there for balance and to set up the strength work, not for a routine - and a good chunk of the class is on the mat anyway. If you’ve never done a Barre class - or any dance class - you’ll be absolutely fine; the teacher counts the room through every move, and there are easier and harder options the whole way.

Something you can move and stretch in - leggings or shorts and a top you’re comfortable working hard in. Socks are recommended; if you’ve got a grippy pair, bring those, but any socks are fine. Bring a water bottle, and anything you want for the shower afterwards - the showers are stocked with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant and hairbands, so you don’t have to carry much. The front door opens fifteen minutes before each class; after your first booking we’ll send you a digital pass that gets you in.

Honestly, it can go either way - so it’s worth knowing both sides. Barre asks a lot of the muscles and ligaments around your knees, and for a lot of people that builds strength there over time and actually eases knee pain. For others, especially in the early days or with an existing knee issue, those same positions can feel like a lot. The teacher can give you alternative options for anything that doesn’t feel right, and it’s worth a quick word with them before class if your knees are something you’re mindful of - they’d rather know.

It's high-intensity strength and conditioning, run in a small group - eight people at most - with a coach taking the whole room through the session. You work with dumbbells, resistance bands and your own bodyweight; there's no barbell and it's not a gym floor. The coach picks the load that's right for each person, watches everyone's form, and keeps the session moving - so you get the energy of training with other people, and the attention that makes sure you're moving well. No assessment or intro session first - your first class is your first class.

A regular class follows a set discipline - Reformer Pilates, Barre, Yoga - and the teacher takes the room through that. Small Group Personal Training is built around strength training: dumbbells, bands, bodyweight, getting you stronger over time by gradually doing a bit more - a heavier weight, a longer hold, an extra round. Because the group's capped at eight, the coach has the room to set each person's weights and check each person's form, the way a one-to-one session would - just with the energy of other people working next to you. Everyone does the same plan; everyone does it at their own tempo, with an easier alternative for any movement if you're carrying an injury.

Eight people, maximum - that's what "small group" means. The cap is the whole design: with eight, the coach can set everyone's weights, watch everyone's form, and push each person as hard as they can safely go. It's the difference between a coached session and a busy class - and it's why "small group" is in the name, not just "group training".

Yes - it's the harder end of what we teach. If you mostly do Reformer Pilates, the first Small Group Personal Training session can be a bit of a shock: the intensity is higher, the rest is shorter, and you'll feel it. That's by design, and a coach is watching your form and picking your weights the whole way, so "harder" never means you're left to struggle. Barre is the other class that pushes you like this - high-intensity, low-impact, the teacher counting the room through it. If you want the strength side of your week to bite a bit more, Small Group Personal Training and Barre are where you'll find it.

Vinyasa flow - that’s the one style we teach. Vinyasa links postures together with the breath, so the class moves through a connected sequence rather than holding one shape for a long stretch. We don’t run hatha, yin, restorative or slow-flow classes; teaching one style means a focused class and teachers who really know it. If you’ve done a flowing, breath-paced yoga class before, that’s the family this one’s in.

No - it isn’t hot yoga, and we don’t currently run any heated classes. The room is at normal studio temperature, the same as our Reformer Pilates and Mat Pilates classes. You won’t be working in a heated room, and there’s no hot mat on the schedule either.

No - flexibility is what yoga builds, not what it asks of you. Most people who walk in for the first time will tell you they can’t touch their toes; the class is built to meet that, with an easier shape on offer for anything that doesn’t move freely yet. Stiff hips, tight hamstrings, a back that doesn’t bend the way it used to - this class is for those bodies, not against them. You’ll feel the difference over a few weeks, and you don’t need to look like anything to get there.

Yoga moves through breath-led postures; Mat Pilates works precise, controlled repetitions of small movements. They’re easy to mix up - both happen on a mat, both are gentler on the body than Reformer or Barre - but they’re after different things. Yoga is about mobility, range and decompression; Mat Pilates is about deep-core control and the fundamentals that strength work is built on. Plenty of members do both, on the same membership, for exactly that reason - different jobs, both worth doing. There’s more on Mat Pilates on its own page if you’re weighing them up.