Welcome to the December edition of Pilates Central News.

In this edition:

• Queen of the jungle
• Achilles heals
• Bottom line
• Past its cell-by-date

Queen of the jungle

Congratulations to Pilates lover Coleen Rooney for finishing as runner-up on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! When she showered beneath the camp waterfall, the Daily Mail enthused that she, “looked incredible as she slipped into a black swimsuit that showcased her svelte physique and toned legs.”

This was mainly due to Pilates revealed the Sun. Before the series a source told the paper: “Coleen has been hitting the Pilates sessions religiously and thrown herself into having a svelte physique so she looks amazing on screen.” The 38-year-old mum of four works out at Rise Fitness Studios in Liverpool. Before leaving for the jungle Coleen shared a snap of herself on Instagram and wrote: “Love my reformer sessions at @risefitnessstudios, full-body workout which I find great for toning, flexibility and posture.”

Coleen had to improvise in Australia with no Reformer machines available. She revealed: “I do a few gym sessions and Reformer Pilates, but in the jungle it was my squats. Walking up and down those stairs… when you go to trials you are trekking through that jungle, up and down. And it’s a long way to go. You are tired and you’re on less calories. It’s hot. It’s humid. So yeah, I did like to keep the squat routine up. I do 21, 21, 21 of different ones and then I’ll do 63 pulses every morning.”

Even the arrival of two possums while she was doing her morning squats didn’t worry her, probably not something she experiences at home. Rooney is now back in her UK Pilates routine and being tipped to be a possible Loose Women host or wellness guru to rival Gwyneth Paltrow.

Achilles heals

“Gavin Bazunu: How Pilates with his girlfriend is helping fitness,” reads the headline in the Sunday Times. Southampton goalkeeper Bazuno is the latest footballer to find that Pilates can help with recovering from long-term injury. The 22-year-old is on the road to recovery after suffering a ripped Achilles tendon in April. He was in a moon boot for ten weeks and then had to learn to walk again after muscle wastage in his leg. “It could be frustrating because you think you have a great day and you wake up the next morning and there is a bit of swelling on it,” he told the paper.

It helped that Bazunu’s girlfriend Paige is a physiotherapist who has been branching out into Pilates. They met when he moved to Southampton two years ago. Bazunu says of Paige’s Pilates: “That is her new found motivation and it has been good for me to learn alongside her. In the early stages when you can’t do too much loading on your feet. Pilates is a brilliant way to keep yourself toned and moving in whatever way you want. Having her learn alongside me was very helpful.”

The former Shamrock Rovers and Manchester City goalkeeper is now back in light training and hoping to win his place back at Southampton and eventually win further caps for Ireland.

Bottom line

“A perfect semi-circle curve — how to get a Rivals bum,” is the title of an essential feature in the Daily Telegraph. The Disney+ version of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals stars hunky chaps Alex Hassell, David Tennant and Aidan Turner and has been a huge hit. Alex Hassell plays lothario Rupert Campbell-Black and we learn that the numerous saucy scenes, “have shown Hassell’s buttocks to be particularly healthy.”

The Telegraph consults celebrity personal trainer Matt Roberts who says that a good behind is all down to the glutes and advocates several Pilates-based exercises. To achieve the perfect posterior, Roberts suggests glute bridges “using your glutes to power your hips upwards”, split squats and table-top hip thrusts.

He goes on to explain: “The ideal man’s bum is one that doesn’t protrude from the side when it’s seen from the back, so is fairly narrow. When seen from the side however, it has an almost perfect semicircle curve… This is something that’s been looked at in scientific studies, and what women are really after is a good pair of quads, so strong thighs, and that curve in a man’s side profile.”

Any male clients wishing to set up a TV franchise in the Cotswolds should take note. It’s good to know that the Telegraph is paying attention to its bottom line.

Past its cell-by date

It is says the Sunderland Echo, “a criminally good way to keep fit”. A former set of police cells in Sunderland has been re-purposed as a Pilates studio. It’s all rather fitting as Joseph Pilates invented his exercise routine while incarcerated as an “enemy alien” in a world war one internment camp on the Isle of Man.

The Echo reports that the brutalist architecture of the former Gilbridge police station has been renamed as The Yard due to its police connections and now rents out office space. Within the former cells where prisoners were held before appearing at magistrates court, is the ARV Pilates studio in what is appropriately enough known as “The Cell”. Though if you have your collar felt it might just be a bit of posture advice.

ARV is run by personal trainer Anna Rhodes-Voza, who moved to Sunderland with her partner, but “fell in love with Reformer Pilates” in London and Australia. Classes are accompanied by music and disco lighting plus a disco ball to add to the good-time atmosphere.

Rhodes-Voza says her classes are very popular with nearby office workers: “Ninety per cent of people who come have never done it before, but they have so much fun. I opened a month ago and since day one have been fully booked. It’s often quite a humbling experience doing it for the first time as people don’t realise how hard it is. It’s a challenge, but it’s addictive.”

Not for the first time users of the old cells could be going down for a long stretch.

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The Pilates Central Team