Meet Raoul Rossiter | Pilates Instructor and Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Raoul Rossiter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Raoul, how does your business help the community?
It almost goes without saying that certain possibilities open up to those who are physically capable. That holds true for any level of physical condition, from the elite athlete looking to PR in a marathon or climb an 8000 meter peak, to the person who regains their ability to go for a walk outdoors, work in the garden, or hold their grandchild in their arms without pain.

At the Pilates Institute of Boulder our mission is help people connect with their bodies and minds through the exercise system created by Joseph H. Pilates, originally called “Mind/Body Contrology”, now called simply “Pilates”. He believed extraordinary fitness and vitality can be achieved and maintained and will result in greater adaptability, appreciation, and enjoyment of life. We further hold that the pursuit of physical excellence and vitality, at any level, is imperative to the betterment of the individual, their sphere of influence, humankind, and ultimately, human consciousness.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Being born into a skiing family and raised by athletic parents, athletics has always been there for me; sometimes in the background, sometimes briefly sidelined, never absent. I majored in music for my undergraduate degree, putting myself through school as a ski instructor. After graduating college in 1989, I became a full time gigging musician (drummer/percussionist). After 6-7 years of this, I found myself taking gigs I probably wouldn’t have taken had I not needed the income. This is back when smoking was allowed in indoor venues, and gigs started later and finished later. I grew weary of smelling like an ashtray, the regular 3am nights, and the piecemeal exercise I was getting. I needed to jump track, or at least create a parallel track. In 1996 I got certified to be a personal trainer at a gym in Boulder, deciding only to take gigs I truly wanted to take while paying my bills with personal training, and to get fit again in the process. Right around then, my father introduced me to Pilates. The workout was so phenomenal, working my whole body in a way I’d not experienced before. I felt so good afterwards! It presented and delivered a very different experience and overall effect on the body than weight lifting. It made everything (including weights, skiing, running climbing, music, you name it) better. I never looked back. I went through the training and became certified by 2001. In the course of my training I was lucky enough to be taught by many of the 1st generation teachers (those who worked with Joe directly and went on to teach), who instilled in me the value and rehabilitative capabilities of the original “classical” work. My interest in this work pulled me into a 25+ year career track and fueled a real lust for life. Pilates enabled me to get back into athletics more seriously. I’d eventually start running longer distances, entering races, and eventually ultra-distance races, all while using Pilates as my cross-training method of choice. It has never failed me. In my 50s alone (I’m now 58) I’ve run 5 road marathons (recently a 2:54:00), and dozens of ultra-trail and mountain marathons.
What’s more, pivoting to a career in fitness streamlined my music life into something much more meaningful, which subsequently flourished into a profession that I maintain. I still play live music multiple times a week (as a drummer) with a focus on Brazilian music.
I have since taken over all operations at PIOB (having almost gone bankrupt during COVID) and now work prolifically with the most amazing people, including race car drivers, triathletes, CU football players, rock climbers… and those are just the athletes! One gentleman recently began(!) a Pilates practice at the age of 90. Think it’s too late to rock and roll? Think again!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Great question.
-See a film at the Dairy Center, then check out the galleries
-Eat street tacos at Tierra y Fuego and go to First Friday Art Walk in N Boulder while you’re there
-Catch a concert at Chautauqua Auditorium after a hike between the 1st and 2nd Flatirons.
-Or if it’s sold out, pick up a loaf of bread at Moxie, grab a bottle of wine and some cheese at Lucky’s, and go listen to the concert from the adjacent lawn while having a picnic. The walls of the auditorium are thin and leaky, so the sound is fantastic!
-Catch a free concert Friday night at the St. Julien Hotel
-Go for a run up the Lions Lair trail to the top of Mt. Sanitas, then grab a cold beer at Mt. Sun Brewpub
-Order a cocktail and food at the bar at Frasca for a higher end experience
-Catch the Sunset from the roof of Avanti
-After everyone else has given last call, get a pitcher of Pabst and shoot pool at the Sundowner
-Deal with the hangover by going to Dot’s Diner the next morning
-Get a latte at the Trident and a pastry at Spruce Confections
-Go for a hike in Eldorado Springs Canyon
-Run the Enchanted Mesa Trail end to end

This is more like two weeks, lol

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give my Shoutout to my parents, Susan Henderson and (stepfather) Matthew Henderson, and to my blood father, Richard Rossiter. It was their incredible dedication to elite-level physical fitness that shaped my entire attitude toward life! My mother a 2:43:00 marathoner in the 80s ran in the 1983 Olympic trials for the first ever women’s marathon in 1984. My stepfather, Matthew, ran a 2:27:00 marathon in his day, and continues to complete triathlons, endurance bike rides, and 3+ mile swimming events into his mid 70s. Richard Rossiter is a celebrated rock climber and writer of over 10 climbing guide books for the Colorado Rockies and Wyoming Teton range. He’s the founder of the Pilates Institute of Boulder and the person who introduced me to it in the early 90s. If not for their influence who knows what track I would have taken in life. But the track I’m on, which proves over and over again to be tremendously rewarding on so many levels, is a direct result of the imprinting I received from them.

If I may, I’d like to share my Shoutout to our amazing clients.
I’ll speak directly: Pilates is hard work. It is legit exercise! It is physically, technically, and mentally demanding. We have deep appreciation for the effort you’ve put in to the exercises, the trust you’ve put into our instructors, and the profound returns you’ve reaped. It means everything to us. You are our inspiration!

Website: https://pilatesinstituteboulder.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pilatesinstituteofboulder/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PilatesInstituteBoulder

Image Credits
Jack Sasson photography
Jason Antin