Greta Chwasta joins Kic as its newest Pilates instructor

A woman who didn’t even know she was in the running has been crowned one of Australia’s best fitness instructors of 2024.

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One of Australia’s most sought after fitness instructors has teamed up with a huge influencer wellness brand.

Greta Chwasta, who teaches pilates and lagree, was crowned ClassPass’ best instructor for 2024. It was something she didn’t even know she was in the running for, until the owner of Melbourne-based studio Mega Mode called to tell her.

“It came completely out of the blue,” Ms Chwasta told news.com.au.

“I was so grateful for it. It felt really nice to be validated in that way. As instructors, you work so hard. You work with the people directly in front of you. You don’t really think about how that would be appreciated in broader settings.”

Greta Chwasta is a pilates and lagree instructor. Picture: Supplied

It was a long road for Ms Chwasta to get to this point.

She became a qualified pilates instructor in 2017. The following year, she became qualified to teach lagree. Lagree is a high-intensity, low-impact exercise that focuses on endurance, core and strength. At the same time, she was studying osteopathy. Osteopathy is an alternative medicine that focuses on physical manipulation of muscle tissue and bones. She has since finished this study.

Ms Chwasta had done pilates before she became and instructor. She’d always enjoyed it, but after becoming very unwell with an eating disorder, part of her healing journey was a desire to feel strong.

Once she was well enough, she found reformer pilates. She said it was a learning curve — particularly after coming out of a disordered eating mindset.

“It’s just a trial and error. The way that I framed it is, coming from a place like an eating disorder where you feel so trapped, weak and consumed by those thoughts, I am so grateful that I have the capacity, energy and time to move my body,” Ms Chwasta said.

She was recently crowned Class Pass trainer of the year. Picture: Supplied

“I try to use it for a tool for empowerment over aesthetics.”

But, she said, it’s normal when you coming out of disordered eating to feel like you can spiral into obsessive patterns.

But coupled with extensive therapy and a support system, that allowed Ms Chwasta to reclaim her life. The workout also complemented her studies. It also led to her career.

“One of the motives behind me deciding to teach was, I was a student. I didn’t have the finances to be able to do the classes I want,” she said.

So, like any savvy student, Ms Chwasta decided to teach it. That way, she could get free classes. She then realised she really enjoyed teaching. The instructor loved that she could help people feel better than when they walked into her space.

That’s what led to her continuing her career in fitness. Now, she has waiting lists for every one of her classes.

She recently became Kic's newest instructor. Picture: Supplied

“It’s so amazing to watch people get stronger and feel more confident in themselves and their abilities and being able to provide a safe space to facilitate that — that’s really special,” she said.

She said her mental health struggles inform the way that she teaches. She said exercise doesn’t have to be rigid. She said “it’s not that deep” and the priority should be how you feel.

Ms Chwasta, who’s in-person classes have always been busy, has recently becoming Kic’s newest trainer. Both Kic founders Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith have spoken about how much they’ve loved Ms Chwasta’s workouts.

“I love their vibe. They are so nice, they are so welcoming — and they wanted me to be part of it. It was incredible and super exciting,” Ms Chwasta said.

She called it a perfect fit. Ms Chwasta is used to teaching in person. Her only online experience was during Covid. But, 24 hours after her workouts launched, she has been “bombarded” with support. She said working with the Kic team was incredible.

Originally published as Greta Chwasta joins Kic as its newest Pilates instructor