Joakim

2nd Generation Pilates Instructor Joakim set up Bälans in 2005. He is an Award-winning Fitness Instructor, has Advanced Pilates Qualifications including the prestigious NCPT Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher (formerly known as the PMA), and is also a Sports Therapist. Alongside running Bälans he has worked for British Military Fitness in Perth since 2007.

Joakim is a regular presenter at Pilates Industry Conferences around the UK and across the globe. He has shown his wares in the USA, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil and Puerto Rico.

In 2014 Joakim was awarded the Spirit of Flame at the UK Active Awards ceremony where the best and the brightest in the Fitness Industry are recognised for their efforts. Joakim beat some very worthy candidates from some of the biggest gyms all over the UK in the category which applauds individuals for going ‘above and beyond’ with the aim of getting more people more active more often.

Joakim trained as a Pilates Instructor with the Pilates Foundation, before qualifying as an Instructor with Body Control Pilates in 2004. He has a Level 4 Lower Back Pain Specialist Pilates accreditation with REPs, the Register of Exercise Professionals. Joakim is one of only a handful of Pilates Instructors in the UK who can claim direct lineage from Joseph Pilates, having completed a two year course with Lolita San Miguel- the Pilates Master Mentor Program. Lolita is one of the 1st Generation Pilates Elders, having trained and been certified by Joseph Pilates himself in New York City in the 1960’s.

Joakim’s skills have been tested and honed under Lolita’s Mentorship and in 2015 Lolita invited Joakim to attend further training to become an Educator for her Comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training Course – Lolita’s Legacy. Joakim is now running regular Courses teaching the next generation of Pilates Instructors.

Joakim was the first man in the World to qualify as a BarreConcept Instructor. He’s no ballet dancer, so his classes are not pretty, but they are brutal.

A Swedish born Australian, Joakim came to the UK in 1998. He is a former Australian Army Reserve SF Commando, Bondi Beach Surf Life Saver and Territorial Army Physical Training Instructor. Joakim first became interested in Pilates back in Sydney because of vanity (ask him why). He has always understood the massive benefits Pilates and Sports Therapy can have for improving wellbeing. He gained first-hand experience of debilitating injury when he ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2010. Pilates and Massage saved his sanity through the long rehabilitation back to full health and he has since taken part in a half marathon and triathlon races.

Joakim makes regular trips overseas as a Fitness Instructor and guest Pilates Instructor. He has lead the Exercise Active Archipelago series on a remote island in Sweden, and taught at SunFit for British Military Fitness, and the beautiful Pilates & Yoga Retreat AzulFit, both on Fuerte Ventura.

Joakim offers Matwork Classes, BarreConcept Classes, 1:1 sessions, Studio Apparatus sessions, Sports Therapy, Massage, and outdoor Military Fitness.

As a graduate of Lolita’s Legacy Educator course, Joakim became the first person in the UK to train students to become 3rd Generation Pilates Instructors on Lolita’s Legacy Comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training Course.