PILATES is a form of exercise designed to stretch and strengthen the body without building bulk or stressing the joints. Primary emphasis is placed on breath, core conditioning and body awareness. Exercises are performed on a mat and on several specially designed exercise machines known as the Reformer, the Cadillac, the Chair and the Barrel.

PILATES was developed in the 1920s by Joseph H. Pilates, a young German plagued by a series of debilitating childhood illnesses, who began studying anatomy and exercising to regain his strength and health. Pilates became an accomplished athlete and a nurse who later began rehabilitating bedridden patients with exercises he designed using bedsprings attached to hospital beds.

After the war, Pilates brought his style of body conditioning and specialized exercise apparatus to New York City and in 1926 opened the first New York Pilates Studio®. Located near a number of ballet and dance studios, Pilates’ exercise program developed a popularity among dancers that continues to the present day. Today PILATES is a popular form of exercise among individuals from all levels of fitness and walks of life.

Performed on a mat or specialized equipment, PILATES is a fitness regime for a lifetime. The perfect complement to cardiovascular exercise, sport, rehab and life, PILATES exercises will leave you looking toned, feeling revitalized and moving with ease.

Ready to look longer and leaner? Seeking an increase in balance, control, grace and coordination? Looking to improve your posture? Want to feel relaxed and energized after working out? Then PILATES is for you!

PILATES is an outstanding way to condition your body, whatever your age or fitness level. Employing a series of more than 500 carefully designed exercises, Pilates helps to strengthen your “powerhouse”—the abdomen, lower back and buttocks—thereby enabling the rest of the body to move freely and easily. Practitioners of Pilates realize a host of physical benefits, including increased muscle strength, tone and flexibility and improved balance.

Pilates is also an excellent means of sharpening the mind-body connection. Because each exercise must be performed mindfully to be done safely and for maximum benefit, practitioners gain greater awareness of muscle function and control and frequently develop a greater sense of self-confidence.

Group classes at Tone Zone are designed to be small (average class size is 4) so that all clients receive specific, focused attention from the instructor. This allows the instructor to pinpoint each client’s individual needs with verbal and/or tactile cues to improve the client’s body awareness and increase range of motion and flexibility. The adage “knowledge is power” is infused into the teaching principals at the Tone Zone studio. Whether a client takes a group class or books a private session with any of the highly trained instructors, each client learns not only how to properly execute the movement in a given exercise but how and why the movement is efficient and posturally accurate.

Maureen (Moe) Sullivan is the owner of Tone Zone and has been practicing for over 10 years. She is fully certified by STOTT® Pilates in Toronto, Canada and stays abreast of trends and new programs in the PILATES community through weekly training sessions with a Master trailing instructor in Massachusetts. She brings her knowledge and love of Pilates to her students through group mat, reformer and other Pilates equipment classes, as well as private and semiprivate sessions on the Reformer, Cadillac, Chair and various barrels (Ladder Barrel, Spine Corrector and Arc Barrel). Moe has been influenced and inspired by many incredible teachers, but mostly by Joseph Pilates himself, a man whose ideas and vision were clearly long before their time.