March 14, By Hannah Wulkan
A new Pilates studio will open up in Long Island City next month, bringing a classical approach to the exercise classes.
LIC Pilates will open up on the second floor of 12-17 Jackson Avenue on April 4, offering a variety of classes with a focus on improving flexibility and building strength.
“I’ve seen the neighborhood grow and change over the past few years,” said owner Adrianne Yurgosky. “I love that it has a real sense of community, but I felt like it was missing a place for classical Pilates.”
Classical Pilates sticks closely to the original Pilates techniques, with exercises focused on developing endurance and stamina.
Yurgosky began learning Pilates after she got a back injury from playing field hockey in college, and said she immediately fell in love with it. She got several teaching certifications to become a Pilates instructor about ten years ago, but also had a corporate job with a hotel company and would only get to do Pilates on nights and weekends.
She eventually left corporate life and opened her own Pilates studio on the Upper West Side in 2013, and is now opening her second studio in Long Island City.
“I love that Pilates can always be challenging and there is always work to be done, but you can always work forward,” Yurgosky said.
Yurgosky is particularly interested in using Pilates to help people relieve injuries as she did, and was certified as a holistic health instructor and took an anatomy course at Mount Sinai to help her better understand the connections within the human body further.
She began visiting LIC about three years ago when her brother moved to the area and had a child. “I have been in the area at least once a week for the past three years and I love the community spirit here,” said Yurgosky, who lives on the Upper West Side but will divide her time between her two studios.
She said that to start off, the studio will have five instructors teaching private, duet and group sessions that are limited to six people, and will offer classes at 7 and 8 a.m. and 6 and 7 p.m. every week day, and at 9, 10, and 11 a.m. on weekends. She said she would also add classes at other times if there were interest.
Yurgosky said that she also hopes to add a Mommy and Me class, where parents and their children could exercise together, and may also add pre- and post-natal classes.
Clients will be able to purchase lessons individually or in packs, with individual lessons costing $36, a pack of five costing $34 per lesson, and a pack of ten costing $32 per lesson.
The studio will have a soft opening in the week preceding the opening, offering certain hours for the public to check out the studio, though Yurgosky has not yet nailed down specific times.
For more information and to keep up to date on LIC Pilates, visit https://www.facebook.com/LICPilates/.
