Marlene Karas/ViewPilates Parties owner Camille Martone Wallace, back, leads Amy Yanni through a workout on March 19. Wallace?s mobile business allows Yanni to arrange her workouts around her daughters, ages 3 and 18.
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Convenience is the key for Camille Martone Wallace.
A little over a month ago, she started Pilates Parties, a fitness business designed to make Pilates available to people with little time to exercise and a hectic schedule.
"I'd been doing Pilates since 2002 and got certified to teach it (in 2006), and I wanted to do something convenient," Wallace said. "Pilates is my passion, and I wanted to find a way to do something I loved while helping people."
She takes her business to clients' homes or offices for one-hour sessions, bringing along all the necessary equipment and a few extras, including optional aromatherapy and music to speed the workout along.
"I bring everything," Wallace said.
Many people think of elaborate, expensive apparatuses when they think about Pilates, she said, but that gear isn't necessary. Wallace uses mats, bands, balls and the occasional hand weights to vary her clients' routines.
"You can get a great full body workout just doing mat work," she said. "That's the beauty of Pilates. You don't need a big expensive machine. You can use your body weight to create resistance and have quite a variety of exercises. It's really amazing."
For her clients, a flexible schedule seems to be the big draw.
"I'd been doing a Pilates home workout video and was hoping Camille could come in and pick it up from there," said Amy Yanni, who uses Pilates Parties' services a couple of times a week. "This is much more of what I need and the areas I need it in. And after I (signed up), she came in the next week ready to go."
Yanni has to bend her schedule around her two young daughters, ages 3 and 18 months. Exercise is no exception.
"She comes when my girls are sleeping," Yanni said. "Now, I don't have to worry about making time to drive to some gym to work out or getting my husband to watch the kids."
Wallace starts off with each client by learning their expectations and fitness history, and then she personalizes a Pilates plan for each person.
"I recommend at least two sessions per week, but it depends on the results you want," she said. "I try to give them a little background and history about Pilates, too, and then we go through a half-hour session so I can gather where they're at, their strengths and weaknesses.
Wallace said she prefers to work with individuals, but will work with small groups in order to give each client maximum attention.
Prices range from $50 for a one-hour session for one or two clients to $100 for a party of three. For more information, e-mail pilatesparties@yahoo.com.
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