Providing Belonging in an Alien Environment
By Margaux Mischlewski
I finally figured it out; its the gyms’ fault 90% of the world can’t maintain their ‘dream bod’.
We aren’t lazy; it’s the gym that is lazy.
How are we meant to be motivated by the boring, bland and often intimidating gym, looking at weights and treadmills all day?
Models and Instagram celebrities tell us hard work in the gym is all you need, but the gym needs to pick up its training game, give us reason; give us purpose.
KX Pilates. Now that is not lazy.
KX Pilates is the latest fitness craze that has everyone running to its studios.
Through the use of a reformer machine, the classes challenge balance stability and strength. This has created the ultimate whole body workout, requiring the engagement of all muscle groups (including the ones you didn’t know you had).
Beyond this, what makes KX Pilates truly special is the strong belief that is ingrained into the businesses very fiber. KX believes that strength is built from the inside out and that results at the gym are only reflected once you make results within yourself.
Entering the studio, immediately your eyes and mind are overtaken by the large dual meaning phrase ‘DEFINE YOURSELF’. The trainer, gorgeous and fit, meets you with warmth, beaming and wearing a friendly yet passionate smile.
Mixing the clean, zen experience of a yoga studio, with the upbeat feel of a gym where you’ll feel the burn, KX pilates does something other gyms often miss, it makes you want to work out. KX makes you want to define yourself. It makes you feel like you belong.
3 years ago I realised I hated cardio and I hated training. Everything I did was BORING, too hard or lacked results. Of course being consumed by the unrealistic body image society of instagram, I knew I had to exercise. I wanted to be fit. Disillusioned with classic gyms, I dragged myself to an 8am Sunday class of Pilates to see what all the fuss was about.
Now, I promise you; it wasn’t just the endorphins. I absolutely loved the class. In fact, I can tell you how much I loved the class. It’s now been 3 and a half years and I have not touched, nor swayed to another form of exercise or another Pilates studio.
This loyalty comes down to one thing, and one thing only: KX pilates is NOT lazy.
The KX purpose and the belonging its clients feel are defined in those two words – ‘define yourself’.
The tangible object of exercise and the Pilates reformer, has been transformed into something intangible. KX defines your body, your mind and purpose.
Even the name KX has a deep meaning, coming from the original Japanese expression ‘Kaizen experience’ translating to ‘change for the better’. The names meaning and its belief, are cemented in the walls of the KX studios and into its trainers, right down to its clients.
Words of encouragement are echoed throughout the classes, not concerning weight loss, but motivation. In any given class you’ll hear things like ‘Looking strong’, and ‘remember your purpose’.
The trainers have the KX belief ingrained in them, which is passed onto their clients through engagement and communication ‘you are so much stronger now!’.
Endorphins and dream body aside, KX studios act as a home for its clients. They’ve successfully made a positive and safe environment for people to focus on their purpose and get the most out of their workout.
KX doesn’t ask for you to bring your motivation with you, it gives purpose. The encouragement and inspiration KX pilates provides finally cracks the case of motivation and helps maintain routine in an exercise regime.
KX believes that we can change for the better through defining our minds and bodies. This is a concept that, since 2010, has gained a following of people from 5 Australian regions attending all of its 48 studios religiously. Lovers of the Kaizen Experience live by that simple belief ‘define yourself’ and know they belong in these studios and can identify with the practice it preaches.
So to all of the gyms out there. Stop with weights and intimidating machines no one knows how to use. Don’t be lazy and just tell people to exercise because you apparently, ‘have the facilities’. Give your members a purpose. Give them the motivation. Make them part of your family so they feel they belong. Then your memberships will actually be worth something.
Learn from the KX experience. I know I have.