What Truly Matters in Pilates Instruction
Beyond the Pedigree
As a teacher, you must understand the value of continuous study and deep knowledge. In the world of Pilates, this commitment to excellence is what separates an instructor from a great teacher.
However, an interesting paradox exists within our community—a tension between adherence to a specific tradition vs. doing modern acrobatics, and the fundamental goal of serving the client. Let's explore where professional pride and picturesque posts should end and effective teaching begins.
The Client's Bottom Line: Does the Method Really Matter?
If we're being honest, the vast majority of clients are not concerned with the lineage, style, or specific school of Pilates you represent. They have one question: Does it work for me? Do I feel better when I leave my session?
Clients come to us for results: to feel stronger, supplement other workouts, move without pain, or improve their functional fitness.
They naturally gravitate towards types of movement they enjoy and, crucially, towards movements that work for their unique body and current capabilities.
Our primary professional obligation is to deliver those results safely and effectively. If a particular variation or tool helps a client achieve their goal, then we have succeeded.
Let's let go of the elitism. The belief that one style, tradition, or type of apparatus is inherently "better" than another only serves to divide teachers and confuse clients. Our focus should be on becoming a versatile, effective practitioner, not on promoting a specific Pilates pedigree. Whatever we teach should be appropriate, safe, and effective for the body in front of you.
The Critical Caveat: Foundations are Non-Negotiable
While we advocate for client-focused flexibility, this philosophy does not give new teachers a license to improvise haphazardly or "do whatever the hell they want."
This is the core differentiator between a professional and an amateur:
1. Mastery Before Modification
You cannot effectively adapt, modify, or create meaningful variations until you have mastered the foundations of the practice you are teaching. This means understanding:
The purpose of each exercise.
The proper form and its execution.
Accurate anatomical information/contraindications.
The necessary transitions and pacing.
How to modify the exercise effectively.
If your teacher training was in Classical, Contemporary, or a specific focus, you must become deeply knowledgeable in that chosen tradition and practice before you can responsibly diverge from it.
2. Deep Knowledge Fuels Better Teaching
In any field—whether it's medicine, engineering, or movement arts—the most effective practitioner is the one deeply knowledgeable in the underlying information. This depth allows you to assess and teach to the individual body in front of you, not just lead them through a choreography.
The Call to Continuous Learning
Being a Pilates teacher is not a quick fix; it is a lifelong commitment to scholarship.
A truly exceptional Pilates teacher is, first and foremost, a lifelong student of the body. We must continuously dedicate ourselves to the study of:
Movement Science: Anatomy, biomechanics, and kinesiology.
Movement Arts: The history, tradition, and artistry of the Pilates method and understand related disciplines (e.g., weight lifting, dance, Feldenkrais, yoga).
Your Action Plan:
Learn Your Foundation: Master the curriculum you completed in your initial teacher training program. Know it inside and out.
Keep Learning: Once initial certificate is completed, the learning has only just begun. Get your accredited certification. Become fully certified. Add to your knowledge base through continuing education (CEUs), workshops, and diverse movement studies.
Teach the Body, Not the Book: Use your deep knowledge of your method and the body to meet the client where they are, offering the adaptations and exercises that will best serve them in that moment.
Ultimately, your value as a Pilates instructor will be measured not by the name of the method on your certificate, but by your ability to get results for your clients through informed, intelligent, and safe instruction.