NETTIE Hill has a ‘reformer’ in her pilates studio which, to the uninitiated, brings to mind some kind of medieval torture rack.

But to Ms Hill’s customers, it’s the star attraction. Especially for her pre- and post-natal clients and those with knee injuries. And this marvel is just the tip of Ms Hills’ pilates’ studio iceberg.

It is said that once you’ve experienced how pilates changes both your body and your mind you won’t look back. And that is how Ms Hill, already a fitness instructor when she began her pilates journey, ended up with her own studio – Nettique Pilates – in South Portland in 2021.

Born in Melbourne, Ms Hill came to Portland in the early 1980s for work at the smelter. It wasn’t long before she was teaching fitness classes at the Star Fitness Centre (the old theatre complex).

“I came from Geelong and walked in there to do a class and they had no instructor,” Ms Hill said. “So, my partner at the time put my name up and I took the class, and from then on I had the job.”

After being asked to stay on, Ms Hill decided to become fully qualified, which she did, through Vic Fit. It took her several months to get up to speed but it essentially paved the way for what was to become her main career.

“The first class I did at Star Fitness though – all to the one Michael Jackson tape – was based on my own knowledge and experience from all the classes I had done in Geelong. There was just one slow Michael Jackson song and one fast song that we could use, but we got through it!”

Back then, the course was called Exercise to Music, Ms Hill said. From there, she also trained in Aquafit and then gym instruction and more. “Pilates wasn’t a thing until much later; around the late 90s,” she said.

The last few decades have been quite a fitness-focused merry-go-round for Ms Hill. From the Star Fitness Centre, where she worked for several years, including instructing classes at the smelter’s own gym under the Star Fitness Centre umbrella, she then got the contract to run the classes in her own right and left Star Fitness.

Ms Hill also taught fitness at the tennis club near the lagoon for a time, additional to her work at the smelter gym. However, this proved to be uneconomical for her so she focused solely on the smelter centre until it closed and their workers took out membership at the new YMCA.

With part of her contract including working at the smelter’s creche for a while, when this also closed Ms Hill had little option but to work ‘on the floor’, “doing shift work and driving cranes, for eight years” in order to pay off her mortgage. All up, she worked at the smelter for 18 years.

“From there, I ended up taking a package and then it was just like going full circle! I got a job teaching AustSwim at the YMCA, but found it just wasn’t enough.”

So, Ms Hill put in a resume at Portland District Hospital and got a job in the kitchen, where she still works two days a week.

Pilates came out of the blue for her, after her fiftieth birthday.

“It was on my birthday when I’d been for a run, and I walked into the Y to teach a class and they asked me if I’d take another. I thought they meant swimming, but they meant tabata.

“Tabata is essentially circuit training, so I said yes, of course I can do that!

“Next thing I’m rethinking (my next career move), so I requalified and did my Cert 3 in fitness again and developed a class called Movement and Stretch for the YMCA; fairly basic stuff – a bit of yoga, holding poses, stretching and so on, and that went really well.”

From there, Ms Hill had a client called Joan, now in her 80s, who had been a pilates instructor but didn’t want to teach anymore but who wanted to continue practising for her own wellbeing.

“So I ended up doing pilates training mostly for Joan, because she had such a love and passion for it,” Ms Hill said.

  She took an online training course through the international Studio Pilates in Melbourne, culminating in four days face-to-face. And because she had already done Certificate 3, Ms Hill needed only to do the mat course and add on to her existing knowledge and skill.

This included training on the miracle ‘reformer’ – which is not really a feudal torture rack, even if it looks like one.

A traditional piece of pilates equipment designed by Joseph Pilates during WW1, the reformer is a versatile and effective piece of exercise equipment which allows users to lengthen and strengthen their leg muscles using light resistance, speeding up strength-building through controlled movement.

So, having got that additional expertise under her belt, Ms Hill is now enrolled to train for the next stage: the reformer progression course. This includes training in the use of more mediaeval-looking torture chamber equipment: the ‘Wonder Chair’ and the ‘Cadillac’, both of which are really only as difficult to use as you make it. She hopes to have completed the course before December 2022.

During COVID, when studios closed down, Ms Hill offered pilates in the Botanic Gardens and then, when the gardens themselves were closed, provided it online for free. When the Y was finally allowed to re-open, she was teaching 10 people at a time, back to back, just to fit them all in.

Now, Ms Hill has a variety of highly qualified instructors at Nettique Pilates and offers a range of classes designed to suit all levels of fitness, from beginners to pre- and post-natal, to men’s stretch classes and children’s classes, to ‘gentle moves’ classes, and mat and barre workouts.

“Our ‘gentle moves’ class on Tuesdays at 9.30 a.m. is perfect for those who haven’t exercised for a long time or might have a knee injury and want a really gentle class. It’s a great way to get back into an exercise class,” Ms Hill said.

“And our pilates basics at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday goes right back to the beginning, learning the principles of pilates, teaching the different levels, and it’s for all abilities; we also have a lot of 30-minute express classes which people love – pilates and pilates inspired barr.

“Pilates is an exercise routine that you can do at any age,” she added. “It’s low impact, your  body feels amazing afterwards, you can isolate a muscle group and for example just work your abbs, work your glutes or work on lengthening through your spine.

“It can be challenging at times, but I believe everyone should do it. The results are amazing.”

And the results – and Ms Hills’ clients – speak for themselves.

Client Monique had been working religiously for three to four months solid in preparation for a big occasion and was just starting her first day of reformer work-outs when the Observer visited the studio.

 “The months have gone by pretty fast,” she said. “I’ve done all the classes and I’ve just been loving it!

“Nettie is amazing, she motivates everybody, and it’s really true what they say – pilates is really transformative on the body!

“I’ve been wanting to try it for a while because I’d been coming to the chemist next door and seen the sign and I am so glad I finally joined.

“Pilates is a very subtle; so layered – and it’s definitely made me stronger and more confident in my body strength.

“Nettie is an amazing instructor; I just love her,” she said. “I’ll be coming for a long, long time. And I’ll certainly be coming for pre- and post-natal too,” she laughed, already planning her family.

Joseph Pilates would never have dreamed how big his idea has become.

Nettique Pilates offers classes for the very competitive price of $10 per class.

For class timetables check online on the Nettique Pilates Facebook page or contact Nettie Hill on 0438 351 773