What happens at a Pilates training workshop?

If you’re a Pilates student you may have heard about Pilates training workshops for instructors but maybe it never crossed your mind that these workshops might be something you would like to attend.  If your Pilates experience has been primarily attending private sessions and/or group classes you probably have no idea what even goes on in a workshop.  Often times I get the impression that people think we are practicing for Pilates for hours at a time!

I thought I would fill you in a little bit more on our agenda for our Pilates Foundation workshop so you have an idea of what goes on at these Pilates workshops!

Our Pilates Foundations workshop is the first workshop in a series of workshops designed for students who want to teach Pilates. A comprehensive Pilates instructor training program includes a combination of workshop time as we’ll talk about today, but also other components such as observation hours, practice teaching hours, written and practical testing and personal Pilates practice time.  Although this first workshop is designed to be the first workshop in our instructor training program it is also a great workshop for those who may just want to deepen their own Pilates practice and learn more about the history, and the principles that create the Pilates exercise method.  It is a 6 hour workshop.

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The workshop will kick off with some introductions and a quick overview of what we’ll cover in the workshop. Workshops are held in the Pilates studio and participants are encouraged to get comfortable by either finding a chair or a comfortable spot on a mat or maybe a big exercise ball to sit or lean on.

We’ll start the workshop off by learning more about the founder of Pilates, Joseph H. Pilates.    You’ll learn about Joe’s life story and how his life’s passion turned into what we now call Pilates.  You’ll learn about how the method has been passed down over the years and follow the path to how it got to you! We’ll discuss Joseph Pilates’ book, Return to Life and talk about the principle ideas in his book.  This section of the workshop will be primarily lecture and discussion.

After that we will  go over the Pilates principles in detail.  The Pilates principles are the ideas and concepts that really create Pilates as an exercise method.  This section will be a combination of lecture and discussion with some chances to move and explore how the principles work in action if you want.

Often times I’ll ask someone to volunteer to be a demonstration student but anyone is always welcome to move along or try things as we go.  I find that most of us (especially me) don’t sit still for long periods of time so I always encourage people to get up and move, adjust or change positions as needed especially during times where we are talking more and moving less.  During the course of the day I’ll often incorporate little movement breaks but I promise it’s not like you are going to be working out for 6 hours!!

After going through the Pilates principles, we’ll go over some traditional Pilates vocabulary (common terms and language often used when teaching Pilates) and then we’ll head into learning the Pilates fundamentals.  The fundamentals are what I like to call the building blocks of Pilates.  Everything you do in your Pilates practice builds from these fundamental movements.  We’ll break down each fundamental with great detail and we’ll learn a variety of exercises and movements  that can be used to teach the fundamentals.  Again I’ll ask for volunteers to be my demonstration body and if you feel like it you can try along as we explore the different exercises. We’ll tie in our Pilates principles into these movements and discuss how to learn and teach these movements safely to different body types.

Then it will be time to put the principles and the fundamental movements into action!  This workshop will cover in detail the first 5 Pilates Mat exercises that we often call the basic five.  We’ll break down each exercise (each specific movement and coordinating breath) and talk about how to teach it from the beginning. You’ll learn not only how Joe originally taught the exercise but how it can be taught to any body by breaking it down into its simplest components.

At the end of the day, you’ll walk away with a new or better understanding of how your own body works, you’ll learn how to get more out of your personal Pilates practice, and have some guidance on how to start sharing that with others if you want.  If this workshop could be the start of you learning to teach Pilates I hope it gets you excited about the possibilities!   All participants will receive a copy of Joseph Pilates’ “Return To Life” book, a workshop guide, and a fun Pilates Tee Shirt.

Want to learn more about our Pilates Foundations workshop or other workshops in our instructor training programs?  Feel free to contact us to learn more!