Better Body

I love this place!!! It’s great!!! Lindsay is a fantastic instructor/​motivator/​personal trainer. You also have many options between mat, reformer and tower. The introductory offer is a great way to see if Pilates is for you. I highly recommend!

I came to Pilates as a way to extend my ability to play sports as I get a little older… staying competitive and injury free, particularly for football. Krisi and crew have done a great job in keeping me on the field, with the added benefit of improving my physique, balance, and posture in the process. As a man I find Krisi leads me through the exercises in a way I can relate to (muscle groups, workout focal points) even though with most other students she speaks in terms of the poses and positions most familiar to Pilates students. I have been going for over a year, worked with three different instructors… all of which are strong, and couldn’t recommend Better Body more. It’s a great way to diversify your typical gym/​workout routine.

I bought a Groupon for 10 equipment classes here and found this studio to be a super helpful friendly place to take classes. After activating my Groupon, the studio owner and another teacher corresponded with me by email to find out my experience level and any injuries to recommend the classes most appropriate for me. Turns out, I’ve done some pilates equipment work but no traditional pilates like they do here. They allowed me to redeem my Groupon for semi-​private sessions even though the Groupon was for regular group classes. This meant I attended classes with one to three other students and I learned a lot of body awareness/​movement pointers that were helpful. I also took a complimentary «barr» class that I enjoyed. I took most of my classes with Lindsey and she was great. She was really good at identifying just by looking at me if I was tensing up somewhere I shouldn’t be or cheating in some way I didn’t even realize and even though she did hands-​on body corrections she wasn’t overly forceful and I always felt the corrections were doable and things I could implement myself when we’d do the same or similar series in a subsequent class.

Taking a Pilates class at Better Body Studios is a wonderful and fun workout experience along with being a great alternative to the usual daily cardio/​weight-​lifting workout. Krisi and her Better Body staff are all professional, friendly, and always have a big smile on their face. I have been a client of Krisi’s and Better Body Studios since its inception, and even a few years before that when she was at another studio. I’m a very active male, an avid runner, and an all-​round sports player, so I tend to have tight, sore leg muscles on a regular basis. So before taking classes at Better Body Studios, I was searching alternative ways to help keep my leg and back muscles stay limber and my core stronger, because stretching them on my own was only a short-​term fix. A friend mentioned about trying Pilates, but to be honest I was a little skeptical about trying Pilates thinking it was too «girly» for me, until I had my initial private lessons with Krisi. I quickly learned Pilates was not just «rolling around» on a Yoga mat, and it actually involved using various equipment such as the Tower, Reformer, and other contraptions; it was actually a very tough, hard workout… and definitely not «girly» as I was always breaking out into a sweat! Each new class brings a new physical challenge which I truly enjoy… and with all the breathing techniques involved, a mental relief from the day’s stresses too. After each class I have more energy, relaxed limber muscles, stress-​free, and just feeling all-​round great… and I even feel taller!

I taken mat classes at Better Body 3 days a week for the last 7 months and I’ve been very happy with studio. It’s traditional Pilates with a lot of individualized attention, which forces you to work on technique and form instead of just flailing through a workout. I have previous injuries that require modifications so I’m always very wary when I try a new studio, but I have nothing but good things to say about Better Body. I’ve really improved my strength and stamina and the instructors are excellent about keeping the classes challenging. They’re recently added a couple new classes and are offering an unlimited mat package, both of which are great improvements. I’ve found that if you ask for something (new classes, different times, more of a challenge) the staff is more than happy to accommodate. Very happy with Better Body all around.

This studio has healed my back pain, made me stronger and given me confidence. I love all that I’ve learned here and appreciate the highly skilled instructors that I see for the apparatus classes for always keeping the experience new and lively. This is primarily a Pilates studio but they also offer yoga, barr and some strength type classes as well. The owner, Krisi, has done an excellent job of creating an environment that cares more about the experience of each student in her studio than other places I’ve been that seem to care more about how many people they can cram into each session. She and her instructors want to know each client, how they are feeling and what type of fitness goals they have so they can help them to achieve those goals– the rest is up to you!

This studio used to be Falls Church Pilates, which has now closed. One owner and several instructors opened Better Body in Falls Church. The other former owner and an instructor opened Inner Core Wellness on Gallows Road. I tried both studios, but Better Body didn’t meet my needs. The mat classes are fine if you are new to pilates, and are looking for a good introduction, but I have been practicing for awhile, and I got frustrated with so called intermediate classes that were taught at a very basic level. They stopped offering advanced classes. The quality of the tower classes varies greatly with the instructor. The owner and one or two of the experienced instructors are good. The others are too inexperienced, and I didn’t find the classes challenging.