BT Pilates is the Invercargill studio of Bruce Thomson — known to clients simply as Bt — a Polestar-certified Pilates instructor with 18 years of teaching experience and, before that, 25 years as a rural veterinarian in Southland practice. From his studio at 82 Salford Street in Windsor, he runs friendly, engaging, evidence-based mat classes built around a practical goal: resilient joints and muscles, better movement strategies, and the confidence to keep doing the things you enjoy — only better.
The studio's reach goes well beyond the room. Five live mat classes stream online each week via Bt's Pilates Blog during New Zealand school term times, so subscribers can join from their lounge, living room or garage anywhere in the world, with a library of one-hour recorded classes for busy weeks. In person, Bruce offers one-on-one appointments covering fitness assessment, home exercise prescription, foot joint mobilisation, Bowen therapy, and coaching on diet and lifestyle.
His own story backs up the teaching: a former vet who treated everything from horses to goldfish, Bruce runs harriers in winter and athletics in summer, holds a national age group record in the 400 metres, and is a hurdler in his 60s. The studio is warm and welcoming, and he may share a story or two — you're welcome to tell him when he's getting carried away.
On Salford Street in Windsor, Invercargill, you'll find BT Pilates — the studio of Bruce Thomson, known to his clients simply as Bt. Here, Pilates is taught with warmth, curiosity and a solid grounding in evidence. Classes are friendly and engaging, and the goal is refreshingly practical: building resilient joints and muscles, better movement strategies, and the confidence to keep doing the things you enjoy — only better.
Bruce's path to Pilates teaching is an unusual one. He spent 25 years as a veterinarian in rural mixed practice across Southland, treating everything from horses and alpacas to dogs and goldfish — though sheep and cats remain his preferred species. Before that came a childhood in 1960s rural England in the Wirral, Cheshire, and teenage years in Auckland and around his uncles' farms in the northern Waikato.
His veterinary years were paired with a deep love of the South Island outdoors — tramping and climbing the high peaks, and a lasting passion for cross-country skiing. Over roughly the past two decades he has devoted himself to the mastery and teaching of Pilates and other healing and movement disciplines, bringing 18 years of instructing experience to every class. As he points out, it's a rare combination in the health and fitness industry: an instructor with 18 years of Pilates experience who is also an ex-veterinarian with 25 years of practice behind him.
The heart of the studio is its mat classes at 82 Salford Street, and booking requests can be made through the website. For those who can't make it in person — or who live nowhere near Invercargill — Bt's Pilates Blog streams five live online mat classes a week: Monday at 6:30pm, Tuesday at 9:30am, Wednesday at 6:30pm, and Thursday at both 9:30am and 6:30pm, New Zealand time. Classes run for 40 weeks of the year, following New Zealand school term times, and each Monday subscribers receive an email invitation to join on Zoom. A library of one-hour recorded mat classes covers the weeks that don't cooperate.
You don't need much to take part — a Pilates mat and a stretch band will do — and the site suggests connecting your device to the TV for the best experience. Friends and family are welcome to join you in your lounge, living room or garage, and a 30-day free subscription lets you try before you commit.
Private appointments are available for fitness assessment and home exercise prescription, along with foot joint mobilisation, Bowen therapy, and coaching on diet and lifestyle — including, as Bruce puts it, strategies for thriving in a difficult world. He recommends texting, phoning or emailing first so he can match the session to your needs.
Bruce is his own best case study. These days he runs harriers in winter and athletics in summer, holds a national age group record in the 400 metres, and is — as far as he knows — New Zealand's only hurdler in his 60s age group. He took up hurdling, he says, because it's fun and because it pressure-tests his Pilates and movement skills. At 67 he completed the Meridian Hydro Half Marathon, writing about the walk-and-run strategies that older and non-elite runners can use. He even studies classical guitar, another movement skill he credits partly to Pilates.
Beyond the studio, Bt's Pilates Blog offers many videos and exercises free, with the paid subscription unlocking more videos and the live online classes. Bt's Healthy Living Blog extends the same thinking to everyday health, written to educate clients and friends everywhere. A weekly newsletter, Bt's Pilates Studio News, keeps subscribers in the loop and occasionally includes free offers.
The studio itself is warm and welcoming, and Bruce warns he may share a story or two — you're invited to tell him when he's getting carried away. His standing invitation sums the place up: "What's your story? I'd love to hear from you, and maybe share a mat class."