Serenev Studio located along Sheppard Ave E. near Willowdale Ave. is a small fitness studio…read morespecializing in reformer Pilates, mat Pilates, yoga, barre, as well as Pilates/barre HIIT. They also have personal training sessions available as well. In terms of pricing, the classes are on the pricier side when you compare the cost to some downtown Pilates studios.
I was able to win some class credits for the Pilates/barre studio as well as the HIIT lab room through Instagram recently for a giveaway the studio was having online. Chatting through the Instagram chat, staff were friendly and notified me that the credits were added to my account and that I would be able to ask the receptionist to pick up my free pair of grip socks when I went to the studio.
Booking classes are easy as you can do it on their phone app. I did book one particular class about 2 weeks prior to the class date and was looking forward to the strength based class, however, a day prior to the class taking place, the class got taken off the schedule without any notification from the studio. It was a good thing I checked the studio phone app but some type of notification from the fitness studio would have been helpful. I even got an email the day before that the class would be taking place, however, later that day I noticed that I was no longer booked into that said class. Better communication from the studio would have made my experience better.
Day of the class, I did arrive 20 min earlier as I wasn't sure what to expect as it was my first time at the studio. Upon arrival at the studio, you are required to take your shoes off at the entrance. There are shoe racks to place your shoes. No shoes are allowed throughout the studio space. Walking up to the receptionist I checked in for my class and told her that I had won a giveaway on Instagram where I could pick up some grip socks. The staff even looked over my Instagram message I had with the studio but it didn't look like she understood and I never got the grip socks I had won.
Despite these 2 setbacks even before my class began, the receptionist did tell me that the class I booked was downstairs in the HIIT lab room. She informed me that there were washrooms, lockers, and a changeroom downstairs but no benches. The HIIT lab has space for about 12 participants.
The studio does take up 3 floors of the building where it is not accessible as you do have to manage stairs to go between floors. Free parking is available onsite. On the top floor there are the mat Pilates and yoga rooms. On the floor the reception is on is where the reformer Pilates studio is. In the basement is the HIIT lab, a new addition to the studio a few months ago.
As I went downstairs to the HIIT lab room, there are lockers, hooks, and a small changing area for you to use in the back. There are also 2 washrooms as well but no showers or towels available. You do have to also bring your own lock to lock the lockers as well. There is also a water station to refill your water bottle. There are no assigned mats so you can show up and just choose your own mat. The class description indicated that indoor shoes were needed for the class, however, our instructor mentioned that it was not required for her class.
The class I had signed up for was a Pilates HIIT class with Bianca L. Pilates HIIT is a core focused, full-body class that has the structure of Pilates with the fire of HIIT. No stranger to Pilates, HIIT or Pilates HIIT, Bianca took us through a series of full body exercises ranging from squats/lunges, plank variations, leg and core exercises, working about 30-60 min each and then resting for 30 sec afterwards, while using props like the resistance band, Pilates ball and small hand weights. Her instructions were clear and she often did the exercises with us, showing us how each exercise was done. We did a quick cooldown stretch at the end of class.
The workout was good, even for me, an avid person who does HIIT and strength training about 3-4x/week. I appreciated that some exercises were challenging but Bianca encouraged the class to keep going.
Overall, Serenev Studio is a small fitness studio where they offer a variety of Pilates/yoga/barre classes. A new addition is the HIIT lab where they offer even more classes to appeal to more people. During my time at Serenev Studio I could tell that a lot of the participants in the class were already regulars as the instructor was familiar with them. The workout class I had worked up a sweat. This fitness studio is a good place for anyone looking to find more lower impact workout classes in the North York area.
