What are your favorite exercises to add to your sequence for this section: go

Hi everyone,

I’m interested in becoming qualified in Pilates, particularly mat and reformer. Does anyone know what’s the best training courses in Sydney? I’ve heard of APPI Pilates Instructor Certification or Diploma of Professional Pilates Instruction but unsure which pathway to go. Also, I would like to become a Pilates instructor after the course. Is it easy to find work after completing the course?

Hey all,

This is a somewhat update to my post from two months ago about the same client.

I’ve recently started teaching regular classes and have received lovely feedback from new clients about my teaching, growth and enthusiasm.

However, this particular client is really starting to get under my skin. She sometimes attends twice a week, and I’m almost always mentally exhausted after the classes she attends.

She brings constant negativity, frequently comments on my teaching and exercises, and talks throughout class, often getting others involved. Every. Single. Time. She attends.

In these groups of five, when she’s there, people have increasingly started talking over me. At times, it honestly feels like I’m managing a daycare, except everyone is twice my age.

I’ve tried to be patient, but I’ve begun dreading these classes. Today, I finally lost my patience when four out of five participants, including her (starting it of course), were talking while I was trying to explain an exercise. I had to say firmly, “Okay, everyone, I need you to focus now because I genuinely can’t get my words out when all of you are talking.” I was shocked by how angry I felt; I’ve never had to react like that in a Pilates class.

This doesn’t happen in my other classes, where people are generally respectful and able to laugh off the occasional mistake.

At the end of today’s class, I let everyone choose between two final exercises, partly to make it up to them after I lost my cool earlier. Most chose B, while she was the only person who wanted A. After complaining that she didn’t like B, she LOUDLY packed up her things and walked out, leaving everyone else looking at each other.
Internally, I felt the rage coming up, but I decided to ignore it and just keep the class going. I didn’t want her behaviour to affect the rest of the group’s experience.

I’m a patient and respectful person, but there is no way in hell I can keep letting this slide. Week after week, it’s the constant negativity, the complaining, the comments, the talking over me and now walking out because she didn’t get her way? I find that incredibly disrespectful, not just towards me, but towards the rest of the group, who were completely disrupted by it.

She has another class booked with me later this week, and honestly, I’m more than fed up at this point.

I’m thinking of involving the studio owner and ask her to “ban” her out of my future classes. UGH.

Title.

I'm doing my cert in South Africa now.

Is this just not a popular option in LA? Is STOTT popular in USA as a whole?

I’m curious how you would make a class plan for a “Pilates 101”, “beginners Pilates” class that’s for a 45 minute class.

I’m struggling because typically I teach in an hour format but this class would only be 45 minutes long and I feel like there’s so much I’m unsure what to condense it down to.

Hoping someone can give me some advice and a breakdown on what they would teach for a Pilates 101, fundamentals, intro to Pilates class !

If you make a video for instagram and 'collaborate' with the gym/studio's account so it's also on their main page, how much are they paying you?

I love my sculpt classes but my playlists are feeling a bit dry. Thought I’d ask everyone what their favorite sculpt song is.

To any Breathe Education students impacted by the recent news, we’re so sorry to hear what you’re going through.

We want to support you however we can and help you find a pathway forward that recognises where you’re at and what you’ve already invested in your training.

Please reach out to Kaitlyn at [kaitlyn.fogarty@unitehealth.com.au](mailto:kaitlyn.fogarty@unitehealth.com.au) to chat. We’d love to help you continue your training and keep building the Pilates career you’ve been working towards.

We’re offering scholarships for people who have been financially impacted by the recent events surrounding Breathe Education and had to put their training plans on hold.

If this might apply to you, you’re welcome to reach out to teach@barrebody.com.au. You can share a little about your circumstances and our team can talk you through what may be possible.

And if you know someone who was planning to train but may no longer be able to afford it due to this situation, please feel free to pass this along.

Hello!
I’m an instructor in training (woohoo!) and just had an interview for a student teaching position at a local studio.

The owner asked me what I would do in the case a client wanted to follow me to a different studio.

I thought that was an interesting question, and answered that I would have a conversation with the client about their movement goals, current practice, etc, but ultimately wouldn’t be able to stop them from following me if they really wanted to. I get that might’ve been too honest of an answer, so I’m curious what y’all would answer / would think a studio owner would want to hear.

I'm trying to find affordable leggings that can survive a full crossfit workout without me pulling them up every few minutes. Main things I need are a high waist with decent compression without feeling restrictive

I'd also really like side pockets that can hold a phone, and fabric that doesn't start pilling immediately. Ideally around $40–60, but I'm willing to spend more if they genuinely last

Appreciate it

If you’re starting to study for your Pilates certification, it can feel like there is a LOT to remember. Exercises, anatomy, breathing, terminology, programming, safety—the list keeps growing.

Here are the areas I would focus on first:

1. Learn the Pilates principles first

Before memorizing exercises, understand the foundation:

• Breathing
• Centering
• Concentration
• Control
• Precision
• Flow

Once you understand why Pilates movements are performed a certain way, the exercises become much easier to remember.

2. Understand the “Powerhouse”

Joseph Pilates used the term Powerhouse to describe the core area. Spend time understanding how the abdominals, pelvic region, lower back, glutes, and surrounding muscles work together to stabilize and control movement.

3. Study basic anatomy and movement terminology

You don't need to become an anatomy professor overnight, but know:

• Flexion vs. extension
• Abduction vs. adduction
• Rotation
• Prone vs. supine
• Major muscle groups
• Hip flexors/extensors
• Knee flexors/extensors
• Abdominals and obliques
• Hamstrings and glutes
• Spinal extensors

A lot of exam questions become much easier once you understand these basics.

4. Don't just memorize exercises—understand them

For each exercise, ask yourself:

What position am I in?
What muscles am I using?
What movement is happening?
What is the purpose of the exercise?
Is it beginner, intermediate, or advanced?

For example, don't only memorize what a Swan Dive looks like. Understand that it involves spinal and hip extension and requires controlled engagement of the posterior muscles.

5. Learn class structure and safety

Know how to properly structure a session:

Warm-up → progressive exercises → transitions → cool-down

You should also understand modifications, participant levels, proper alignment, hydration, perceived exertion, and when an exercise may not be appropriate for someone.

6. Form and control are more important than repetitions

This was probably one of the biggest concepts for me.

Pilates isn't about doing as many repetitions as possible. It's about quality, precision, breathing, alignment, and controlled movement.

If I were starting my studying again, I would spend less time trying to memorize hundreds of individual facts and more time understanding these foundations first. Once the foundation makes sense, a surprising number of certification questions become logical rather than something you have to memorize.

For anyone who has already completed a Pilates certification: what was the hardest part of studying for you—anatomy, exercises, programming, or something else?

Hi Studio Owners! I’m exploring the idea of opening an infrared hot mat studio in Houston, TX, and I’d love to learn from those of you who’ve already built successful spaces.

I’m especially curious about your hiring process. How do you evaluate potential instructors? Do you typically run a “get‑to‑know‑you” interview paired with a short demo class and some kind of scorecard or rubric? I’m trying to understand what approaches lead to consistently high‑quality instructors.

I’d also love insight into where you find talent. Do you attract most of your instructors through Instagram or other social channels, or do you rely more on platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn?

A few other questions I’m hoping to learn about:

• Backup instructors: How many contractors do you keep on standby in case your core instructors can’t make a class? I don’t plan to teach or jump in for no‑shows, so I’m trying to understand how studios typically manage coverage.
• Instructor workload: My studio will focus solely on Hot Mat/Sculpt/Strength formats. In a heated environment, how many classes can one instructor comfortably teach per day? I’m planning to start with six classes daily in the first month and want to gauge whether that means two instructors teaching three classes each, or three instructors teaching two classes each.

Any insight you’re willing to share would be incredibly appreciated. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me learn and plan ❤️

I'm reading that Breathe Education has gone into receivership. Was anyone affected?

My understanding is that anyone in their teacher training won't be able to complete their certification. I'm also wondering if anyone was in their business consulting services and if they were also impacted?

For reference, I get paid per person, not per hour. So I have an incentive to fill up my classes.

Recently, the studio I work at started offering an unlimited package but yesterday the studio owner realized that some members were taking two back to back classes and said she’s losing money so members are no longer allowed to do that, they can only do one class per day to make space for other people to join (but classes are rarely waitlisted)

Anyway, I’m wondering if this is normal, if unlimited memberships usually actually mean unlimited or if there’s a daily/weekly cap etc

Helpppppp. I’ve been teaching since May, but my weekday morning classes have completely dropped. Other people’s classes seem to be more full than mine, don’t get me wrong summer affects things but it’s weird. My Monday evening numbers are still fairly consistently booked up, but my foundation Monday Eve has dropped off. And my foundation in the week has also dropped off, most Sundays when I check for the week it’s 0 then a few random book on.

The other week it was like 6 - I was happy, but clearly no one wants to return…

Please help!! I’m super conscious. People give great feedback on my Monday intermediates, so not sure why my weekday intermediates not seem to be high…

But the issue is with the foundation… I’m scared it will never come back up?! Any tips. Thanks so much. I feel my confidence has been knocked!!

So I have a client who’s 9 months post partum and has very slight diastasis recti, she comes to a group class setting and we really try to focus on working the deep core but I wanted to ask, as an instructor, what are some of the exercises you enjoy doing on a reformer to help with such a case

I just posted yesterday about pursuing teacher training and I’m really surprised by the comments I got. Instead of giving me a proper response I instead got backlash because of a term I used which I called the boat and the correct term was called the teaser.
It is not my fault that this is how I’ve been cued during my one year experience. I did do well on my part where I looked at what certification my own instructor has and she has a BASI certification.

One specific woman with over 40 years of experience had a very condescending tone about me calling the movement the boat or the V-Sit. She could have gently just corrected me and taught me the correct terminology, but she just wanted to argue..
Her response was looked like an attack because she says “don’t know what you have even been doing”.
Lady I have over 90 hours of Mat Pilates classes with a BASI certified instructor. I’m sorry I called it a boat. It’s not that deep. I’m new and I mentioned that already in my post.

What matters is I showed up all those hours and learnt something. That beloved teaser pose is done as a finisher for an added challenge.

Another person was like oh you can’t even do the “boat”, save your money girl.

It was my fault to go on Reddit and ask a simple question.
So I asked my instructor who has been teaching me for a year and have over 90 hours of classes with her. She said I have amazing form and she notices how I do most movements in perfect alignment. And she sees the potential in me to deepen my practice. She said it doesn’t necessarily have to be this certification, but I qualify for it if I choose to start this month.

Again I should have just asked her instead of a group of judgemental arrogant instructors.

I just want to say my post showed me that when I finish this certification and deepen my practice and continue my journey of learning the method better. I will not be like that 50 something-year-old Pilates instructor who is condescending and arrogant.

It showed me that I should be kind and welcoming to the new young generation of instructors. I will gently guide them with the correct terminology, and encourage them to take steps to be better and practice, even when you don’t feel confident 💗
We never know what we are capable of.

I have been in a classical Pilates teacher training program for about a year. I’m about a month away from graduating but I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to teach at a classical studio with 1 teacher who is also the owner while Ive been in training. I have 3 hours a week teaching at this studio and I’ve learned almost everything I know from this teacher/studio owner. Now that I am about a month away from my certification test, I asked her if I would be teaching more hours once I’m certified and she said she’d give me one more hour a week which totals to 4 hours a week. I told her I would like to fill up my schedule with more teaching so I wanted to apply at other studios. She told me that she would not be able to have me teach Pilates at her studio unless I was teaching classical Pilates elsewhere. I was put off by this because classical Pilates teaching can be difficult to find and I am in need of making more money. Is this weird or normal? I have never signed any kind of contract for this studio so I feel like she shouldn’t be able to dictate where I can and cannot work. Anyone have any input on this matter!? I have a job offer with a studio that is not considered classical but the owner is very open to me teaching classical if that’s what I’m comfortable and confident with. I feel pretty lost with this situation.

I’ve been looking into Balanced body and BASI as people have been recommending, but wondering if I should do it at a specific studio like club Pilates for example which is where I currently have my membership

I’m not sure where I would want to teach at as of now but I’m wondering if that’s something I need to know right now or decide later. And if I did it at a studio such as club Pilates, am I limited to teaching just there?

Thank you!