I’ve never been good at Pilates. At my usual Fitness First class I‘m about as flexible as a wooden board, so I decided to call in the big guns. A $33,352 leather and gold-plated exercise machine to be precise. With a system of pulleys and weights linked by a digital interface, the Kinesis promises “200 exercises in one square metre of design” and is part of the home range by Italian company Technogym.

“Thanks to our cable system you can feel the resistance and gravity at 360 degrees of movement, which allows you to maximise strength, balance and flexibility,” says Technogym CEO Nerio Alessandri.