ScottishNews.com

From a career in corporate finance to running her own fitness studio, Laura Greaves has found a way to combine her professional life with a passion for exercise.

The chartered accountant discovered Lagree during a work trip to London after initially trying Pilates to improve her mobility following a hip injury.

Now, she runs Aura Lagree in Glasgow, offering classes centred on strength, endurance and controlled movements using resistance-based equipment.

I spoke to Laura about her journey into the fitness industry, what makes Lagree different and why she believes the workout could become increasingly popular across Scotland.

Who is Laura Greaves, and how did she get into fitness?

My background is actually in corporate. I’m a chartered accountant and I’ve worked in finance since university, but I’ve always had such a passion for fitness and weight training.

Over the last two years, I started Pilates purely for mobility because I had an injury in my hip. That led me to a work trip to London, where I went into a class without knowing what it was and absolutely fell in love with it.

How did you go from working in finance to running your own fitness studio?

I’m not your stereotypical accountant. I’ve always been quite sociable and outgoing and, although I love my job, I’m still there and I’ll probably never leave it.

This gives me a completely different side to life. I love meeting people, talking to people and knowing that you’re helping them. Seeing people leave these classes feeling amazing brings such a different joy to me than what my normal corporate job does.

When I discovered Lagree, I realised there wasn’t a studio in Glasgow, so I couldn’t do it unless I was travelling to London. I then discovered there was one in Edinburgh and started driving through there regularly.

Eventually, I thought I had free time and decided to do it myself. I don’t think I fully appreciated how stressful and busy running a second business would be, but it’s been so much fun and the rewards make it worthwhile.

What is Lagree, and how does it differ from Pilates?

People look at the videos and think that it is Pilates, but the goals of Lagree are completely different.

Lagree is mainly about strength and endurance. We’re using heavy resistance to really build tension in the muscles. It still has an element of body awareness, posture and balance, but the main goal is strength and endurance.

Pilates traditionally focuses more on flexibility, mobility, your body’s centre and breathwork.

I tell people Lagree is more like using a cable machine in the gym. You’re doing many of the same movements, including lat pulldowns, tricep pulldowns, squats and lunges, so you’ll leave feeling like you’ve done a gym workout.

Could Lagree help people who feel anxious about going to the gym?

100%, gym anxiety is so real. I’ve experienced it throughout my life, whether going to a new gym or taking time away and trying to get back into it.

Here, you’re getting similar benefits and doing similar movements, but with a smaller group of people and an instructor guiding you.

Form is one of the main priorities in Lagree. Instructors correct you and make sure you’re doing things properly, helping you avoid injuries. That awareness can then carry over into the gym.

I still do weight training about three times a week, and Lagree has made me more aware of my body. It makes you realise when something is too heavy or when you’re getting fatigued and need to reduce the weight or take a rest.

What can people expect from a class at Aura Lagree?

We use body weight and resistance, which can range from light to heavy. Light resistance doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easier, because sometimes you’re having to balance more.

We’ve also incorporated dumbbells into some classes to give people another layer to their workout.

We have classes seven days a week, including mornings, mid-mornings, evenings and weekends. We have seven instructors, most with personal training backgrounds, alongside experience in areas such as dance and Pilates.

They’re experienced at spotting when someone needs a modification or is ready to progress to the next level.

Who is the workout suited to?

Our evening classes, particularly around 6.30pm, are busy, as are Saturdays and Sundays.

It’s a great workout to complement other activities. Runners come in to build muscular endurance, and people who do Hyrox come because strengthening your core can help you perform better during explosive movements and heavy lifts.

Some people come three or four times a week because they love it, while others come once a week to complement their existing training.

What makes the Lagree experience different from other workouts?

It’s a 45-minute class, but it goes by so quickly because you’re listening to the instructor, focusing on the movement and concentrating on your form.

The movements are slow, which gives you time to feel what you’re doing. You can go to some workout classes and it’s so fast that you’re onto the next thing before you’ve really mastered the first.

Lagree doesn’t necessarily look exciting on video because the movements are simple and slow, but when you’re in it, the feeling is like no other workout.

You will genuinely never get this feeling in any other workout class. The way the machine is designed adds so much resistance in a controlled way, and you walk out of class feeling it in your muscles. That’s what people love about it and why they come back.

Are the classes mainly attended by women?

We do have men, although there’s still a stigma around men doing this type of workout.

I didn’t want the studio to have stereotypically feminine branding, with lots of pinks and beiges. I wanted it to suit everyone.

Some men have been recommended to try it by their physiotherapists because they do a lot of high-intensity, high-impact training and need to focus more on their stabilising muscles.

It genuinely suits everyone. I’d estimate around 95% of our clients are female, but hopefully we can change that.

How much does a class cost?

We offer individual classes, class bundles and memberships.

Our introductory offer is three classes for £45, while another offer gives people unlimited classes over three weeks for £79. A single drop-in class costs £25, although buying class packs or a membership reduces the cost per session.

What does the future hold for Aura Lagree?

I think it’ll blow up at some point. It’s trending all over the world, slowly building, and studios are opening across the UK. Dublin and Birmingham are also set to get studios, and it’s already huge in places such as Dubai and Los Angeles.

I don’t have plans to open a second studio just yet. Sometimes, when you do that, it can dilute the first business, and I’m not ready to step away from this one.

I want to keep building it and make it somewhere people love to come. But who knows in the future? If there’s an opportunity, I’ll definitely consider it.

 

Aura Lagree is located at 100 Carnegie Rd, Hillington, Glasgow G52 4JZ.

You can book classes here.