Shaw Lifestyle

A quick thought for the weekend.
If you have trained this week, the rest days are not the gap between the work. They are part of it. Muscle does not get stronger while you are lifting. It gets stronger afterwards, while you recover.
I mention it because a fair few people treat a day off as a day lost, and then arrive on Monday a little more tired than they needed to be. You are allowed to stop. The stopping is where a lot of the progress actually happens.
Have a restful one🦋

New on the blog, and it is one I wish more women were told earlier.

If you are in your 40s or 50s and have started leaking when you sneeze, or noticing heaviness or urgency that was not there before, your pelvic floor is very likely involved. It is far more common than most women realise. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists estimates that one in two women in the UK will experience pelvic floor dysfunction at some point, and most are never properly told what to do about it.

Pilates genuinely helps. But the research is clear that the benefit depends on whether the class actually cues the pelvic floor as part of the work, and a lot of classes never do. There is also a part most advice skips entirely: not every pelvic floor problem is weakness. A tight, overactive floor needs the opposite of the usual squeeze-and-hold advice, and getting that wrong can make things worse.

I have written the full picture up, including what to expect from a session built around this🦋

www.shawlifestyle.com

A Wellness Wins session does not usually stay where it starts.
Someone books in about one thing. Low energy, a sore shoulder, wanting to lose a bit of weight before a holiday. We spend a little time on that, and then the real thing tends to arrive, often with "this is probably not related" in front of it.
It is usually related. The shoulder is related to the desk. The desk is related to the hours. The hours are related to a week with no gap in it anywhere, and to a level of stress that has been sitting quietly underneath everything else.
These sessions are led by you, not by me. You talk, I ask questions, and we let the conversation go where it needs to. My job is to notice which parts matter, point to them, and open a door you can choose to walk through. Coaching rather than teaching. The answers stay with the person who has to live them.
Some people leave with an exercise to do. Some leave having said out loud, for the first time, the thing that was actually wrong. Both are a good session.🦋

A few people have said they find Monday the hardest day to begin. I understand it. The week looks long from here.
What I usually suggest is choosing one session and putting it in the diary, rather than deciding each morning whether you feel like going. Most of the women I work with are not relying on motivation. They are relying on it already being arranged.
Mat class is Tuesday as always🦋

New post on the blog, and this one took some care to write.

If you have osteoporosis or osteopenia, or you have been told your bone density is heading that way, you have almost certainly been advised to do weight-bearing exercise. Where Pilates fits into that is rarely explained.

The short version: it does help, but not in the way most people assume. Its biggest contribution to fracture prevention is keeping you on your feet, not building bone. Both matter. Very few programmes cover both.

I have also gone into what to avoid, whether reformer work beats mat for bone health, and why bone loss in perimenopause starts earlier than most women realise.

Full post linked below.🦋

Is Pilates Good for Osteoporosis? What the Research Actually Shows Pilates shows a small but consistent BMD effect across 11 studies. But for osteoporosis, the evidence points to a combined approach. What the research actually shows.

New research on Pilates and lower back pain, and it is more relevant than most people realise. A 2025 study found that 57% of women in perimenopause experience back pain, compared to 42% before it starts. Pilates ranked first for pain reduction across 35 clinical trials, ahead of walking, tai chi and yoga. The full breakdown, including how often you actually need to practise to see results, is on the blog🦋

Is Pilates Good for Lower Back Pain? The Evidence | Shaw Lifestyle Pilates ranked #1 for back pain reduction across 35 clinical trials. A 2025 RCT in women aged 55+ found 30% pain relief in 8 weeks. What the research actually shows.

Four sessions. Squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull.
The Strength Foundations Block is a structured four-week programme for anyone who wants to understand how to train properly, not just follow a routine someone else designed.
You leave with the confidence and a written programme to train independently in any gym.
£220 for the block. £55 per session. 10 minute start-up call required before booking🦋