In March 2012, Studio³ will be introducing a 2-streamed Pilates Continuing Education program. Designed for the Pilates professional, we are committed to providing workshops that are informative, affordable and time-efficient.

The Studio³ Cornerstone Series^® are workshops aimed to inspire instructors to go deeper with what they’ve learned in prior educational programs. The workshops are designed to provide a more thorough understanding of how to find new programming ideas and focuses within a time honored repertoire of Pilates exercises. Additionally, the Cornerstone Series^® will present workshops that focus on the business and time management aspects that are vital parts of the Pilates industry.

Our March Cornerstone Workshop will take a better look at the Introductory Pilates Session.

In our April Cornerstone Workshop we’ll work on creating a more exciting and diversified Intermediate Equipment-based workout.

The Studio³ Specialized Programming Series^® will focus on providing instructors with workouts and programs that place an emphasis on the individual client. Specifically, this series will serve to further educate Pilates instructors so that they are prepared and equipped to work with a diverse clientele who demand specialized programming.

In our March Specialized Programming Workshop we’ll focus on how to program in order to strengthen and stabilize the hip joint.

And please join us for our April Specialized Programming Workshop as we discuss programming options for the feet and lower legs.

To register: Please send an email to Carla Hales at carla@studiopower3.ca to secure a spot in your selected workshop.

A 25% non-refundable deposit is needed within one week of your registration.

Full payment is due on the day of the workshop. Please indicate in your email the name and date of the workshop. Studio³ reserves the right to cancel and/or reschedule workshops. In the unlikely event that a workshop is cancelled, all deposits and payments will be fully refunded.

Studio³ also invites instructors to take a look at our blog geared towards the Pilates practitioner. Extend is an easy way to gain information pertinent to your profession and stay connected with interesting approaches and insight into teaching Pilates and being a Pilates instructor.

As well, please visit Connect, a blog site maintained by the instructors of Studio³ that aims to keep clients and enthusiasts informed and educated about Pilates, Yoga and much more.

Below are some great ideas to think about as you begin or continue your career in the Pilates industry. Not only for new instructors, but also for those who have been teaching Pilates for a while and have watched their client based grow, this first part of a two part series provides some fresh ideas or good reminders that have worked well for those in the Pilates industry.

1)   Follow up
Whether it’s a new client or one you’ve worked with for a long time, it’s a good idea to follow up after the session with either a quick email or text. By asking them how they feel after the workout or congratulating them on completing a particularly challenging routine, you’re reinforcing your commitment to both their workout and your professional relationship with them.

2)   Recollect, recall and KEEP NOTES!
Regardless of how long the client has been working with you, keep an updated file on their progress, injuries and limitations. This not only helps you in making wise workout choices, but it also reflects your professionalism and your attention to the individual. At Studio³ we keep files on each client which hold their workout charts and notes about certain physical issues and goals. It’s not only great for a progressive workout, but it’s the ideal way to communicate to other instructors with whom the client is working with.

3)   Do your own workout
This one cannot be stressed enough. It is the mantra of “practice what you preach” and as a Pilates practitioner, there ought to be a commitment not only to your own Pilates workout, but also to get out and do other activities. Regardless of whether you’re signed up for a spin, yoga or tennis class or taking your dog for a brisk Sunday morning walk, it’s important to commit to a routine and find ways that your knowledge of Pilates can apply to it. All the instructors at Studio³ are committed to doing something “extra-curricular” on a regular basis. And in this way, it not only keeps you fit, it adds some variety to the way you choose to move your body, which can and ultimately always does, transfers to how you teach and educate your clientele.

4)   Know your limits
Recently, one of our clients injured himself in a skiing accident. While thankfully it was a stable fracture, we knew that he would need proper rehab as directed and applied by a qualified physiotherapist. While the exercises and approach to his basic workout was similar to what we do in the Pilates studio, none of our practitioners are qualified to guide clients through an initial rehabilitation program when the injury is in its acute phase.

The point here? As a Pilates practitioner, own what you know, but recognize your limits. There is no way we can be experts on everything there is to know about the physical body. Rather than tread into territory where you’re playing a guessing game as to what’s appropriate, establish a referral program between you and a fitness rehabilitation team that you trust and respect.

5)   Do one thing really, really well
Okay – maybe in this industry, we can expand this to do a few things really well. After all, there are many who crossover their Pilates into yoga, dance or personal training. Continually educating yourself is key to longevity in this industry (both as an instructor and retaining a clientele). Therefore, it’s wise to draw from other sources to enhance and broaden your understanding of the one or two modalities of which you have extensive knowledge. But instead of stretching yourself over many different approaches to fitness, why not go deeper with the one or two types of fitness that you enjoy and with which you’ve started to establish a clientele?

6)   Take the initiative with other practitioners
Quite often, a client may decide to commit to two or more sessions a week. Sometimes, the best way to keep it interesting for them as well as for you to stay fresh with programming ideas and variety is to offer them the opportunity to work with another instructor. Not always possible or ideal. But by having your clients work out with another instructor you are giving them an opportunity to experience the Pilates with different cues and programming and to appreciate what you bring to their workouts.

Now, a lot of instructors might balk at this, as it risks losing a client or at the very least a working hour. But, I believe there are more advantages to this then the concern of losing an hour.

First, if it is an instructor that you know and trust, you open the door to establishing a strong business relationship. As mentioned above this not only keeps the workouts varied for the client, but it also makes you more available to take on new clients.

Taking on new clients and having a weekly schedule of as many different clients as possible is essential to keeping a relatively steady income. This is the second reason why working with other practitioners might be a good business decision. Because, if your income is based on let’s say, nine or ten clients you see two or three times per week, it undoubtedly will suffer when two or three of those persons decide to take vacation, head north for the summer or have family obligations that take precedence. Something to think about as you build and maintain your client base.

In our next blog we’ll continue on with other points and tips of how to be a better instructor! Stay tuned and thanks for your interest!

One of the things I have discovered as more clients’ progress towards an advance Pilates workoutis that as instructors, what we choose to emphasize through cues, corrections and use of imagery is very often embodied by the client. What we ask them to imagine or think of while working out can often become deliberate actions that are evident in their movements.

In many ways, this is exactly the goal we aspire for them to achieve; as we cue a client to engage their abdominals and keep their hip bones pointed directly ahead when standing, we want them to take those images and integrate it into their everyday activities. But, by falling into a habit of overusing common cues and corrections we can lose sight of how they are interpreted and might limit their progress.

For example, when working with clients at Studio³, I often cue a client’s breathing pattern as they do an exercise –and like breathing itself –it is often done without thinking about it. When I do want to draw their attention to how a breath is used, I usually focus on the exhale, because this tends to be the most efficient (and easiest) section of a breathing pattern that can assist clients in recruiting their abdominals and in feeling the sensation of connecting to their core.

When a client begins their Pilates workout, we cue the exhale to move and the inhale to remain still (ie: Hip Rolls). Or we use the exhale on the exertive part of the exercise where stability is crucial (ie: Essential Footwork). And yet, as we progress their workouts, we switch over to exercises that require movement on the inhale (ie: Long Stretch, Neck Pull) and we begin to have expectations that a client will ‘use’ the inhale so that their stability is not lost (ie: Back Rowing 2, Flying Eagle with Leg Springs, Handstand 1 on the Chair).Indeed, as a client incorporates more of the advanced Pilates exercises into their workout, the inhale becomes as part of the movement as the exhale. It represents the idea that as the physicality of the exercises advance, so does the use of the breathing patterns and the awareness it takes to properly integrate both.

But how can we emphasize the inhale as much as the exhale so that clients can appreciate that the value of the inhale lies well beyond the generic cues of “inhale to stay” or “inhale to lengthen”?

One way is to become aware of how you’re cueing and correcting their breath…easier said than done. But, if you go back and review certain exercises that are at a basic level, you may find that by cueing them to inhale in order to “expand the ribcage” or “lengthen the spine and keep the abdominals gently engaged”, creates a better opportunity for them to transfer such cues into the more advanced exercises.

Below are some of the exercises that I have gone back to in order to revisit the purpose of the inhale. As they progress in difficulty, I have found that a consistent and yet different emphasis on the inhale has helped clients with their breathing. This has resulted in an inhale that expands the ribcage rather than one that is held. In turn, it has made their overall breathing pattern more efficient and part of the entire workout.

From the Matwork:

• Hip Rolls
• Cat Stretch
• The Saw
• Roll Up

From the Barrels:

• Side Breathing
• Port de Bras (prep and full exercise)
• Prone Leg Work

From the Cadillac:

• Push Thru on Back
• Punches
• Port de Bras

From the Chair:

• Swan Dive (prep and full exercise)
• Sidebends
• Forward Press Down

From the Reformer:

• Essential Footwork (progressing to Intermediate and Advanced)
• Short Spine Prep
• Hip Lift
• Side Splits 1 2
• Mid Back Series 2 3 (without and with flexion)

The idea is that as clients move through basic movement patterns that require them to either mobilize or stabilize the spine they are being cued not to ‘stay’ which can invariably result in holding the breath. Instead, these exercises encourage them to engage in the inhale so that they return to the basic principle of inhaling to expand the ribcage so that when they exhale, their ribcage has a place to return.

Good luck!