Date: 25th November 2020
Author: Tanya Thompson
Pilates has been around since the early 1900’s and was founded by Joseph Pilates who was born in 1883. Pilates has grown in popularity, especially over the past 20 years, where the likes of Physical Therapists, Dancers, Personal Trainers and Yoga instructors have trained to become Pilates Instructors in order to incorporate Pilates into their classes. It highlights a client-specific approach to overall health and longevity through mindful physical activity
How it benefits your business. I have been in the Pilates Industry since 1998 and I have trained clients post injury, sportsmen and sportswomen, Triathletes, pregnant ladies, the active agers, clients wanting a more holistic approach to exercise and even teenagers. Pilates is extremely adaptable and therefore, it increases your business prospects to a much larger clientele. Your clientele can range from the age of 11 to 90 due to its adaptability. Referrals from Medical Practitioners has seen many studios increase their revenue as the Medical Field is aware of the health benefits that Pilates has to offer their patients. Teaching Quality Pilates is a game changer for any Fitness Professional. It enables you to market your product to a larger clientele due to its versatility. Referrals will be inevitable as they see fantastic results through your Pilates Instruction therefore, it enables you to promote corrective exercise through Pilates.
How it benefits your clients. Pilates is a form of exercise that helps develop your clients mind-body connection through performing Pilates exercises which encourages movement in all the planes of motion with the use of the Pilates Principles of breath, flow, precision, core, balance, control and alignment. Through the use of these principles, you are able to incorporate a training program into your classes that promotes longevity, which has become a global hot topic. Pilates focuses on functional strength, toning, flexibility, joint health, body awareness and it has tremendous restorative properties. Pilates exercises are bound to keep your clients intrigued based on their interesting names i.e. rocking, open leg rocker, teaser, swan, roll over, control balance and jack knife to name a few. It is these types of exercises that gets them hooked on Pilates.
I have personally done a myriad of exercise forms; Pilates, Ballet, Contemporary dance, Muai Thai, Kick Boxing, Yoga, Weight Training, Group Fitness, Paddling, Wake Boarding and Running and I have always done Pilates in conjunction with all of these forms of exercise. It plays a pivotal role in cross-training for any kind of sport or activity and it is ideal for overall stability and strength. Common responses towards Pilates from the ‘super-fit’ and athletes; ‘I totally underestimated Pilates’. I have also trained quite a few clients who were training for the iron man, and every one of them responded with, ‘this is the toughest form of exercise that I have ever done’. This response is due to the fact that Pilates challenges these athletes while training them out of their comfort zone and targeting muscles that they never knew existed, effectively.
The principle of FLOW is a powerful Pilates attribute and forms a part of the essence of Pilates. It creates a smooth feel to the work, which facilitates better control as the client moves. The myth of Pilates is that it is relaxing, you are going to stretch and you will do some deep breathing. The greatest myth of all is that it is just like YOGA. This is factually incorrect and hence, your clients will be pleasantly surprised when they attend their first class. Once they do their first excellent Pilates class, they will be addicted. I often refer to the ‘zen face’ when teaching courses and classes, which means that nobody is aware of how intense the client is working at any point because they master the ‘zen face’, but the reality is that they are feeling every inch of every movement in ways that they have never felt them before.
The benefits of Pilates can be seen in your client’s everyday life where it enables them to sit longer at a desk, pick boxes up off of the floor with better form, sit on the floor with their kids and play dolls, run stronger, climb walls better and function daily with ease.
My company has over 200 000 hours of training students and clients in Pilates and the most common feedback from clients would be; My back feels so much better, I do not get headaches anymore, my shoulder pain is gone, I feel so much stronger, I feel more stable when I am running, my hip pain has disappeared, my back ache is gone, I feel more flexible, I can do so much more, my legs are looking amazing, my abs are toning, I caught a glimpse of my arms and my arms are looking great. The list goes on and on.
Pilates takes your movement education to the next level, where it encourages you to understand the biomechanics and the feeling of movement to enhance your skill and take your profession to the next level. It will challenge both you and your clients as you design a program for basic, intermediate and advanced levels.
Pilates Unlimited – the Art of Movement (established 2002) has presented specialized exercise & restorative courses globally to assist fitness & movement professionals in developing their skill in order to achieve their professional goals. Pilates Unlimited Training was developed through merging Pilates, anatomy and science, making it one of the most advanced Pilates methods to date. I am able to share my passion for Pilates and continuing education online and through our social media platform at Of-CourseOnline.com.
My advice to any Fitness Professional is to have a Pilates Qualification under their belt due to its versatility, broad clientele target market and results-based outcomes. It will be a life-changing experience for your clients. Pilates is increasing in popularity and is here to stay!
