★★★★★
Chronic lower back pain"I had seen three physios and a chiropractor over two years. After six sessions with Teejay I finally understood what was actually happening in my body. The assessment alone was worth every penny."
The gap between fear and habit
Respecting the precautions is our job, not another thing for you to police.
Hip precautions are real, and we work inside them as a matter of course — that is the point of being supervised rather than following a sheet at home. You do not have to hold the rules in your head, check yourself mid-movement, or guess whether what you are about to do is one of the forbidden ones. That is taken care of, which frees you to work considerably harder than you would ever dare to on your own.
And working harder is the part that gets missed. A brain that is frightened of a joint will not let it work properly, however well the surgery went — it restricts the range, holds the muscle back, and keeps the limp long after there is any mechanical reason for one. You cannot argue somebody out of that. What changes it is being encouraged to try something slightly harder than you believed you could, in conditions safe enough that it goes well, and then again the week after. Knowing when someone is ready for that, and when they need holding back another week, is judgement built over thirty-five years.
"Almost everyone is afraid of dislocating it. Almost nobody respects the precautions as carefully as they think they do. Both of those are solvable in a supervised session."
Teejay Sogunro — credentialsFull credentials and background →
✓STOTT PILATES® Full Comprehensive Certified
✓STOTT PILATES® Rehabilitation Certified
✓Qualified Sports Therapist
✓Studied BSc (Hons) Osteopathy — Middlesex University
✓Watford FC Rehab Pilates Sports Therapist, 2015–2018
✓England Over-60s International Squash Rep · Top 32 World Ranked 2024
✓Trigger Point Dry Needling
✓25 years professional clinical practice · Founded 2001
Applied Pilates and Osteolates Therapy are movement-based rehabilitation services. This page is for people recovering from hip replacement surgery. The work runs alongside your surgeon and physiotherapist — never instead of them.
The apparatus suite
Load without weight — and without breaking the rules.
Spring resistance is what makes early hip work possible. On a leg press or in a class, load and body weight arrive together, so the hip has to carry you before it can be strengthened. The Reformer, Cadillac, Chair and Barrels load the muscle while supporting the joint — and just as importantly, they let the movement be set up for you, with the range fixed, the direction controlled and the position chosen, so that hard work happens well inside whatever restrictions you have been given. Resistance changes in small steps, in both directions, during the session rather than after it.
Core
Reformer
Spring-resistance carriage. Develops strength, flexibility and control simultaneously. The foundation of STOTT Pilates.
Advanced
Cadillac · Trapeze Table
Full rehabilitation range of motion. Post-surgical, hypermobility, and spinal conditions. The most versatile apparatus available.
Strength
Wunda Chair
Functional leg and core strength. Stability training for everyday movement. Highly effective for knee and hip rehabilitation.
Spinal
Spine Corrector
Spinal articulation and extension. Particularly effective for back pain, postural correction and scoliosis management.
Flexibility
Ladder Barrel
Extended range of motion work. Addresses stiffness, restricted movement and thoracic spine mobility.
Precision
Small Props
Arc barrel, foam roller, resistance bands. Technique refinement and proprioceptive training alongside the main apparatus.
Why does the full apparatus suite matter? Most reformer instructors hold a reformer-only qualification. Teejay's STOTT PILATES® Full Comprehensive Certification covers all six apparatus and took over four years to complete. This means every piece of apparatus is used correctly and with clinical precision — not just available as a prop. View full credentials →
Where our part ends
When we stop,
and send you back.
Some things are not ours to treat, and knowing which is part of working properly alongside your surgical team. If anything suggests a possible clot we stop immediately and send you to your GP, your surgeon or urgent care that day — DVT is a recognised risk after hip surgery and it is an emergency, not something to train around. If strength and mobility are not moving over a reasonable stretch of time despite consistent work, that is information for your surgeon rather than a reason for more exercise. And if the way the joint behaves under load concerns us, we say so and ask your clinician to look at it. None of this replaces your medical care; it runs alongside it, and it defers to it.
01
Rehabilitation-informed — not fitness Pilates
Every exercise is chosen because it is clinically appropriate for your body. Fewer well-chosen exercises deliver more lasting results than dozens of generic ones. Teejay's approach is shaped by sports therapy, osteopathic principles and STOTT Pilates methodology.
About Teejay's approach02
Full apparatus — not Reformer-only
Most local studios offer Reformer beds only. Applied Pilates has the full STOTT range: Reformers, Cadillac, Trapeze Table, Wunda Chair, Barrels — tools most studios simply don't have. This means rehabilitation exercises that a standard studio cannot offer.
View timetable03
Maximum 7 clients per session
Teejay knows your history, your movement patterns, and your limitations session by session. This is not the 10-to-13-person boutique reformer class model recently criticised by the Guardian and the Sunday Times as a source of injuries.
View prices & membership04
Programme built on your assessment
Every new client starts with a £85 movement assessment. Your programme is specific to your body — not a generic routine applied to everyone in the room. No two clients follow the same plan, even within the same group session.
Book £85 assessment| What matters | Standard Reformer studio | Applied Pilates St Albans |
|---|---|---|
| Apparatus | Reformer only | Full STOTT suite — 6+ apparatus ✓ |
| Group size | 10–13 clients | Maximum 7 clients ✓ |
| Programme | Fixed class — same for everyone | Built on your movement assessment ✓ |
| Instructor training | Reformer-only qualification | STOTT full comprehensive — 4+ years ✓ |
| Approach | Fitness and wellness | Rehabilitation-informed clinical ✓ |
| Osteolates Therapy | Not available ✕ | Integrated hands-on treatment ✓ |
| Suitable for chronic pain | Not designed for it ✕ | Specifically designed for back pain, sciatica ✓ |
| Parking | Varies ✕ | Free parking on site ✓ |
What the assessment finds
The muscles that switched off —
and never switched back on.
A hip that has hurt for years teaches the muscles around it to stop working. The glutes give up first, the hip flexors shorten and weaken, and the muscles of the lower leg quietly take on work that was never theirs. Replacing the joint removes the pain. It does not switch any of that back on. The assessment is there to find which muscles have been inhibited and in what order they need waking up — and to see what the rest of you has been doing to compensate, because the other hip, both knees and the lower back have usually been absorbing an uneven gait for a very long time.
Chronic Lower Back Pain
The most common reason clients come to The Sogunro Practice. We address the cause — not just the symptom.
Back Pain Pilates St Albans → Sciatica & Nerve Pain
Sciatica responds well to targeted movement. The wrong exercises make it worse. Every programme is built around your specific presentation.
Sciatica Treatment St Albans → Facet Joint Syndrome
Repeated flare-ups of severe back pain often trace back to facet joint dysfunction. Requires a specific long-term approach.
Facet Joint Syndrome St Albans → Hip & Knee Pain
Joint pain is frequently caused by muscle imbalance and pelvic alignment. The Wunda Chair and Reformer address both.
Hip & Knee Pain Pilates St Albans → Shoulder & Neck Pain
Desk-driven postural dysfunction corrected at the root — not managed with massage and stretching alone.
Shoulder & Neck Pain St Albans → Osteoarthritis & Osteoporosis
Safe, controlled, progressive loading using adjustable spring resistance. Works with your body, not against it.
Osteoarthritis Pilates St Albans → Sports Injury Rehabilitation
Golf, tennis, padel, squash, CrossFit and HYROX — Premier League-level clinical reasoning applied to every sport.
Sports Injury Rehab St Albans → Post-Surgery Rehabilitation
Returning to strength after spinal or orthopaedic surgery. Precision-loaded rehabilitation alongside your clinical team.
Post-Surgery Rehab St Albans → Pilates for Over 60s
Strength and balance don't have an age limit. Clients in their sixties, seventies and beyond build genuine strength safely.
Pilates for Over 60s St Albans → Posture Correction
Posture is a strength issue, not a habit issue. We retrain the muscles that hold good alignment.
Posture Correction St Albans → Hypermobility & Joint Instability
Hypermobile clients need strength and control — not more flexibility. We build joint stability where it's actually needed.
Hypermobility Pilates St Albans → Men's Applied Pilates
Most men who attend are not there for fitness. They come because they're in pain, post-surgery, or injured in sport.
Men's Pilates St Albans →Twelve to twenty-four weeks to a hip you stop thinking about — though most people leave the first session already moving differently.
Client results
What St Albans clients say when
movement is treated as medicine.
★★★★★ 4.9 ★ on Google · 123 reviews · London Colney, St Albans
★★★★★
Sciatica"I was terrified of making my sciatica worse. Teejay worked around every concern and every session felt purposeful and safe. Six months later I'm back to full mobility."
★★★★★
Post-surgery rehabilitation"Nobody else explained my movement patterns to me like that. The combination of Osteolates Therapy and the small group sessions completely transformed how I exercise."
★★★★★
Back pain · Pro golfer"Nothing has made my back feel pain free and athletic again. It has only been a couple of weeks but it has changed my outlook completely."
Your journey
Three steps to lasting relief.
Every client begins the same way — with an honest assessment of which muscles have switched off, and what the hip is ready for.
01
Movement Assessment
£85
60 min 1-to-1. Full movement analysis. Honest recommendation. No obligation to continue. Beginners welcome — no prior Pilates experience needed.
Book assessment02
1-to-1 Programme
From £79.83
Personalised programme built on your assessment. 3-session block (£259, includes Osteolates Express bonus) or 6-session course (£479, includes Osteolates Full bonus).
View 1-to-1 prices03
Small Group Membership
From £129/mo
Monthly rolling. Max 7 clients. Essential membership 5 sessions (£129/month) or Premium 10 sessions (£219/month). No long-term lock-in. Cancel 30 days notice.
View membership optionsEverything you need before you book
Book nowContact & DirectionsEnquire to book → PricingPrices & MembershipFrom £85 — view all → ScheduleTimetable & BookingsView timetable → Also availableOsteolates TherapyFrom £65 → Reviews4.9 ★ on Google · 123 reviewsRead all reviews → AboutTeejay SogunroCredentials & story → Back painBack Pain St AlbansBack Pain Pilates St Albans → SciaticaSciatica St AlbansSciatica Treatment St Albans → SportsSports Injury RehabSports Injury Rehab St Albans → Men'sMen's Applied PilatesMen's Pilates St Albans → Over 60sPilates for Over 60sPilates for Over 60s St Albans → HomeApplied Pilates St AlbansVisit homepage →
Common questions
Questions about Pilates
after hip replacement
- At The Sogunro Practice in London Colney: movement assessment £85, 1-to-1 sessions from £79.83 per session on the 6-session course, small group PAYG £32, and monthly membership from £129/month. Osteolates Therapy from £65. Every session uses the full STOTT apparatus with a maximum of 7 clients and a programme built around your movement assessment. Full pricing →
- Usually from about six weeks, once your surgeon has cleared you. Some people come in earlier for the assessment alone, so that a programme is ready to begin the moment clearance arrives. Most attend once or twice a week after that.
- Some of it will be uncomfortable, and that is expected — muscle that has not worked properly in years protests when you wake it up. What should not happen is joint pain that lingers or worsens. Knowing which is which, in the moment, is what the supervision is for.
- We work inside them. Your restrictions are established at the assessment and respected in every session, so you are not the one policing them mid-exercise. It is one of the main practical advantages of supervised apparatus work over a sheet of exercises at home.
- It is the stage after it. Physiotherapy gets you safely through the early weeks and discharges you once you have met the milestones. What follows — rebuilding strength and confidence to the point where you stop thinking about the hip — takes longer than a standard block allows.
- Unit 5, Hertfordshire Business Centre, Alexander Road, London Colney, St Albans, AL2 1JG. Ample free parking on site. 2 minutes from M25 junction 22. Approximately 10 minutes from St Albans, Radlett, Hatfield, Bricket Wood, Shenley and Colney Heath — around 15 minutes from Barnet and Edgware, and within a 10-mile drive of Harpenden, Watford, Borehamwood, Wheathampstead, Redbourn and Welwyn Garden City. Map and full directions →
- Yes, and it genuinely improves the programme. Many clients bring notes, a discharge summary or scan results to the assessment, and we work with what you have been advised rather than around it. We do not diagnose and we do not replace medical care — we take over once the diagnosis exists and your clinician has done their part.
- It changes the sequence, because there is no fully reliable side to work from. It is very manageable — it simply needs a different order, and establishing that order is one of the things the assessment does.
- Sessions run Monday to Thursday from 7:30am to 8:30pm, Friday from 7:30am to 5:30pm, and Saturday from 7:30am to 1:30pm. View the full timetable →
Ready to find out what's really going on?Start with the
Enquire About Your £85 AssessmentOr call Teejay directly 07734 578959
Start with the
£85 movement assessment.
60 minutes, 1-to-1 with Teejay. We will find out which muscles have stopped working — and what you can safely start asking of the hip.
The Sogunro Practice · Applied Pilates & Osteolates Therapy
Unit 5, Hertfordshire Business Centre, Alexander Road
London Colney · St Albans · Hertfordshire · AL2 1JG · Free parking on site