HEATHER DORAK

Heather Dorak is a fitness wunderkind. At the time when most young people her age were studying for finals and heading to the beach on the weekend, Heather was the founder and owner of Pilates Plus HBV, a wildly successful, celebrity-favorite pilates studio in sunny southern California.

Heather discovered her love for health and fitness quite by accident. At the age of twenty-one, she sustained an injury while at UCLA. She decided to take time off and sought out healing through physical therapy. Her physician recommended she try pilates, a time-tested physical fitness regime created by Joseph Pilates to assist dancers recover from injuries through core strengthening and muscle lengthening techniques.

After a series of serendipitous events, Heather discovered Systeme Dynamique, a pilates hybrid, which utilizes a pilates-style machine called the Proformer™ in classes, set to hip hop and rock music. Soon after, she was hooked.

Her experiences with the system was so eye-opening and she was able to attain  such long and lean results in her body, that she became certified as a Systeme Dynamique instructor. Then, in 2006, she opened up her own Systeme Dynamique affiliate location.

Heather was a pioneer in adding an element of cardio through spin classes to the pilates workout classes. She did this because she noticed that her clients were getting even better results when they incorporated cardio into their pilates repertoire.

Her new studio caught on like wild fire, and Hollywood’s elite took notice and started taking classes. Stars like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ali Larter and Hayden Panettiere, as well as Marcia Cross of Desperate Housewives, Rachael Harris, Jonathan Schaech, and Meghan Markle began to see incredible, fast results through regular Systeme Dynamique classes.
Next came a second and third studio in posh Brentwood and then beautiful, bohemian Venice Beach to meet the incredible demand.

Her studios’ signature 30/30™ classes, which combine thirty minutes of spinning with the hard core Systeme Dynamique workout are constantly booked, and a favorite of studio members.

Though still in her 20’s, Heather has already settled into her life as a busy young fitness entrepreneur. She’s amazed at the incredible success she experienced so quickly out of college. Her dream to share this exciting new workout with as many people as possible is coming into focus.

When she’s not busy running three fitness studios, and certifying new pilates instructors, she finds time to travel, take cooking and Spanish classes, and surf.