An injury might have threatened Caroline Londergan’s professional dance career more than a decade ago. But thanks to the fluid, core-focused conditioning exercises of Pilates, her recovery was smooth and speedy, and rehabilitation allowed her to continue dancing professionally. In the process, she found a second calling: teaching Pilates. Today, Caroline is a certified instructor who has taught Pilates at the White House and writes a column on the subject for Examiner.com.

Along with a team of seasoned instructors, Caroline imparts the teachings of the method’s founder, Joseph Pilates, to help clients build enough strength and flexibility in their abs and lower back to crack a walnut in a single sit-up. Whether training clients privately or in groups of 4–5 per instructor, Caroline and her team lead workouts that incorporate mat-based movements and spring-powered resistance machines, such as reformers and towers.