Barre Body.

Upstairs at Cornerstone Stores, at 570 Gold Coast Highway in Tugun, shop 12 is the working home of Barre Body, Australia's leading Pilates and barre teacher-training school. It is an office and production base rather than a shopfront, so there is no timetable on the door and no drop-in class to book. This is where course modules are written and filmed, where students are guided through their certifications, and where a team spread right across the country checks in each day. If you have trained with Barre Body online, or you are partway through your practical hours and assessment, this quiet Tugun office is the other end of those emails.

Barre Body was founded in Melbourne in 2012 by Emma Seibold, who left a decade in corporate marketing to follow her passion for health and wellbeing, training in New York, India, Sydney, Melbourne and Byron Bay as a certified yoga teacher, STOTT Pilates certified instructor and holistic health and wellness coach. She discovered barre after the birth of her first child, and the studio she opened became something much larger. Today Barre Body spans international teacher training delivered online and in person, the Bende suite of studios, and the online workout platform Barre Body Online. Emma has been featured in Vogue, Marie Claire and Women's Health, hosts the Nice Bossy podcast, and still leads the business more than a decade on.

The training is the heart of it. Barre Body certifies instructors in Mat Pilates, Reformer Pilates and Barre, with further courses in Reformer Yin, Dynamic Strength, Advanced Reformer, Hot Mat Pilates and Pre and Post Natal, plus short courses, bundles and a handful of free courses for anyone testing the water. Every certification can be studied entirely online at your own pace, or in person at the Byron Bay training hub and partner studios around the world. The online Mat Pilates certification, to take one example, runs to 150 hours: 80 hours of course modules alongside 10 observation hours, 30 participation hours and 30 hours of practice teaching.

Courses are built for people who want to teach properly rather than repeat choreography. Students work through functional anatomy and physiology, Pilates history and principles, repertoire from beginner to advanced, verbal cueing and hands-on adjustments, modifications for injuries and for pre and postnatal clients, inclusive and trauma-sensitive language, how to structure a 45 to 60 minute class, and the business side of building a teaching career. Assessment is thorough: completed modules, logged hours, a 1,000 word essay, written class plans and a filmed class of 45 to 60 minutes with at least three participants. Online students have nine months to finish, though most take three to six; in-person students complete 47 contact hours in studio, then have up to six months for their revision, hours and assessment.

There are no prerequisites, and no government accreditation is required to teach Pilates or barre in Australia or in most of the world. What matters is that the certification is recognised, and Barre Body's courses are registered with leading health and fitness bodies including AUSactive and ESSA in Australia, NPCP, NASM, AFAA and ACE in the United States, canfitpro in Canada and Transcend Awards in the United Kingdom. Graduates can claim professional development points with those organisations and, with a first aid and CPR certificate alongside their Barre Body certificate, get insured and start teaching.

Support does not stop at graduation. Trainers are reachable by email, questions can be posted beneath each online module, weekly live mentoring sessions and Q&A webinars run for students, and a private teacher community is there to lean on. Beyond that sit the Teacher Love Club, a subscription hub that supports teachers through their whole career, Career Moves, Emma's business development course, and job listings and client-building resources. For anyone who simply wants to keep moving, Barre Body Online adds new classes each week and opens with a 14 day free trial.

Because the Tugun office is not public-facing, course, partnership and press enquiries are best sent through barrebody.com.au or @barrebody on Instagram rather than knocking on shop 12. If you are already in the courtyard and after a class today, The Body Method upstairs runs Pilates, yoga and barre seven days a week, and the rest of Cornerstone, café, cellar, butcher and boutiques, is a few steps away.

Cornerstone Stores — 570 Gold Coast Highway, Tugun QLD 4224. By appointment · Mon — Fri