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How I program
The Practice
How I program
a week.
Strength, Pilates, and cardio as one system.
By Charlotte 5 min read
Strength, Pilates, and cardio as one system.
My week is built around strength training, Pilates, and two distinct cardio protocols that serve different physiological purposes. Each modality does something the others can't, and the combination is what makes the week sustainable over time.
The structure is five training days with a push/pull/lower split, and Pilates integrated into the upper body sessions where it adds something lifting alone doesn't provide.
Rather than chasing one muscle group, I program around fundamental movement patterns — hinge, squat, push, pull. The body doesn't function in isolated parts, and training that way tends to produce strength that transfers to how you actually move. Lower body sessions come twice in the week because compound lower body work has a high return on time for overall strength development, and the volume supports adaptation without overreaching.
Upper body sessions run longer than you might expect because Pilates work gets layered in alongside the strength training. That's deliberate and it changes the character of those days considerably.
The week opens with compound lower body work — squats, lunges, and hip hinge variations that challenge the whole system. Full range of motion and controlled loading are the priority here, because the quality of the movement pattern matters more than the weight being moved, and Monday is where I set the standard for the rest of the week.
Strength work for shoulders, chest, and triceps alongside Pilates-informed shoulder stability exercises — scapular retraction and depression drills, rotator cuff work, and controlled movements that develop the shoulder stability the reformer demands and that traditional pressing alone doesn't build. I incorporate thoracic mobility work here too, because a stiff upper back limits pressing mechanics and restricts the spinal extension patterns that Pilates relies on. This session runs longer than Monday for that reason.
Hip hinge work, Romanian deadlifts, step-ups, and accessory movements that train the patterns Monday didn't emphasize. The goal is balance across the two lower body sessions, not repetition, and Wednesday tends to feel different from Monday because the neuromuscular patterns are more settled and the body is less guarded with the load.
Pulling movements — rows, lat work, bicep curls — combined with Pilates exercises for spinal articulation and deep core stability. A strong back, stable scapulae, and well-functioning rotator cuffs are what hold everything else together, and Thursday is where that work happens. Core training gets layered in from a Pilates framework here rather than treated as something separate, because the integration is the point. I'll often work through accessory movements I use with clients in this session, because teaching something and training it are genuinely different experiences.
Both squat and hinge patterns in the same session, with accessories to round out the week. By Friday the movement quality is usually the best it's been, because the patterns are familiar and the body isn't holding anything back.
My cardio follows two protocols that the research consistently supports for cardiovascular health and long-term longevity. I treat them as different tools doing different things, not as one being harder and therefore better.
The first is Zone 2 — low-intensity work at a pace where you can hold a full conversation, roughly 60 to 70% of maximum heart rate. At this intensity the body primarily oxidizes fat as fuel, builds mitochondrial density, and develops aerobic base over time. I'll do 30 to 45 minutes of incline walking, cycling, or a sustained Pilates flow in Zone 2. The adaptations are cumulative and they take months, but they're some of the most important ones you can build for long-term cardiovascular health.
The second protocol is brief intervals at maximum heart rate — true sprint effort, completely unsustainable, where conversation is impossible. These are short by design. The adaptation happens at the ceiling and you don't need much volume to get there; a few minutes of genuine max effort across a session is enough, and more doesn't produce proportionally more benefit. I rotate between Zone 2 and max-effort intervals depending on what else is in the week.
Run this exact split for six to eight weeks without changing the structure. Keep the days consistent, focus on movement quality over load, and follow the cardio protocols as written. Six weeks is long enough to feel the difference in how the body responds to training, and short enough that it doesn't require a complete life overhaul to commit to.
Work with meStrength training and Pilates aren't competing for the same thing. One builds load tolerance and progressive overload. The other builds the precision, control, and joint stability that makes strength training work better and last longer.
Everything I know about the practice, the body, and the day — written down.
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