October is Real Life month at Real Pilates.
Why “real life”? It’s such a generic term – real life. What does it even mean?

To my way of thinking – October is a month where we have a real opportunity to dig into our routines and make strides in our practice and our teaching. With little vacations or time off, the month affords us the luxury of making measurable gains with ourselves and our clients.

Here at RP we’ve selected the 2 x 4 as our move of the month. Primarily a foot exercise, the 2 x 4 also speaks to real life. Most people have feet and most people bear weight on them. Focusing on the most essential weight bearing part of the body is distinctly “real”. Working through the biomechanical chain from the moment of heel-strike to push-off and everything in between yields tremendous benefits for our clients.

IF you haven’t guessed yet – that all adds up to it being foot month! Take time this month to examine gait and weight bearing. How do your clients stand, bear weight on the reformer, the pedals, the straps. How do the mount and dismount and how exactly do their feet hit the floor? Is it a glorious roll-through or more like a plodding thump? Then grab a 2 x 4 (yes, actually or a padded spread eagle board or the “cun-ya” as Romana used to call it) and work on the move. If you are already foot obsessed – take your eyes to another place – focus on the ankle – both medial and lateral. Or lower – to the metatarsals. You’ll surely find something new there and then transfer your findings into the group class settings as well. Reaching more people with Pilates is the name of the game.

Stay on your toes (hee hee).

Alycea
(video of 2 x 4 comin’ right up)

It is said that intelligence is defined not by the facts we know but how well we are able to correlate those facts. Recalling patterns and relating facts to each other as well as broader concepts is the key to creativity.

As a fitness trainer, creating new routines, new sequences, or simply tweaking an exercise to create something uniquely effective is a key part of training our clients. Not only are adjustments and modifications necessary to address all levels of fitness but in order to tap into a particular student’s learning style or to identify areas of weakness that may not be apparent, continual adjustments are key to exercise programming.

As I work with the team this month to refine the fall schedule I have been re-purposing some classic Pilates moves to accomplish specific goals within a group class. Whenever I sit down to create content I have a level of trepidation. What if I can’t think of anything new? What if the perfect exercise doesn’t exist? And then inevitably, I fall into a rhythm of “A-ha” moments, where I am capturing the ideal combination I am looking for. In these moments, I am never learning a new move. Nor do I typically invent exercises. No, something entirely different is taking place. I suddenly “see” a new application for an existing exercise. A small adjustment to the move itself or the moves around it create something altogether unique. And although technically nothing “new” has been created, I can tell you that the feeling of discovery is potent. In these moments my brain is working at optimal efficiency correlating exercises from different apparatus, establishing patterns and relating moves to one another. “A-Ha” I say!

As August comes to a close, I challenge you to step out of your student role for a moment and explore your Pilates workout as your teacher would – mentally. Can you find patterns in the routine? Are there moves that seem similar? Moves that appear to be opposite? For those that have trouble remembering the order of moves, this is a tremendously valuable exercise. If you are already comfortable with your sequences, this exercise should take you to the next level. Allow me to start you off. The first exercise for many is the Hundred on the Mat. The basic shape of the hundred appears over and over in the method. Can you identify other exercises which contain this shape? Go ahead – think outside the “box”. I’d love to hear what you discover.

Have a wonderful end to your Summer. The next full newsletter will be in September.

Just For Teachers! Summer Challenge.

Before you can tackle the best possible way to sequence your classes or sessions, you must be intimately familiar with the material you teach and your client’s needs. Take time this month to identify exercises that perform the same function – whether across different apparatus or simply on the mat. Make lists, practice on yourself. I challenge you to get to five distinct “A-ha moments!

In 1926 Joseph Pilates came to New York City. Despite the reports that he settled here at that time and opened a studio, I have it on good authority that this trip was reserved for meetings with lawyers and the filing of his patents. Several years later he arrived to plant roots and established his studio but if the dates are correct, the exercise system he had created was well into its development by a few decades.

Joe had visions. Big plans. And though nearly 11 million people practiced Pilates this last year, in his lifetime, Pilates was not the exercise system du jour. It had some high points, a few devotees, some press hits, but the method and the studios never really made any money. After his death a studio was established inside the famous Bendel’s department store, the modest proceeds of which were funneled to his widow, Clara in order to sustain her cost of living. At the time of his death, Pilates was disgruntled with the medical community that failed to embrace his method and a lifetime of work that had not achieved nearly the success he had hoped for.

Despite Joe’s absence, his method carried on. The people who taught continued to teach. The students continued to learn and the method spread, seemingly in spite of itself. In the early 80′s when I took my first lesson, Joe was long gone but the teachers running that studio were completely devoted to the method as though Joe had never left. In the early 90′s when I decided to become a teacher, Pilates was finally coming into its own as the media and the medical community finally realized what Joe had been saying all along – his system works!

In today’s fitness culture, new systems have a shelf life of perhaps 5 years before the next new Cycling, Barre, or Dance Fitness craze comes along and ousts the former one out of the spotlight. But despite almost 80 years of consistency, Pilates popularity never seems to wane. It was slower on the uptake perhaps, built solely on reputations and results rather than marketing and hype. But at the end of the day, the system has proved itself utterly sustainable – the hallmark of integrity in the fitness world.

I’m so proud to be a part of Pilates culture and to continue move the method forward so that it can improve, benefit and truly sustain the lives of those around me. I do wish Joe could have been here to see the fruits of his labor. What a joy that would have given him.
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Note for Teachers:
Take a cue from Mr. Pilates who was ahead of his time. He didn’t listen to the naysayers. He forged ahead and documented his work with clients taking before and after pictures. He created home exercise props (Wunda chair anyone?) and he continually worked to create a cache around his studio. He was committed to his system and the strength of his conviction was passed down to his students and those he taught to teach. Passion can’t be taught but it can sure be “caught” from a teacher. Make sure your clients catch your passion, enthusiasm and conviction. In doing so, you will no longer hold their workout hostage, but rather give them the power to hold it themselves.

This article is a continuation of an article in my studio newsletter titled “Notes from the Teacher’s Journal.”
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I recently read a business column devoted to letting a client go. The
fact that the author felt this was an appropriate option for an
instructor really touched a nerve in me.

I have felt for as many years as I’ve been a teacher that the
tremendous obligation that comes with handling another persona body is
not to be easily discarded. Yet there seem to be times when teachers
feel that the only viable option is to end the teacher student
relationship. If you are a trainer with simple goals of increasing endurance, strength, range of motion, and your client has made gains beyond your wildest dreams and you have nothing left to offer them, by all means let them go. If however, you are a teacher, and your student is struggling, you had better hit the books hard and come up with some strategies to move your student forward. Even if the opposite is true and your student has flourished under your tutelage and you find yourself reaching into an empty tool bag for new tricks, being a teacher requires you to raise the bar – on yourself!
Here are a few specific issues that develop and the strategies you can employ to stay on top of your game and continue moving your clients forward so you can keep doing what you love to do: Teach.

Personality issues:
Clashing with a client? Remember this: As a teacher you need to check your personality at the door. Instead operate under what I call the Chameleon effect. Change according to your clients needs. Teaching isn’t about putting a show on – it’s about delivering the material in the best possible way. Look and listen to your clients – figure out what they need – then be that person.

Plateau issues:
Client not progressing? Take a cold hard look at your skill-set. What would you need to do to take your student to the next level? Your job as a teacher is to stay ahead of your students. Get out and fill your toolbox. Get training, read books, take sessions, learn more and then go back and deliver it to your students. Finally, it may be time to recalibrate the goals.

Inspiration issues
Dreading a certain session? Try this: Take a walk down memory lane. Remember your first session and all the early ones that followed. – remember “Why’ you do this. Then step back and pinpoint what exactly you are dreading. Is it the person, the feeling you get teaching them, the type of session you have to teach to them? Identifying the source of your negativity will help you meet it head on. Finally, see the session from your clients’ perspective. You’d be surprised how compelling that is.

Control issues
Losing control of your sessions? Listen up now. Stay true to your vision as a teacher. If you’ve somehow lost control of your student and are in the uncomfortable situation of simply catering to their requests each session, you’ll need to break that habit fast. I promise you, if you are delivering material by request and shelving your instincts, intuition and skill-set to make a student happy, you are not doing anyone any favors. Your job is to bring a student to their highest potential, not entertain them. I don’t mean you can’t do Magic Circle if they want to, I mean you do it on your terms. You decide when, where, how many and most importantly – why!

If a teacher genuinely puts the needs of a student first, they should be prepared to turn cartwheels to meet those needs. If you have looked deep within and decided that what is absolutely best for your client is to not work with you anymore, then let go of the client by referring them to the best possible teacher for their needs. In doing so, you’ll operate from a place of honesty, empathy and with analytical objectivity. The hallmarks of a truly great teacher.

Here’s to letting go…of letting go.
Good luck.