Why Your Body Wants a Different Workout in July Than in January
Ever notice your body wants a totally different workout in July than it does in January? That's not a lack of willpower — it's biology. Here's why we change our programme with the seasons (and how it keeps you progressing all year
So summer sessions ask more of you, and your body is ready to give it. This is where we channel that surplus of energy and motivation into focused, challenging work.
There's a certain kind of January morning when nothing in your body wants to move. It's dark before you've had coffee, your hips feel like they've set overnight, and the idea of a fast, sweaty session sounds less like energy and more like injury. Come July, the same body is a different animal — loose by mid-morning, restless with energy, happy to flow and push.
That's not a lack of discipline. It's biology. Your body keeps a calendar, and the most effective training moves with it rather than against it. That's why our programme changes with the seasons — to reflect the body's natural rhythms, support the way your life actually shifts across the year, and keep every session effective, safe and genuinely engaging.
Here's how a year of training feels when it's built this way.
Spring: preparing the body for a busier life
As the days lengthen, life gets more active — gardens need turning over, the first outdoor sports return, routines open up. Spring is when we build before the demand arrives. Sessions emphasise mobility, resilience and controlled loading, so that when you spend a Saturday bent over a flower bed or back on the pitch, your body is prepared rather than surprised.
Seasonal hobbies place very specific demands on the body — gardening asks different things of you than skiing does — and a little targeted preparation now prevents a lot of pain and dysfunction later.
Summer: flow, intensity and range
Warmth changes what your body is capable of. Higher energy, better circulation and more pliable connective tissue mean summer is the season for greater intensity, conditioning and flow-based movement. Your fascia — the web of connective tissue that helps you move smoothly — responds to heat, hydration and activity by becoming more supple, which supports a wider range of motion and quicker, more dynamic transitions between exercises.
So summer sessions ask more of you, and your body is ready to give it. This is where we channel that surplus of energy and motivation into focused, challenging work.
Autumn: consolidating and protecting
As activity peaks and then begins to wind down, the emphasis shifts towards recovery and injury prevention. After an intensive stretch — a summer of sport, a heavy season at work — the body needs sessions that restore rather than deplete. Autumn is about protecting the progress you've made and easing the transition into the colder, stiffer months ahead.
Winter: warmth, control and restoration
Cold weather makes muscles stiffer and tissues less forgiving, so winter sessions begin with longer, gentler warm-ups and unhurried mobilisation to prepare the body properly. We lean into joint lubrication, slow controlled movement and gradual loading — the kind of work that keeps you strong and mobile while keeping injury risk low.
Winter also tends to be a lower-energy, lower-mood season for many people, and training respects that too. We weave in grounding, breath-focused and restorative sessions that calm the nervous system, ease anxiety and support better sleep — so movement becomes something that steadies you through the dark months rather than another demand on a depleted reserve.
Why change the programme at all?
Beyond matching the weather, varying training across the year does something your body needs regardless of season: it prevents plateaus and overuse injuries. By periodising the work — shifting the balance of strength, mobility, stability and flow, and adjusting load and volume through the year — we keep you progressing over the long term instead of grinding the same movements until they stop giving results or start causing harm.
It also keeps training enjoyable, and enjoyment is what keeps people showing up. When a session feels timely and relevant to the life you're actually living that month, you're far more likely to stick with it — and consistency, in the end, is what delivers results.
There are practical reasons, too. Daylight hours, class timetables, equipment and even what's comfortable to wear all shift across the year. Adapting the programme lets us keep training accessible, safe and comfortable whatever the season throws at us.
Training that meets you where you are
Change the programme with the seasons and training stops being something you impose on your body and becomes something that works with it — safer progress, better recovery, real relevance to the way you live, and the kind of engagement that lasts. That's the heart of the Pilates Guro approach: strengthening, mobilising and energising the body while focusing the mind, all year round.
The 7am Mind Body Reset
Wake up, reset, begin.
Start the day the way your body wants to. The 7am Mind Body Reset is a short, focused early-morning class from Pilates Guro, built to strengthen and mobilise the body and clear the mind before the day begins — and, like everything we do, it moves with the seasons, so you're always training in tune with your body.
🕖 Live 30-min class — 7:00 AM Mon/Wed/Fri.
💷 50% OFF your first month
My Pilates Journey
Updated: Apr 6, 2020
This is my studio back in 2012, when I first started out as a pilates teacher, teaching two evening classes while working full time in London. The studio hasn't changed much, but my work has. I now teach four to five days a week, my colleagues are my clients and fellow pilates teachers, my commute either a short drive or a walk to the bottom of the garden. My days are spent moving and helping people, instead of shouting at IT systems that never worked and getting frustrated at red tape and hoops that needed to be jumped through.
I am around for school drop off and pick up, and the holidays too. The journey has been bumpy at times, but mostly fun, always rewarding, and I wouldn't change it for a minute. Hear more about my work life change in this podcast I took part in:
Pilates in times of Corona
Dear all,
What strange times we are living in. The world is seeing an unprecedented situation, with many countries in almost complete lock-down. Here in the UK, we are only allowed to leave the house for essential shopping, collect medicine, to care for a relative or to exercise - and then only once a day, only with people from your own household or ideally on your own.
For someone whose business is very much based on face to face interaction with my clients, these are testing times indeed. My learning curve the last two weeks has never been steeper. I have had to swap my small and intimate classes, to virtual Zoom classes; my timetable has had to change to accommodate for home schooling of two young children, whilst allowing their dad to carry on working, as well accommodate my clients, many of whom are in the same situation as me.
I've had to get to grips with technology, with talking to an empty room, with giving verbal cues on the basis of seeing a client from one angle only and not being able to tactile cue. I have also had to endure watching myself teach a class, and swallow all pride, insecurities, vanity and embarrassment, while I try to get some shorter videos up on my website for my clients to access. I am not going to lie, the last week has been challenging, but I hope this second week will bring with it some more stability and ease, as we settle into a new routine.
Mostly though, as hard and challenging these times are, I am grateful for what we might be able to take away from this period - a calmness, a realisation that we can all slow down, spend more time to be with those close to us we care the most about and appreciate the re-set we could all benefit from.
Stay calm, stay connected and stay well, and I look forward to seeing you on zoom soon.
Guro xx
Why my pilates programmes change with the seasons
Our program changes with the seasons to reflect the body’s natural rhythms, support practical lifestyle variations, and keep training effective, safe and engaging.
Physiological rhythms and recovery
Seasonal shifts affect sleep, energy levels and hormonal balance. In winter many people have lower energy and need more restorative, mobility-focused work; in summer energy tends to be higher, allowing for greater intensity and conditioning.
Temperature and daylight influence circulation and muscle stiffness. Colder months often call for longer warm-ups and gentle mobilisation to prepare tissues, while warmer months permit faster transitions and more dynamic movement.
Tissue health and fascia responsiveness
Fascia and connective tissues respond to hydration, temperature and activity patterns. Warmer seasons improve tissue pliability, supporting greater range and flow-based work. Cooler seasons benefit from exercises that emphasise joint lubrication, slow eccentric control and gradual loading to reduce injury risk.
Lifestyle and activity patterns
People’s routines change with the seasons: outdoor activities, holidays and work commitments vary. The programme adapts to complement these changes — building resilience and mobility before peak activity periods (gardening, summer sports) and prioritising recovery and injury prevention during intensive times.
Seasonal work or hobbies (e.g. gardening in spring, skiing in winter) place different demands on the body; targeted preparation and rehabilitation reduce pain and dysfunction.
Stress, mood and mental focus
Seasonal mood changes influence concentration and motivation. In lower-mood periods we incorporate grounding, breath-focused and restorative sessions to reduce anxiety and improve sleep. In higher-energy periods we add more challenging, focused sessions that channel mental drive.
Progression and variety
Periodising the programme across seasons prevents plateaus and overuse injuries by varying load, volume and emphasis (strength, mobility, stability, flow). This maintains long-term progress and keeps classes stimulating.
Seasonal variety also improves adherence: clients are more likely to stay engaged when sessions feel timely, relevant and enjoyable.
Practical considerations
Equipment availability, daylight hours and class timetables shift over the year. Programme changes reflect practical scheduling and class format adjustments to make training accessible.
Climate and clothing affect what’s safe and comfortable to do in a session; programming responds accordingly.
In summary Changing the programme with the seasons aligns training with how bodies, minds and lifestyles fluctuate across the year. It promotes safer progress, better recovery, greater relevance to everyday activities and sustained engagement; all central to the Pilates Guro approach of strengthening, mobilising and energising the body while focusing the mind.