I Thought I Was Strong. Then I Took a Focus Upper Class at Studio 34 Marbella.

After completing the Focus Upper class at Studio 34, I have come to a humbling conclusion: I am not strong.

I walk, I carry children, I haul shopping up stairs. I assumed that counted for something.

The reformer disagreed. Forty-five minutes of slow, controlled resistance work, and muscles I didn't know I owned were filing formal complaints.

And yet I've already booked my next class. Let me explain.

The Woman on the Bed Next to Me

As I took to my bed (and yes, at Studio 34 they're proper beds, the studio's own branded reformers, not the tired equipment you find in some gyms), I got chatting to the lady next to me: a jewellery designer from Syria, living in Dubai and staying at her holiday home in Marbella.

It's conversations like that one that remind you just how international the clientele is here in Marbella. My class was made up of women of all different nationalities, and that's part of what makes training here so enjoyable. You come for the workout and leave having chatted to half the world.

If you're new to the area and searching for a pilates studio in Marbella where you won't feel like the outsider, this is genuinely one of the most welcoming rooms I've been in.

Upmarket, But Don't Let That Put You Off

I'll be honest, the studio is beautiful. Branded reformer beds, carefully crafted upmarket décor, and the sort of space that looks like it was designed rather than assembled. Studio 34 sits beachside in San Pedro, opposite Da Bruno, and it looks every bit the boutique studio.

But here's the thing: that polish shouldn't put anyone off. What I actually found was a friendly bunch of international women, mostly late 20s to early 40s, who had all well and truly caught the Studio 34 bug. Their signature STRONG method is a hybrid style of reformer pilates (strength training and pilates precision on the same bed), and it's clearly addictive. And if anyone fancied a pose for the 'gram, it had to wait until the end of class. This is a fixed-focus workout, and the reformer does not share your attention.

If you're a complete beginner, they run a Foundation class (a slower, more supported introduction to the reformer), so you're not thrown in at the deep end. I'd recommend starting there. I didn't, which brings me back to my earlier confession about not being strong.

The Morning After: Why I'm Hooked

I woke up the morning after already feeling like my arms and shoulders looked better. Is that partly in my head? Possibly. But there's a reason this matters so much to me.

After losing a significant amount of weight with Ozempic, I was left with loose skin around my arms, my neckline and my thighs. Add two children in my late thirties, after years spent chasing the London rat race, and my body has been through a few chapters. The weight loss was the win I wanted. The loose skin was the part nobody warns you about.

This is exactly where reformer pilates earns its keep. Slow, resisted, controlled movement builds the muscle underneath, and rebuilding that muscle is one of the few things that can improve how those areas look and feel. One class won't transform anything, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But I could feel precisely which muscles the Focus Upper class had woken up, and they're exactly the ones I need.

That's the difference between chasing the burn and training with purpose, and it's why I understand the bug everyone in that room had caught.

Should You Try It?

If you're in Marbella, San Pedro or anywhere along the Costa del Sol and you've been circling the idea of reformer pilates, just go. Start with the Foundation class if you're new. Classes start from €32 , with an intro pack of three for €55, which for a boutique studio of this standard is very fair.

And if you like heat with your workout, they also run GROUND, their hot mat pilates classes in Marbella. That one's next on my list, once my shoulders forgive me.

You can book online at studio34reformer.com or through the Studio 34 app.