This profile of Sebastien Lagree, creator and founder of Lagree Fitness, is part of Street Meet, FLEETSTREET’s series, where we meet up with trailblazers and thought leaders to deliver unique insight and inspiration into issues we all care about.
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I remember the first Lagree class I ever took. I was a health editor for Canada’s biggest health magazine at that time, and I was no stranger to taking buzz-worthy classes. Yet, there I was, fresh from the changeroom, hair in a pony, sticky-sock feet, heart pounding, arms crossed, biting my lip, waiting for class to start at the Studio Lagree on King West in Toronto. Meghan Markle (pre-Prince Harry) was seen at the studio.
You don’t need me to tell you what happened. Because you know. The Megaformer kicked my butt, and my muscles shook for 50 minutes straight. I didn’t die. I survived. But it wasn’t a regular Pilates class. And you know that.
But after a call with Sebastien Lagree – he just got off a plane from LAX to YYZ – we had probably what was the most honest interview I’ve had with a business owner. He’s in the city to teach Microformer classes at Toronto’s Steam Whistle Brewing near the SkyDomet on May 24th. But he chatted with us the night before about everything Lagree.
Lagree Micro review: Don’t expect an at-home Pilates workout.
Lagree is for small classes in boutique studios
Over 30 Lagree and Lagree-licensed studios run from Vancouver to Halifax, with 1,500- to 4,000-square-foot Megaformer spaces and 1,000-square-foot Microformer boutique locations. But the next stage for Lagree experiences is larger than life.
Toronto is just one stop on his Lagree Microformer tour, and he’s teaching three 200-plus attendee classes – that’s 600 people on the Microformer (a compact version of the Megaformer).
What inspired the new classes? Working outside, thanks to COVID-19 lockdown protocols. “People love doing this training outside, which was not part of the original plan,” says Lagree. “Over the years, these classes got bigger and bigger, and the events got bigger. And I wanted to tour. Last year, we did an event in Shanghai. Earlier this year, I was in Dubai doing this.
While the studios offer the intimate experience, Lagree says it’s the events that amplify “the great community.” What’s next? “Now the goal for me is to teach 1,000 people, and then start the tour and book stadiums for these classes.”
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Lagree is Pilates
I have written about Pilates for too long to even mention, and that often includes Lagree Fitness and its at-home equipment. But in the past few years, when fact-checking stories, there’s been a strong course correction: Lagree isn’t Pilates.
Lagree admits that the Megaformer was inspired by the Pilates reformer, and he was a certified Pilates instructor when he started training clients in Los Angeles in 1988, according to Lagree Academy. “The Lagree was never based on Pilates,” he tells me. “I created a new method based on the reformer because the clientele was not getting the results they wanted with the reformer using the Pilates apparatus. […] So, what I did was use Pilates equipment, but I taught body sculpting. I didn’t use any of the Pilates elements.”
But then, with LA being LA, his workouts went viral (before going viral was a thing), thanks to his celeb clients raving about his classes in magazines and on TV. Then he decided to brand it. So, he stopped doing isolation exercises on the Pilates reformer and built the Megaformer in 2007.
He says that in the past few years, “I realized that actually it was wrong for me even to teach bodybuilding on this machine.”
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Lagree is about intensity
For me, the difference between a regular Pilates class and Lagree is that I have to fight to keep my balance. Instead of pushing through movements, I felt challenged by them.
“Yes, it’s an intense workout,” says Lagree. But that’s not all. “I call it an evolution.”
Now he’s added anti-inflammatory movements to balance out the intensity. “The idea is to work from your entire body, your entire mind, your entire energy, and the method has changed.”
So, you may have noticed aspects of a Lagree that include breathing techniques, meditation-like instruction and multi-joint movements. “I want to balance out the intensity,” says Lagree. “You want intensity because intensity creates change, but it’s a smart intensity.”
Also, Lagree lifts weights, admitting “I haven’t done much in the last four months” because of life changes and building a new gym in Salt Lake City. But he still does some cardio every single day. He hints at a Lagree cardio machine in the works, as well as a new platform called X, AI-led training, and machines and classes with more engaging functions.
“I’m going to turn 53 in July, so now I realize that intensity has to be balanced to not compromise your joints. But I still work out, I still love working out. I love moving.”
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Lagree is for young, fit women
Despite the intensity, women have always been the main clientele for Lagree classes and machines, and I’ve seen loyalists stick around the brands for years. But Lagree says he sees his clients as more inclusive. “The machines are a bit intimidating, and at the beginning, that was by design,” he says. “I wanted to attract more guys to the classes.” So he made the machine black metal. “Now there are so many counterfeit, copycat machines, but I was the first person to do that. I completely transformed the reformer into what you see. I do market to women, of course, but now we get more and more men doing the workouts. We have a lot of male and athletic studio owners. So I’m happy with that.”
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Lagree has to be scary for newbies
As for those anticipating their first Lagree Fitness class – or even getting back into working out – Lagree has one bit of advice: “Breathe, as it’s one of the most important components of fitness.”