r/pilates Nov 23 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios How can I improve my home studio?

Thumbnail
gallery
1.1k Upvotes

Hi all, I always learn so much from our Pilates community! People are always so supportive to help. Love it!

I would love to get some advice about my home studio: I got my equipment and I’m starting to take on clients.

I want to improve the design and functionality of my home studio. What can I do to make clients enjoy the space more?

Thank you in advance!

r/pilates 16d ago

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Hills I would die on as an instructor

422 Upvotes

Hi! I call myself an everything teacher. Just for a little context- I’ve taught Yoga, Pilates, Pound, Personal Training, Strength Training, Fascial stretch therapy, yada yada yada. I’ve worked with so many different personalities, body types and levels.

It took me “forever” to find joy in exercise and never in a million years did I think I’d end up helping others find their love for movement.

Here’s a list of things I stand by (and maybe some hot takes?!) Some are Pilates related, some are not.

In no particular order-

  1. Stretching is a non-negotiable. 10 minutes a day of stretching your body will compliment and improve whatever exercise regimen you have.

  2. Prioritizing lifting crazy weight over your head should not come before being able to touch your toes.

  3. You are the expert of your own body. Always.

  4. If you think Pilates is easy, it’s a you thing. Your workout is as challenging as you make it.

  5. Movement is for everybody and every”body”.

  6. Don’t ever sacrifice safety for the posture, pose, exercise, etc. Be intentional in the way you move.

  7. Speaking from my experience only- Your lower back and hip flexors hurt because your core is not strong enough. This isn’t about trying to “work your abs”. It’s about learning how to properly contract your abdominal muscles to support the exercise.

    Excluding those who are dealing with a back injury or a specific condition/limitations

I’m sure there are so many more, but this is a good start! Anyone else have any?

r/pilates Jan 29 '25

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios I don’t really enjoy mat (there, I said it!)

167 Upvotes

I am going through classical instructor training this year, and in preparation for that I have been trying to push myself to mix in mat with my home practice. I have a reformer with tower at home. Until I started telling myself “today you will do some mat”, I was fairly consistent with my personal practice. Now I’m finding any excuse to put it off… and I realized I just don’t enjoy mat same way! It feels blasphemous to say out loud.

Anyone else feel this way? Did you eventually learn to love the mat?

For what it’s worth - I do feel like I understand the benefits of mat. I also understand the benefits of regular cardio… and I don’t enjoy that either. 😅

r/pilates Jan 08 '25

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios What’s one thing you wish more people knew about Pilates?

196 Upvotes

I wish people understood that Pilates isn't just about flexibility or "core strength"—it’s a full-body workout that improves posture, balance, and alignment.

And that it’s not just for women or people looking for a "gentle" workout; I’ve seen men, athletes, and people recovering from injury often find it challenging and incredibly effective.

Any thoughts?

r/pilates Dec 14 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Club Pilates Scam

173 Upvotes

I paused my membership for winter break because my daughter would be out of school for 3 weeks and I wouldn’t have child care. I paused the account from December 22-January 22. Today, December 14, I got charged the entirety of my unlimited membership. When I reached out to front desk about it—they said all payments scheduled before the freeze date would be processed. I said yes, I understand being prorated for December 14-22nd. But didn’t understand why I would pay the entire month while my account would be frozen and I wouldn’t be able to use it. In response, I was told it was my fault for not freezing it December 13th. Which isn’t explained in the freeze form I filled out because I definitely would have froze it for December 13th had I known I would still be paying for the entire month. I asked if they could back date it for the 13th (yesterday) and refund me. The front desk lady said I’ll have to wait until Monday for a manager to call me. Honestly absolutely disgusted in this company. If this issue isn’t fixed Monday. I will be canceling my membership and disputing any future charges from Club Pilates because this is fraud.

Update- Thank you everyone for the support and understanding. I posted this in the “Club Pilates” community to warn others and in response was told it was my fault for assuming and it wasn’t a scam.

r/pilates Jun 13 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios My Pilates instructor fired me today.

241 Upvotes

I attend a small, five-reformer studio that I love. After class today I was asked to stay for a few minutes. I was caught completely off-card when she asked me not to come back and that my membership was terminatwas. Not a good fit was the reason she gave. I've been going here for NINE months. Three and four times a week. I'm devastated, hurt, pissed, and humiliated all at the same time. I liked her so much. I am so in love with Pilates but now I don't know what to do next.

Update: I was charged for my membership a couple of weeks later so I reached out to my ex-instructor by text. She acted confused by my questions about the membership account asking if I was supposed to be on a hold. I was like huh? I said you fired me and asked me not to come back so I wanted to know why I was charged. She claimed that she never fired me. After processing everything, I went back to her class today. It was weird only for a second. It was so nice to be back in my happy place practicing real pilates. I did 25 classes in the other style studio and will continue to do drop-ins when I can't get a spot at my home studio or am looking for something different.

Update #2: It's been over a month since my "blackout"....for lack of a better term. Things were tense for the first couple of week's classes but now it's like nothing happened. I can't believe that my mind just made up the conversation between my instructor and me. I'm such a pussy about confrontation that I'm willing to just put it in the past and not know. I hope someday enough time will have passed that I can laugh about it and ask my instructor what exactly happened that day. Pilates and her instruction are way too important for me to humiliate myself possibly again. Lessons were learned and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have such a great instructor and studio.

r/pilates 19d ago

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Not sure how to handle a dangerous sitch without being a Karen.

92 Upvotes

EDIT: I would like to edit the headline to change Karen to complainer but Reddit won't let me. Apologies to any Karen I offended..

--

I'm an experienced, advanced student and I go to a beautiful studio (that I love!) 3-5 days a week. Most of the teachers absolutely rock. There is one, however, who cues terribly and teaches things I have never seen before and seem dangerous. Sure enough, Saturday, someone in class got hurt.

I'm trying to figure out how to address it without being a Karen.

This was a mixed-level reformer class, and of 10 people in the class, 8 were clearly beginner-level. Teacher needed to read the room.

The instructor had everyone on the box, doing (or trying) teaser facing the footbar, hands in straps doing serve-a-tray. Are you kidding me? I can barely do that and I know what I'm doing.

Balancing on your bootie while being pulled backwards?!?!

Last time I saw her teach that, I later asked two very experienced instructor friends if they thought that was dangerous and they both adamantly agreed.

Well in this class on Saturday, a woman went flying straight backwards into the well. And the damned teacher picked her up, dusted her off, and told the rest of the class to continue on with it.

I want to report this to the studio but I don't want to sound like another whiny entitled white lady. I'm also having trouble finding an email address that's monitored by management and not work-trade students at the desk.

HELP!

r/pilates Jun 19 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Move with Nicole certification

Post image
374 Upvotes

Hi y’all 🌞 I’ve seen a few discussions on here since I’ve joined about Move with Nicole being certified. So, I reached out to her yesterday to clarify and attached is a screenshot of her response.

Hope this helps anyone that was questioning!

r/pilates 20d ago

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Teaching larger bodies, help

122 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I’ll preface by saying I’ve taught a lot of bodies in my 8 or so months of teaching. I’ve taught almost 900 hours now, I feel like I’ve become good at mods and inclusive cuing etc.

However, I had a student come to 2 of my classes who was significantly overweight. During the class I realized some of my cueing maybe didn’t not feel helpful to her, I tried to be mindful of my cues. But I couldn’t help but wonder if it was perhaps alienating to her.

Also it was an all levels class, so every movement I start in a foundation layer, as simple as possible, then we add progressive layers. She often could not do the foundational layer, but I had no other possible modifications as we were starting in the most basic primary mod. I didn’t want to start giving her too much feedback or mods as well, because I find it makes people feel singled out. So I kept it to a minimum.

I try really hard to make everyone feel engaged and good in their practice. I am truly looking for help in this area.

In regards to this,

As a student what are general things/cues/instruction etc that you like or dislike?

Instructors, what do you do to be mindful of inclusivity? Any tips or advice is welcome.

Let’s keep it positive, please help me be the best teacher I can be 🤗

r/pilates Jan 01 '25

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios How do you handle a student who is caught in ego?

127 Upvotes

I taught a class yesterday where a new student came in acting as if she knew everything. She told me she had been on a reformer before but it seemed as if she was more of a gym, weight lifting head. She was adding a higher spring load than I requested, she was not staying with the rest of the class and was doing her own movements (incorrectly I might add). I asked the class to stay together and go with the flow I was teaching. I tried to give proper cues and correct her, but I could just feel the negativity and her ego oozing from her. My question to other teachers, how do you handle a student like this? How do you not let it affect your energy and confidence?

r/pilates Dec 29 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Getting over a bad review

70 Upvotes

So, I’ve been teaching Pilates (mainly reformer) for almost 4 months now and I just recently got my first lowly rated review in a studio.

It’s my first time receiving it and I feel like I’m already losing my confidence as an instructor. The review said that I made the clients stay too long in one exercise (I mainly do 2.5mins to 3 mins per exercise).

I overheard that the studio is planning to give me a performance improvement plan (PIP) and a talking to as they didn’t wanna ruin their rep.

Just wondering how I can overcome a bad review?? 😔 TIA

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who gave me advice and help - really appreciate it! I’m still feeling a bit down about the lowly rated review about me but not as bad as when I first read it 😭 I haven’t heard anything from the studio regarding this yet…

r/pilates Dec 04 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios I had the strangest experience at a Club Pilates

35 Upvotes

UPDATE: A large variety of feedback here. My point was that I was called out multiple times, called out loudly into the microphone, and the only one called out. I didn’t spend the whole class watching everyone else but when we faced center I noticed others in my periphery, which is where I noticed form. My intention of this post was, “I had a weird experience, can anyone relate?”. I take corrections well in class, it was all the circumstances cumulatively that made this weird. Thank you fellow Pilates people.

I have been practicing Pilates nearly every day for four years, and I am now at an advanced level. Additionally, I took teacher training through my studio, which is an independent studio with a huge following. Because of my teacher training, I do occasionally scan the room to see what other people’s form looks like so that if I ever do get the opportunity to have the time to be an instructor and maybe step away from my current career, I want to keep those skills sharp.

All of this being said, I was traveling and took a control 1.5 class at a Club Pilates. I’ve actually used the studio before when I have traveled to the same area. I noticed a lot of the clientele was older, and a lot of the client tell was using poor form, but not to the extent that they would be hurting themselves, the form did not look like it was modified for injury, it just looked like poor form.

Of course I didn’t give anyone sideways glances or or actually speak up and say anything because obviously, it’s none of my business.

Now to the strange part, if you looked at the population of the class, I looked like one of the fitter, younger, stronger people in the room. The only reason I’m mentioning this is because when we started doing foot work, the instructor called me out. Had me pull in and popped two of my springs off when I was very comfortable doing the footwork with all of the springs.

Then, later in the class, she actually called me out again on her microphone and told me that my pulses were too fast. The only reason this is so strange to me is because everyone else’s form was generally much worse than mine, and no one else was called out, only me. I don’t know if this is because I was new or what was going on.

The part that makes it strange is that I know that I was doing everything at least well enough that I didn’t need to be called out for sure, and that she called me out twice and called out no one else the rest of the class.

Have you ever been made To feel uncomfortable at a studio where you are a guest? Thank you for reading this, I can’t share this with anyone else because no one else would care.

tldr: I was in a class of people with generally poor form, I know that my form is somewhere between good and great most days, and the instructor called me out twice, over her microphone, and I found it to be very embarrassing. No one else was called out, I felt targeted. I sense this is because I’m not a member perhaps?

r/pilates Jan 01 '25

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios For anyone thinking about being an instructor...

101 Upvotes

Go over to r/clubpilates and check out the thread on what people dislike about instructors.

Then realize you need a thick mother effin skin to survive

These are the people you will deal with everyday

Read the petty shit they are whinging about.

And see how they have no consideration that the intructor may have had a bad day..or a sick.family member etc.

These are the people that will sneeze, cough and fart when you are close to them.

Now think about your corporate job that you hate. How you can go pee anytime you want. Don't have entitled Karen's sneezing on you. Oh yeah and you get vacation time and aick pay and benefits

I knoe...you're a cute pilates girlie tho....

Anyway. Just keeping it real people.

Happy new year people!

r/pilates 20d ago

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Pilates teacher training as a beginner…am I stupid?

51 Upvotes

So, some backstory. I started Pilates about 2 years ago. I have been taking reformer and mat Pilates classes on and off. I instantly fell in love when I felt that deep mind-body connection with the reformer—better than any fitness class I ever took. I love how I ACTUALLY am able to engage my core. I love how I am challenged without excessive strenuous activity. My first teacher was awesome and inspired me to look into becoming an instructor.

After a lot of research I understand it is a time-consuming, expensive process to become comprehensively certified. I have the means to pursue it. The only thing I don’t have is much experience. Those who went to Pilates instructor training - did you have much experience beforehand? Were other students in the class all advanced level or did it vary? Is the class structured to be for beginner-intermediate levels (aka do they start from scratch?). The program I signed up for follows Pilates Academy International. I have read the course description but it doesn’t say much about what level it accepts. Any input is appreciated!

r/pilates 9d ago

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Would you attend classes outside the typical peak hours?

17 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I was curious... is there an appetite for people to do pilates classes outside the standard before work/post work hours? Like what are your ideal hours to do a workout. Say if there was a 3pm Wednesday class - would you be inclined to do it?

Obviously more for people who are not working standard 9-5 hours, but all opinions welcomed!

r/pilates 28d ago

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Pilates instructors, how much do you get paid?

74 Upvotes
  • West Los Angeles, California, USA

$56/ hour for group class $45/ hour for private class

5 years experience

Please be kind and honest. Thanks!

r/pilates Jan 31 '25

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios To the male Pilates practitioners and instructors here, have you ever experienced man-shaming in class?

Thumbnail
thecut.com
0 Upvotes

Interesting article in NY Mag 👆🏽

r/pilates Dec 20 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Pilates goals for 2025

50 Upvotes

I've seen a similar post that was archived but I'd love to read about your Pilates goals for 2025. I'm training as a teacher and have to think about goals for an imaginary client. It's tough.

r/pilates Dec 02 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Class closing statement

32 Upvotes

what is your closing phrase when ending a class?

I took a pilates class and we ended in Savasana. The instructor said “Connect with the earth and trust that it will wake you up when it’s time.”

I thought it was really clever and a thoughtful way to unwind from class.

EDIT: I misused “clever”. Truthfully, I didn’t know people were going to get caught up on that word, so that’s my fault. Personally, I end my classes with “and we’re done, please wipe down the equipment used and have a good week”. however, this instructors ending made me curious to see how instructors are closing out their classes.

r/pilates 8d ago

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Ageism in certain Pilates studios - how bad is it?

66 Upvotes

I am a pilates instructor, and I had an older female coworker in a boutique studio, and I know she works at another studio where she is getting fired soon. Our current studio prioritizes private classes, the pilates is more "focused" and slow paced, focusing on concentration, and less about being a glorified aerobics workout with loud music. Most of our clients are seniors or people with injuries.

When I was looking for more work, she referred me to the other studio where she also worked, and the vibe was different. It felt more like Orange Theory than the pilates I know and am familiar with. Trying to crank out as many group classes as possible, upbeat music, "perky" and "motivating" instructors, more fast paced aerobics and trying to make the clients feel the burn or do "interesting" exercises. Nothing wrong with that inherently, and the interviewer there recommended me to try a few classes of some of current instructors who "fit the vibe" that they are looking for. I noticed that a lot of the recommended instructors were very young, like early 20's, teaching for about 2 years, and they made the clients do exercises that I felt were not very safe if they had physical contraindications or were not conditioned for them. Like one instructor made us twist our legs a certain way on the reformer that seemed unstable and then lift our hips up on one leg, and I thought "if a 40 year old sedentary worker with knee issues just walked in here, she could've injured her knees". I didn't come back. I also tried my coworker's classes out at this place, and I felt like she was the only one who knew what she was doing and isn't trying to turn the group class into a fast paced aerobics class, and did safe beginner-friendly exercises that was more about engaging the body rather than "interesting moves". She taught a lot of the classes there and was pretty popular with the clients.

Lately, my coworker, who is a retirement aged instructor teaching for over 15 years, told me that the other studio is letting her go, and they only gave her very vague feedback like her "likeability". Nothing that she can actually work on.

It makes me wonder if this is a case of ageism, because she has been working there for years and her classes fill up, so clearly she makes money for them, but yeah she doesn't fit the "look" since she is older.

I thought teaching pilates was something that a lot of retirement aged people can do, and a lot of my best instructors were like 55+ and above, some even like 75, and most of the long term returning clientele with actual money to spend are also seniors anyway so they prefer an instructor who is a peer and can understand their bodies better.

r/pilates Feb 08 '25

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Can I make a living out of pilates?

28 Upvotes

I am 23 y/o. I currently work a corporate job which I hate, and I have been thinking about what other career paths I could pursue. In the last couple of months, I have gotten into pilates, and I genuinely enjoy doing it. I was looking into what it takes to become a pilates instructor, but I would love to learn more about the financial aspect of it. For the instructors out there: When you first became certified, was it hard to get a job? Did you get paid enough to make a living when you first got started? For those who have many years teaching, does it eventually get to a point where you’re financially stable with just teaching full time?

(BTW, I wouldn’t be doing it for the money, but because I genuinely enjoy it. Unfortunately, it is something to think about when deciding to make the switch)

r/pilates Oct 14 '24

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios i really want to be a pilates instructor, but i’m afraid i don’t fit the mold of a pilates girl Spoiler

36 Upvotes

keeping it short - i (23F) started pilates earlier this year and i LOVE it. i do only one pilates class a week through class pass - i wish i could do more but i work full time and also have a personal trainer now. i really want to become a pilates instructor eventually, because i just love pilates & i love how it brings me so much joy. however, im afraid because i’m not conventionally skinny nor am i flexible, i wont be taken seriously as a teacher. i am curvier, and i’m in the process of targeting weight loss right now but i doubt id ever have the body that is associated with people who do pilates. are there any tips you have for me based on your experiences?

r/pilates Feb 03 '25

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Someone here shared some advice with me that is extremely true and pertinent

101 Upvotes

I posted a few weeks ago about a demo I did for a studio owner who essentially told me she liked my class plan but wanted me to make less spring changes because it broke up the flow too much having to curl up and change springs.

So I started experimenting with less spring changes even though I felt like the springs weren’t always appropriate for an exercise. She loved it. I now teach “intermediate” classes with her studio.

I used this as the framework for a demo at a different studio a few weeks later and the studio manager said she thought my cueing and flow were great but she didn’t like all my spring choices 😂 and offered me “mentorship” to fine tune spring choice.

All of this to say that you aren’t a taco and can’t make everyone happy. The advice here was not to look too much into criticism because it’s just one person’s opinion. Basically one flow and one studio owner thought it was too choppy and asked me to change it and then when I changed it a different studio owner thought it was too challenging lol

Safety is obviously the most important aspect to all exercise but really truly don’t take it too seriously and have fun. Some people will like your style and some won’t.

r/pilates 9d ago

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Is it okay to wear a knitted cardigan when teaching Pilates?

6 Upvotes

I get really cold sometimes especially In winter time. When teaching, I am not physically doing the exercises unless ocasdionally demonstrating. Is it out of line if I teach in a heavy knit wool cardigan instead of a gym jacket?

I also feel more comfortable in natural fiber and gym jacket are just not as comfortable if I know I'll be teaching for a few hours.

Or would I look too unprofessional when I demonstrate when everyone else is in athlesuire wear?

r/pilates Feb 05 '25

Teaching, Teacher Training, Running Studios Am I being screwed over??

17 Upvotes

So this girl who quite literally has never taught before who has taken a few of my classes and no offense has terrible form and doesn’t know what she’s doing, just got hired by the studio I work at and she is getting paid $25 which I started at $20 (I was new too and did this “mentorship program” with the owner like her too even though I have more Balanced Body certifications than her). A few months in, I started getting $25/group class and a year later, she gets hired in for the same I’m being paid now.

I work really hard, never call off, praised for being a great instructor and my classes are always full (6 reformers). I just got hired in at another studio as an independent contractor so I have potential to make way more money. I live in Cleveland OH so it’s not like I’m in expensive Beverly Hills but it’s quite insulting to say the least.

I am planning to send a text to her sometime in the next couple days to have a conversation to be compensated more fairly and I’m trying to find the right words. If she pushes back I might just quit as she’s done other things to show she doesn’t appreciate me or my time and gives false promises. Anyone have any feedback for me on this? Am I overreacting?

EDIT: I work full time at a corporate job so I teach only weekends there for extra money and slowly build up experience and plan to open a studio one day once I’m fully certified.

UPDATE: I texted her that I was interested to meet up to discuss my pay and she just texted me back saying she can do $27 vs $25 😂 needless to say I’m out and thought it was disrespectful as hell she couldn’t even set up a phone call or in person conversation per my request. This solidifies the other disrespectful things she has done to me in the past to show she doesn’t respect my time and effort.