Home/Pilates and Lagree
A practical guide · Updated June 2026
Pilates and Lagree. What's different?
Two related but distinct disciplines. Both built on a spring-loaded carriage. Both with their own century-long traditions of teaching, refinement, and care. Here's a clear, practical guide to what sets them apart.
Pilates and Lagree are often grouped together — and the equipment looks similar enough that it's an easy mistake to make. But they are different methods, with different aims, different cueing languages, and different certification pathways. This guide is for anyone trying to understand the difference, whether you're choosing a workout or considering teacher training.
Pilates, briefly
Pilates is a method developed by Joseph Pilates in the early twentieth century. It works through controlled, precise movement designed to build core strength, flexibility, alignment, and body awareness. It is taught on several pieces of apparatus — the reformer, Cadillac, chair, and barrel — as well as on the mat. Modern Pilates training is a comprehensive education that often draws on rehabilitation science, dance, and physiotherapy. Pilates instructors come out of multi-month training schools — the most established include BASI, Polestar, STOTT, and Romana's — and the discipline has a long tradition of working alongside physical therapists, athletes, and clinical populations. It is deservedly one of the most respected movement methods in the world.
Lagree, briefly
Lagree is a method developed by Sebastien Lagree in the 1990s, originally as a way to bring high-intensity training to clients who could not tolerate high-impact movement. It uses a spring-loaded apparatus — the Megaformer and now the Micro Pro — to work muscles slowly and continuously to failure, in 45-minute group classes. The method is governed by eight principles: effective angle, tempo, tension, duration, range, resistance, form, and transitions. Lagree certification is centralised through Lagree Fitness HQ, which licenses the apparatus and trains instructors through official Level 1 programmes — including the one Sloane runs in London Bridge.
What's the same
- Both use a spring-loaded carriage as a primary apparatus.
- Both emphasise control, precision, and breath.
- Both are low-impact and joint-friendly.
- Both have strong cueing traditions and require a real apprenticeship to teach well.
- Both are well-established teaching careers in London and across Europe.
What's different
| Pilates | Lagree | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary aim | Strength, flexibility, alignment, body awareness | Muscular endurance to failure under continuous tension |
| Tempo | Varied — controlled, often flowing | Slow throughout — 4 counts up, 4 counts down |
| Class length | Typically 50 minutes | Typically 45 minutes |
| Apparatus taught | Reformer, Cadillac, Chair, Barrel, Mat | Megaformer, Micro Pro (and family) |
| Certification length | 9–18 months (450+ hours typical) | 4-day intensive (~24 hours, plus prerequisites) |
| Certifying bodies | Multiple schools (BASI, Polestar, STOTT, etc.) | Single — Lagree Fitness HQ |
| Clinical / rehab pathway | Strong, deep tradition | Limited — focused on fitness, not rehab |
| Teaches you to cue | Alignment, breath, precision | Tension, tempo, the shake |
They are not in competition
A meaningful number of teachers in London teach both. Pilates gives you the anatomy depth and the apparatus breadth; Lagree adds a high-demand, single-apparatus speciality with a global credential. Many of our cohort members come from a Pilates background, and they tell us the two methods complement each other in their teaching practice rather than compete.
If you are deciding between certifications, the right question isn't "which is better" — it's "which fits the teaching practice I want." Both are excellent. Both are respected. Both can be sustained as careers for decades.
How to decide
Pilates is the right starting point if you want a long, comprehensive education in movement; if you are drawn to alignment, flexibility, and rehab work; if you have time and resources for an extended training; or if you want to teach mat alongside reformer and the broader apparatus family.
Lagree is the right starting point if you are drawn to the high-intensity, low-impact strength side of boutique fitness; if you want a focused single-apparatus certification with a globally recognised credential; or if you want a shorter, more concentrated route into teaching.
Both, in sequence, is a perfectly good path — and one many of the most respected teachers in London follow.
The Sloane Lagree Training
Sloane runs the official Level 1 Lagree certification in London Bridge — a 4-day intensive on the Micro Pro, Master Trainer–led by Melissa Mestelan or Sarah Reimann, depending on the cohort. Next cohorts 26–29 June & September 2026. Apply → or see dates and tuition.