Photo: Charles Jung

Megan Fox, Elizabeth Hurley and Courtney Love have all been spotted sweating, cursing and crunching their way into super-gorgeous shape at the Pilates Plus exercise studio on trendy Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, though there are 50 locations worldwide. Creator and master trainer Sebastien Lagree has now coached dozens of other instructors to teach his version of stepped-up mat work and Pilates reformer moves using barbells (that's the Plus!), weighted balls and resistance bands in high-energy 40- to 60-minute sessions. Also available for private training from his A-list clientele, Lagree has trained Rebecca Romjin (among others) for her breakout, hyper-physical roles in the X-Men franchise.

"Triathletes, professional basketball players, and anyone who wants the most effective workout comes to class and does my multi-muscle movements; we don't even call it Pilates anymore," says Lagree. He's also adapted a traditional Pilates reformer (it looks like an ancient torture rack with lots of shiny metal) into the challenging Pro-former with cable attachments so you can literally do any sort of weight lifting movement on it. "Training on the Pro-former or adding weighted mat work enables your body to enter a calorie-burning zone because these lifting movements are so challenging they become cardiovascular in nature -- your heart rate is elevated throughout," he says. "We've clocked people on pedometers and other caloric expenditure gadgets and found that one of our 60-minute classes is equivalent to a 30-minute jog, but in class you also firm up from head to toe, which you can't do during a typical run."

Fave Move: Since the push-up targets every major muscle group, Lagree says, "Try to hold the top of a push-up -- the plank -- for 60 seconds. About 30 seconds in, extend one leg in back and hold there up to hip height for 20 seconds or so, then switch sides. Anything we do in a Pilates Plus environment is performed slowly with exquisite control, that's the big difference between this and other sculpting classes," Lagree says. "This type of muscular isometric hold is a very efficient and deep contraction but without all the wear and tear on your joints."

Now you can do one of his advanced classes online, or try a beginner-level or more traditional Pilates workout.