Powerhouse Post (No10)
Pilates news round-up from the last week
Hey there!
Welcome to the Powerhouse Post, my weekly round-up of all things Pilates industry related. Read on for the latest headlines and some of my commentary.
Cheers, Kaleen
On Socials
📸 Pilates fails are taking over the internet. While I think any form of movement carries risk, some of these are easily avoidable with good cueing and training.
In the News
👑 There’s always been problematic messaging in fitness. It seems like the “Pilates aesthetic” may be a part of the problem these days. I hate to see it, but our culture doesn’t think about holistic solutions, but sexy ones, so here we are. This is a great think-piece on the phenomenon.
I love this quote from the author Stephanie Maida: “My issue is not that I believe one type of workout is better than the other (quite the opposite—I think we should celebrate all forms of movement that make people feel good). The issue, I think, is that it narrows the idea of what a ‘fit’ body should look like.”
Pilates Biz
🤝 The Pilates Journal Expo is coming to the US! I am so excited for the January 2026 event in Los Angeles. Will you be there?
📅 Popular booking software Arketa raises a $15M Series A round. If you’ve ever wanted an indicator a company is about to invest in growth, this is it. I’m excited to see how their platform evolves over time.
🔥 Do your classes meet expectations?
Find out how your class design stacks up by using my FREE Class Design Report (CDR)
From Kaleen’s Blog
💬 I’ve recently moved my blog over to substack, where you’re now probably reading this. Hi! Last week I posted a blog about When Client Feedback Leads You Astray prompted by some feedback my boss at the Y. Pilates studios could learn a thing or two about where to focus their energy from startup wisdom. By only listening to the loudest customers it’s easy to make emotional, and incorrect, decisions about your business.
Research and Tech
🧑💻 The Athletech News Innovation Summit was held this week in NYC. Here’s a Recap of Day 1 and Day 2.
Of particular interest to me, the CEO of Playlist (parent company of ClassPass and Mindbody) urged attendees to embrace AI. He said it’s not going to replace us, but augment us. “What it is going to do is empower and democratize the ability to do really deep and incredible analytics, really great personalized marketing and things like that to help businesses … grow and be more effective. So I see us heading toward an age of human augmentation, not substitution.”
I use Arketa for my software, and am really excited to see where this goes. While some of the stuff is still a little clunky I love the marketing and video on demand side of things. I also love the zoom integration because I have a client that has her own reformer and lives about 40 miles away. She loves being able to attend class virtually with everyone else!