Functional fitness in Perth

The distinction that trips people up here is reformer versus mat. Reformer pilates uses the spring-loaded machine and almost every studio will put you through a foundation class or two before letting you into the general timetable — not upselling, just how the machine works. Mat classes need none of that and cost noticeably less.

Around them sits everything else that moves: barre borrowing from ballet, tai chi and qigong in halls and parks and often the cheapest thing on this page, assisted stretch studios selling 25 or 50-minute one-to-one sessions, and aqua classes at council leisure centres, where you pay per entry rather than per class.

Two notes on money. Private health funds stopped rebating pilates as a natural therapy in 2019 — the exception is when a physiotherapist delivers it as physiotherapy. And personal training is usually sold in blocks, so ask what happens to unused sessions before you buy ten.

Related: yoga and movement, allied health, nature and outdoor wellness.