Is ONYX Pilates?

Yes and no — and you deserve the honest answer, not the marketing one.

ONYX is Pilates-inspired, and we don't hide from that. The reformer, the spring resistance, the emphasis on control, breath, precision, and alignment — that lineage runs straight back to Joseph Pilates.

But we don't teach classical Pilates. We don't follow the original order, we don't teach Contrology as he codified it, and our coaches aren't classically certified instructors. We took the principles and built something else on top of them: muscle specificity training, infrared heat, a custom reformer, and a programmed rotation designed to develop three distinct qualities of strength.

If you're looking for classical or clinical Pilates — the traditional repertoire, taught in sequence, often one-on-one, sometimes prescribed by a physical therapist — that's a real and valuable practice, and it isn't what we do. Chicago has excellent studios for it, and we'll gladly point you toward one.

If you want a heated, strength-focused workout built on Pilates principles and taken somewhere new — that's ONYX.