Jetset Pilates positions itself as the glue in modern fitness by supporting strength and other modalities without overtaxing the body
Even as modalities like strength training are booming, you don’t have to compete to remain relevant — and few know it better than Jetset Pilates. In fact, the company’s workouts naturally complement a wide range of other activities, while providing consumers with the opportunity to exercise more frequently.
“We’ve never designed to compete with strength training or HIIT,” said Alex Lyons, Jetset’s VP of Product and Talent. “In fact, it’s only meant to make those things better.”
The high-end Pilates brand doesn’t fight strength; it helps fuel it. With programming that complements muscle-building workouts, Jetset not only helps members stretch and tone their bodies; it stimulates strength trainers in a variety of ways.
Building a Base for Strength
Pilates sessions conducted at Jetset studios focus on strengthening glutes, improving core stability, unilateral flexibility and overall mobility. They also put members through different ranges of motion at different cadences from what’s commonly done during strength or HIIT workouts.
These distinct actions help members build a stronger core to support strength-related and other workouts.
“We’re thinking about building strength from the inside out,” Lyons said. “You’re getting a full range of concentric and eccentric motion while you’re loading the joints and muscles. We’re not necessarily thinking about it as recovery, but as preparation for strength training or daily activities.”
Alex Lyons (credit: Jetset Pilates)
They also avoid putting harmful strain on the parts of the body that those workouts already challenge.
“We are making people stronger, but it’s not strength training in terms of hypertrophy or progressive overload. It’s at a different depth,” Lyons said. “We’re challenging the load with different springs, tempo and moving slower than you would in a strength or HIIT class. We make sure members move in precise form so that everyone’s feeling the exercise in the correct muscles and benefitting from those additional movements. This is where you’re creating more resilience in your muscle, more endurance versus wear and tear.”
Getting New Kinds of Consumers
By embracing Pilates’ pliability, Jetset also recognized its potential memberbase was far broader than originally perceived.
“We’re thinking about a very wellness-literate consumer — people who don’t just want Pilates for stretching or mobility,” Lyons said.
With wellness and longevity top of mind right now for an abundance of consumers, Jetset is seeing an influx of new members, with many being younger individuals.
“We’re finding people who want to be able to work out every single day,” Lyons said. “The younger clientele doesn’t want to just do strength training to max out and then take two rest days. They want to do things that they can integrate into their lives daily, which you can do with Jetset. They’re thinking about long term investments to their fitness journey, and adding Pilates early just builds that stronger base of movement for anything they get into later in life.”
credit: Jetset Pilates
Jetset walks the line between challenging and overtaxing its consumers. It supports and stimulates but never maxes out demands on the body.
“You’re not going to be so wrecked after a Jetset class that you have to take multiple days off,” Lyons went on. “They don’t want their workouts to absolutely ruin their nervous system or screw up their sleep. They want to be working out every single day, building the community, but also feeling just enough intensity that they get that burn they’re looking for.”
Driving Multiple Outcomes
Pilates’ complementary relationship to strength training also works back the other way. Just as Pilates stretches and supports muscles to increase strength-related performance, strength training increases stability to improve movement on a reformer.
“If you are trying to hit a personal record in the gym, adding in Pilates will only make your weight lifting better and vice versa,” Lyons said. “If you also lift weights, it will only make your Pilates stronger.”
credit: Jetset Pilates
Lyons endorsed Pilates as a benefit to those more interested in cardio as well.
“The same thing goes for running,” Lyons added. “Runners benefit tremendously with Pilates because of the additional support.”
Real World Examples
While strength training has continued to surge in popularity, Lyons noted she’s heard stories of people coming to Jetset after heavy upper body days, leveraging the Jetset programming to work through the lactic acid buildup there. Members coming in after leg days to test their upper bodies are common as well.
“We’re hearing right now that while heavy strength is super important and more people just want to be moving every single day than ever before.” Lyons said. “They want to do something that’s good for their mind and body. We don’t want to replace rest days, but add Jetset days around them to offset a strength training routine. That’s something we’re really inspired by.”
