r/pilatesinstructors

Hey!
Wondering if anyone has any experience with neu Pilates training??
What were your thoughts ?
I’m looking for something well rounded and extensive and more then just a tech you how to teach program!
Thanks

I started holding my own classes due to requests from peopel at the studio. At the time (january 25) I was newly certified and didn't know my worth, so I did not set high prices.

Now a lot of new studios are opening up and prices for their group sessions are now more expensive or close to the price I have for semi-privates. I now also have few more cetificates behind, I regulary take mentor classes and have full schedule from referals.

I will expand to a little bit bigger studio soon, when I find the right space, I need to increase the pricing, maybe € by € monthly, but I cannot work on sale anymore.

How do I tell this to people? Please be nice and understanding.

Are there any traveling Pilates instructors here? Can you share your journey/experience on how to become one?

I've been taking hot mat Pilates and reformer pilates classes for a while now and absolutely love it and I'm interested in teaching Pilates.

I'm trying to figure out the best path to become certified and would love to hear about your experiences.

-Where did you get your mat Pilates certification?

-Did you do it online, in person, or through your studio?

-About how much did it cost?

-If you teach hot mat Pilates specifically, is there a certification you recommend?

Thanks in advance! I'd really appreciate any advice or recommendations.

There’s a high chance that I’m going to move to China after 3 ish more years (I’m Chinese-American). I want to become a Pilates instructor there and maybe even open my own studio one day. I need to get my certification from somewhere that is recognized internationally, and definitely respected in China. I’ve looked into Balanced Body but I’ve also heard that programs like STOTT and Polestar MIGHT be more popular. Does anyone have any recommendations and is anyone a Pilates teacher teaching in China right now?

i have a mentor question for you. in your experience would instructors get paid if they are schedule to teach three classes. let’s say 8.9.10 and the 9 gets cancelled by the owner and you still have to teach the 8 and 10. Would the instructor get paid for the 9 since it was cancelled by the owner and you couldn’t do anything with that time since it’s still reserved.

Any personal experiences or advice?

I have just qualified with Basi mat and reformer, and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed as to how to create class plans.
Do you do it from classes you’ve been to and note ideas down? Then what is the best way to note down to go back to? I want to make classes dynamic and hard for London classes and worry lots of movements I learnt on my course aren’t hard enough…
Thanks so much!

I am training to be an instructor in a heated beat driven sculpt class. Does anyone have tips on how to select music for the routine I’m programming? I’m having a hard time matching the BPM of the songs I want to play with the moves.

Is it normal to not be paid if no one signs up for class? And to have to be available for the class time until one hour prior to the class being cancelled? Both studios i teach at have this policy and I am a w2 employee at both places. I have taught in other capacities and have always been paid for my time, but when I've talked to more senior instructors they have all said "that's just the way it is." I can't really think of another job where employees are expected to be on call but not know if they'll be paid.

I have worked as a 1099 and w2 and understand well the differences in expectation, which is another reason it just seems weirdly...illegal? to expect an employee to still be available / show up for work without knowing that they'll be paid.

To clarify, I currently live in Seattle and have also held 1099 and w2 jobs in California, Kansas, and Missouri.

Wondering if anyone has experience and preference for 14”, 18”, or 24.5” height on the Balanced Body combo? The tallest option seems very high for a reformer. I understand you can use a box for lunges, but do clients feel comfortable being that high? Is it difficult to support them? I see many elderly folks. I’ll be ordering one for space and budget limitations, appreciate your insights!

I trained in STOTT mat work Pilates about 5 months ago and have been teaching in a few places since. I feel quite comfortable teaching the actual STOTT repertoire although still have a way to go with postural analysis and adapting for different bodies. STOTT calls itself contemporary but the “flavour” is more classical, there is a fixed repertoire and the exercises have names etc..

My impression of students and studios expect more of a contemporary flavour- more moves flowing together, wanting to feel a “burn”. One studio asked me to do a class called “power and burn”.

I don’t feel like I really have the resources to know how to adapt my training to meet this kind of expectation. I’m wondering if any other instructors have been in this situation and how to deal with it?

When it comes to mat Pilates do you prefer an instructor who actively shows you the moves throughout class? I personally prefer an instructor that moves through their own routine. I notice they give more suitable modifications and feel what the class feels.

The other day I took a mat class that was ridiculous I was seeing stars, and the instructor just stood in the corner to cue. When the class struggled she suggested to take it slower. Only corrected form with one girl the entire class. Is this normal?

Edit: from an attendee perspective, my instructor standing in a corner is not TEACHING

Hi everyone,

I’m a Pilates instructor in training and have been teaching my own classes for almost two months now. Even though, I’m still nervous for each class, I really enjoy it and I’m eager to improve. My mentor and the majority of the clients have been very positive about my progress!

However, there’s one participant who keeps throwing me off.

Before class, there’s almost always something wrong: she’s tired, it’s too early, or she isn’t really in the mood. I try to uplift her by saying “I hope this class will help your body feel better afterwards”
During class, she seems to have an issue with almost every exercise, even the warm-up. If I offer a modification, she says it doesn’t feel right or that she doesn’t feel anything. If I give her a simple correction, she immediately explains why she doesn’t want to do it that way.

She also suggests a lot of exercises that I should include in future classes because she likes them, even though they’re not part of the curriculum I’m currently teaching.

After yesterday’s class, she gave me some feedback. She said I should number my exercise sheets and that I spent too much time explaining the equipment to new participants. When I replied that I was still figuring out what worked best for everyone, she rather passively said, “I thought you wanted feedback.”

Normally, I’m very open to feedback, but with her it feels like nothing I do is ever good enough.
The hardest part is that it’s starting to affect me. I find myself dreading seeing her name on the class list. After our interactions I feel completely drained, and with yesterday’s class I was honestly just annoyed. I also noticed that it affected my teaching, which is exactly what I don’t want.

Has anyone dealt with participants like this? How do you handle someone who always seems to have a complaint without letting it affect your confidence or enjoyment of teaching as a new instructor? :(

I'd like to open my own studio, I've been teaching full time for 2 years, prior that I was in pilates for about 5 years after getting injured in gymnastics in teens. I've done multiple workshops, mostly abroad, I am stott certified, I will full certify next year. I currently run by referal only small studio with regular clients.

I stress so much the bigger studio will not run, I've done multiple financial calculations. I stress with pricing, with rent, with attracting new clients and social media. I know social media now is a priority but I hate myself on camera. I don't have a partner or supportive family who would push me forward or cheer for me.

Do you have any advices? How do I get myself into mindset of someone who did one reformer training, has zero experience and has a confidence to open a studio?

I’m currently enrolled in a Pilates teacher training program and something happened on the third day that’s been bothering me.

During a practical assessment, we were taking turns to do observations about body movement. And I told my trainer I have a rib flare (bc that was what i get told before by a few pilates instructors.)

Then she backtracked and said actually I don’t and followed it up with a demo in front of the whole class “maybe you just have too much food.” This was in reference to something I’d shared earlier when she asked us to talk about our favourite foods. Then she moved along and said she was joking.

I felt embarrassed and fat shamed in the moment but laughed it off. The comment was made in front of other students.

I’m still at the beginning of the course so I have a lot of time left with this instructor. I’m considering flagging it to the program coordinator but I’m not sure if I’m overreacting or if it’s worth the potential awkwardness.

Has anyone dealt with something similar in a professional training setting? Would you complain formally or let it slide?

Hi guys! Like it says above, I’m currently going through the process of becoming a Pilates instructor for a widely known reformer Pilates company. However…. There are some things that have me questioning and I wanted to get other people’s thoughts on this & if it was normal part of the experience.

So I’ve been in training for the past 2 months & I finally finished my test out, so now I’m onto community classes. I taught my first 2 over the weekend & the owner of the studio which I never see because they live out of state and decided to come in and take class.

Right off the bat, he walked in studio, did not acknowledge me (my friends also noticed this) & he just didn’t appear to be warm or friendly. Yet, I noticed he was talking & getting along just fine with the other staff who was there. Throughout class, he physically seemed irritated & THEN to top it all off, he kept doing the moves wrong ALL throughout class. I would understand if he was trying to test me to see if I know what I’m teaching and know what to look out for when a client is doing a move wrong. However, EVERY single move, I had to go and correct him. I think I corrected him over 10+ times in class, which is WILD to me because he literally told me he is an instructor himself. My first class ran soooo smoothly, I ended on time, the energy was high, everyone loved the class, & the one that he took, it was just the complete opposite. I also had to do a lot of corrections for my new people (which was expected), but half of my time was also spent correcting his form. I didn’t want him to think that I didn’t know what I was doing. Unfortunately, because of this, I ended like a few min later than expected and it was just a very disappointing experience.

At the end, he didn’t say anything to me, so I went to go see if he enjoyed class. His only feedback to me was that I should stop correcting people if it’s been 2-3 times and they still don’t get the move. His reason was they will come back to studio regardless & get “stronger”. Is this normal????
He also said because I had the class in the variation for so long, that’s why the class went over…. Which… in my opinion, not true because my first class before that was on time and I taught all the moves AND variations so. I am good at taking feedback which I can understand and learn from the experience but I also feel like he was sort of setting me up to fail?

Anyways a few other things happened where the other instructor was staring my friends down rudely while they were doing the moves & in class because they were new to the studio & needed corrections. It made my friend feel very uncomfortable. Is this the “norm” when it comes to Pilates studios? I’ve had some weird experiences myself at other places but I guess I’m just shocked and refuse to believe that this is everywhere.

TLDR: I’m an instructor in training and did my community class, however there were some weird vibes from the owner of the studio and other staff members.

hello, I have had a lovely lady book a Reformer 1-1 with me, she has had both hips replaced recently.

She has done a lot of Reformer pilates in the past but not for the past few years due to her hips

she wanted to give it a go again privately before she jumped into a class which I love!

I was planning on going through the basics with her again, taking it easy and just seeing how things feel and how strong she is.

is there any movements you would recommend? or any you would suggest I avoid? If she hadn't done it before I wouldn't be second guessing myself in some ways and just start from the ground up but I don't want her to not feel challenged or anything.. so yes any tips would be fab! thanks

Hi, I am building a new studio in the city and looking to hiring instructors. Please DM me if you are available.

Hi all! I work in a primarily no shoes studio - meaning barefoot or with socks. I do up to 3-4 hours in a row on my feet some days. My feet have been killing me and my shin/calf muscles have been sore. Any recommendations? I was wondering if compression socks may help at all? Or if even those barefoot shoes provide any type of support? I’m sure being barefoot for hours doesn’t help with good walking habits either, since that’s so easy to lazily do. I normally love being barefoot (hate the feeling of heavy shoes), but the hours have really been adding up. Any help is super appreciated!