Synced Pilates is a neighborhood Pilates studio at 3180 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94110.
Can you tell us a little bit about the history of Synced Pilates and how you came to be in Bernal Heights?
Synced Pilates started in 2006 as a small neighborhood studio designed for regular people to make Pilates accessible to more people. I had a full-time day job then, but I was passionate about Pilates and wanted to make it more mainstream. Many studios at the time were expensive or didn’t feel welcome; the elitist reputation and my bad experiences at various studios made me cringe; in response, we offered small classes and affordable privates in an easygoing environment—no mirrors or loud music in our studio, just a local vibe with everyone welcome.
Over time we evolved into a studio specializing in rehab, helping people after surgeries or having babies. We teach people how to modify exercises to return to their favorite activity. We know that Pilates is magic. And we’ve never been about being good at Pilates; we see Pilates as a tool for overall health and wellness. We want our clients to play with their kids, compete in triathlons, and do whatever they want to do easily.
The pandemic hit us hard, and then we lost our lease; even though the common opinion was that I should close the studio due to the uncertain business environment, I decided to move to a new location and stay open, thinking that the community would need a studio as we came out of the pandemic craziness. Unable to find anything in Glen Park, I began looking on Cortland Street, knowing that the local Bernal Height studio, the lovely Pilates Heights, had closed and was not planning on returning. Bernal has always seemed like our people (laid back, creative, down to earth grounded people), so we ended up on Mission Street, which feels Bernal adjacent. We want to find out how to integrate into the community. Relocating over to Mission Street has been more challenging than anticipated.
Sadly many of my long-time Glen Park clients haven’t followed us over to Mission Street, and we need to rebuild our client base. They found the Mission Street environment too urban, too dirty, too many parking hassles.
What sets Synced Pilates apart from other fitness studios in the area?
What makes us different is that we aren’t a typical gym or fitness studio with lycra-clad skinny people obsessively working out. We are normal neighborhood people that need some support and encouragement. Sometimes people need help after an injury, and physical therapy hasn’t gotten them where they need to be. We work with chiropractors and other healthcare providers in concert, not in opposition. That makes us awesome; we care about getting our clients better, and we help people work on themselves. That vibe we built slowly over many years in Glen Park, mostly by word of mouth and client recommendations.
We want the right clients for our studio. The perfect client for us is someone who wants to learn and understands the value of Pilates to contribute to overall well-being.
Are there any special programs or workshops Synced Pilates offers to help clients achieve their fitness goals?
We have small reformer classes and mat classes and will be expanding that schedule as needed.