About Reiner Grootenhuis

Reiner began his professional career by studying psychology, while at the same time studying Weng Chun, the martial and healing art of the South Shaolin Monastery. After receiving his master's degree in psychology, he first opened a Weng Chun Kung Fu school.

He soon felt he could also put his psychology degree to better use, and sold his school after a year to embark on a long and successful corporate career in PR, market research and marketing, earning an MBA while working - but without losing his connection to the world of martial arts.

Reiner got married, had 2 children and his desire to get back into the world of movement grew stronger. That's how he got to know Pilates in the early 2000s. Once inspired, Pilates wouldn't let him go. Reiner threw himself headlong into everything he could find about the method and its history and completed the training to become a Pilates trainer for mat and apparatus at the Pilates training institute Body Arts & Science International.

In his desire to deepen and share knowledge with as many dedicated teachers as possible, Reiner founded the online forum pilates-contrology-forum on Facebook in 2011, with over twelve thousand Pilates instructors participating. He additionally runs the large marketplace for used Pilates equipment, pilates-contrology-marketplace, with over 21,000 members as a non-profit effort.

In 2012 Reiner took the plunge and opened his studio pilates-powers in Tönisvorst, just 25 km from Joseph Pilates' birthplace Mönchengladbach. He steadily expanded his rooms, equipment and range of services and has even been offering his own studio pilates training program since 2014.

Due to his strong interest in the history, development and different interpretations of the individual exercises, Reiner is very interested in exchanging ideas with teachers from all over the Pilates world. Of particular note in this regard was 2014, when Kathy Corey appointed him to the board of the Pilates Heritage Congress, which is held regularly in Mönchengladbach. In 2019 Kathy Corey appointed Reiner as Vice President of the Pilates Heritage Congress.

Since 2016, Reiner has studied under the guidance of Kathy Corey the intricacies of the teaching methods of the various teachers who were trained directly by Joseph Pilates. A personal highlight for him was the appointment as Pilates Master Teacher by Kathy Corey in July 2019.

In addition, Reiner has been a member of the three-member Certification Committee of the German Pilates Federation from 2018 until 2023. He chaired the Certification Committee since 2020.

Reiner has published highly acclaimed training manuals:

  • Cadillac Part 1 and 2 (German, English, Korean)
  • Reformer Part 1 (traditional exercises) and 2 (modern Exercises) (German, English, Korean)
  • Wunda Chair (German)
  • Arm Chair (German, English)
  • A biography about Carola Trier (German, English)
  • Co-authored with Kathy Corey: The Pilates Foot Corrector and Toe Corrector