How to be a better Pilates instructor
You may have seen on Unite Health socials that we’ve recently been focusing on helping you elevate your Pilates teaching and practice! And we’re wrapping up some powerful tips and strategies to help you do so. You’ll walk away after implementing this advice feeling confident, capable and excited to step up in your career in Pilates.
1. Tailor your classes and movements.
It’s so important to ensure you’re providing a personalised approach to your Pilates classes for your clients. Catering to different fitness levels, abilities, and requirements makes your clients feel seen, supported and cared for, and really allows them to enjoy and benefit from your classes more fully.
As a Pilates instructor, you’ll always encounter clients from a range of different backgrounds and abilities, with unique goals and focuses. But they all have this in common: they want your expertise and support, and they appreciate your skillset and knowledge base.
This means it’s essential you know how to progress and regress all fundamental Pilates movements and flows to cater to whatever unique demands and needs your clients may present with, so everyone in your classes or at your practice can enjoy and experience the endless benefits Pilates offers to their mental and physical health.
Ensuring you’re well-versed in different levels of each movement also means your clients can feel comfortable asking for modifications, without it being a big deal for them to do so. They can feel safe and comfortable with the understanding that you’ll seamlessly offer them a way to make any movement work for them and their body, and they’ll hugely appreciate your ability to help them achieve elevated results with your depth of knowledge and expertise.
Luckily, our APPI accredited certifications are designed to equip you with this very skillset. We teach you how to elevate and regress all the fundamental movements within our curriculum, so you can meet the individual requirements of any client that comes into your class. Whether they want to be pushed to their limits, or simply to move their body slowly and mindfully, whether they're dealing with injury or returning to exercise postpartum, whether they're focusing on rehabilitation or strengthening, you can work with it all!
Being a fantastic instructor means making each individual client feel comfortable, supported and cared for in your classes or practice. And in order to do that, you need to be confident in your ability to cater to whatever needs they present with on any day. Personalising your classes and making your clients feel individually catered to will help you level up in your teaching, AND you'll be better able to support your client's results too!
2. Seek feedback – and use it wisely!
Feedback is a one-way ticket to becoming a better Pilates instructor, and fast! Whether you’re just starting out in the Pilates industry, or you’re an industry-leading veteran, there’s always room for improvement and growth. And sourcing feedback from a variety of people and places is an excellent way to achieve this.
Ask for feedback from leading experts in the industry, invite other instructors to come to your classes, reach out to other Pilates instructors at your workplace or favourite studios and ask them to come to one of your lessons.
Or, take some classes led by the instructors YOU most respect and admire, and hone in on whatever it is that they're doing which you find so enjoyable or rewarding when you take their class. What can you learn from them, and incorporate into your own practice? Don't be afraid to ask them questions - we're all about supporting each other in the Pilates industry, there's room for more than one person to succeed!
If you want some expert feedback, which you can seamlessly incorporate into your Pilates practice both personally and as an instructor, consider our Mentoring Sessions and Packages - they're designed to give you exclusive, 1-on-1 access to leading industry experts, so you can ask for all the feedback, advice and tips you want to help you elevate your career and chances of success in the industry.
3. Commit to continued upskilling.
Similar to the importance of committing to continued growth and learning, ongoing upskilling is key to becoming a better Pilates instructor. Without regularly learning, expanding your skill set and knowledge base, and expanding your scope of work and abilities in Pilates, your career quickly becomes stale, unmotivating and unsustainable. You may find yourself becoming complacent or overly comfortable in your career, which can lead to a decline in your performance as a Pilates instructor over time. Or, as the booming Pilates industry continues to evolve around you, if you’re not keeping up with the changing demand and the ongoing upskilling of everyone around you, you may just find yourself left behind…
As you can see, you need to stay on top of your game to set yourself apart from the competition!
Upskilling not only allows you to continue evolving your own skill set and differentiating yourself from others in the industry, so you can pursue better career opportunities and earning potential, but it also keeps your career interesting and engaging! You're always learning something new, pushing yourself, adding elements to your Pilates practice and your teaching methods. Whether you're adding Mindfulness to your Pilates repertoire to enhance the mind-body connection, upskilling to work with Ante/Post Natal clients, or refreshing your knowledge of certain equipment forms you're less confident with, upskilling is a one-way ticket towards your career goals.
If you want a hand figuring out the best upskilling option for you and your goals, we've got endless course options for you to consider. Book a time to chat with one of our friendly course experts for guidance on which options best suit you and your goals.
4. Invest in the highest quality education available to improve your confidence and skillset.
A high-quality, respected Pilates education does wonders in terms of preparing you to be the very best Pilates instructor you’re capable of being. If you’re confident in the fact you’ve learned the most evidence-based, industry-leading content and practices from the best in the industry, naturally you’ll be more assured of your own skillset and ability to support your clients in achieving their personal health goals.
Our APPI-accredited certifications are each designed to elevate your understanding of the intricacies of the human body and anatomy, based on years of clinical experience and research conducted by world-renowned physiotherapists.
This allows you to better identify effective ways to engage different muscles, enhance the mind-body connection, cater to your clients’ individual needs, and overall to support them in achieving their individual goals – whatever they may be. If your knowledge base and education is as strong as it can be, this lays the foundation for a highly successful career, and gives you the very best chance of becoming the most incredible Pilates instructor you’re capable of being.
It all starts from the beginning, when you lay the foundations of your career in Pilates… Make that first step the most effective, wise decision possible. And set yourself up for success.
Want to learn more about our APPI Pilates Instructor Certification? Book a free call with our course experts to hear more about how these high-quality Pilates education courses will help elevate your career and skills as a Pilates instructor today.
If you want to become a better Pilates instructor, we’re here to help! Whether you start by upskilling, pursuing further high-quality education, getting feedback and advice from leading industry experts, we’ll support you on making your career goals your new reality.