Project Pilates is celebrating its 16 Year Anniversary in Jersey City in February 2022. What started out as a small Pilates studio on Grove Street has since moved locations three times and is now located at 231 Pavonia Avenue. Founded by Christie Freeman, who also owns Hamilton Health & Fitness, Project Pilates takes pride in its intimate group classes that cater to its clients. Read on for Hoboken Girl’s profile on Project Pilates.
Celebrating 16 Years in Business
Project Pilates, which officially celebrates its anniversary on February 6, 2022, has been through many changes in the last 16 years. First, it was located at 341 Grove Street where the studio began building clientele. Then, the location moved over to 1 McWilliams Place, which is where the Hamilton Park Montessori School is located now. Finally, when the owner’s second business opened, Hamilton Health & Fitness, Project Pilates moved into the gym.
Christie noticed for some reason clients didn’t take a liking to going to the gym, so she then decided to move the Pilates studio into its own space once the building next door was complete. Where it’s located now, 231 Pavonia Avenue, is where it’s been for the past 3.5 years.
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“It’s pretty amazing,” Christie, who is a mom of two teenage boys and has been living in Jersey City since 2003, tells The Hoboken Girl. “It’s not always easy to run a business. There are good days and bad days, and I’ve been really fortunate to have amazing trainers. It’s not just me, it’s them. So I’m so grateful to have people that are as dedicated to teaching the classes.”
The studio has all types of equipment for its weekly classes including Reformers, Wunda Chairs, Ladder Barrels, Wall Mounted Towers, and a Cadillac Reformer. But, this wasn’t always the case.
“In the beginning, we had a different type of space and we just had the two Reformers and four Wall Towers, and then we’d have a big open space where we’d do mat classes. Since then, we’ve added Towers onto the Reformers so that we could add on a few more exercises,” Christie explains, while also noting that the studio no longer offers mat classes and the group classes have become smaller.
Classes Offered
Project Pilates offers classes at every level (beginner, intermediate, advanced) — if a client is just starting out as a beginner or if a client has been taking classes for years. Students also have the option of reserving a private one-on-one session with an instructor. However, each class is almost like a private session, as there is a maximum of four people in each class.
“We have all types of clients that come in. We have some [clients] that have been coming in since we first opened 16 years ago,” Christie says. “We have some [clients] that are recovering from injuries. There’s a client who has MS and she started coming here. She pulled me aside one day and said her doctor told her she’s in remission with MS. She said, ‘Thank you so much — it’s because of Pilates my body feels this way and I’m doing better’ … We’re making a difference in someone’s life in one way or another.”
Christie says that what sets Project Pilates apart is that it’s “more of a progressive style Pilates where we believe that we should cater to who’s in the class and adapt accordingly.”
She adds, “I think every studio has its own vibe. Our instructors have the full 600-hour certifications. We don’t teach the same thing over and over. We can gear the classes towards who’s in the class and our tool bag is very large.”
Try Project Pilates In Person
Class purchases and reservations for Project Pilates are made through the Mindbody app and website. The options for packages are a single class ($35), 5-pack ($155), or 10-pack ($300). A monthly membership is also available, which includes 16 classes for each month. The price varies depending on how many months a client signs up for.
“With Pilates you’re going to get strengthening and lengthening. When you go to the gym, you’re just shortening the muscles. Instead with Pilates, you’re getting the length and the strength, so you’re getting the stretch and the contraction,” Christie, who’s currently studying to become a certified acupuncturist, told us.
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Need another reason to try a class? Christie adds, “Pilates will help strengthen your core, which we get a lot of people who have low back pain because the abs aren’t strong enough. It also helps with alignment. I usually see in clients the body responds really quickly and people will get strong quickly because the little [muscles] aren’t used to getting all that attention.”
For more information, visit the Project Pilates website found here.
