The Large Pilates equipment opens a whole new repertoire available to your clients of all levels of ability and experience. This extremely versatile apparatus lends itself to a whole host of exercises, to support or resist movement depending on your goals. From early stage rehab to high-level athletic performance, the exercises are limited only by your imagination.
Exercises on the large Pilates equipment can be a fantastic starting point for many, before you start with your beginners it's worth considering the following:
- Firstly, as for anyone, what are your objectives with the Pilates programme?
- How mobile is the individual?
- What are your client's body awareness and proprioception like?
As for matwork Pilates, a sound understanding of the 5 key elements is an important foundation to establish. If your client is new to Pilates, it's worth investing time teaching awareness of 5 key elements in crook lying to commence, and then in sitting, standing, side lying, four-point kneel, or any positions that are bound to be incorporated into your equipment sessions. This will form the basis of all Pilates movements.
Depending on your client's mobility and ability to move easily into recumbent positions, you might want to incorporate various apparatus, or may prefer to stick to seated or standing options. The Split pedal chair is ideal for clients who can't easily get up and down off the floor, there are numerous options for seated or standing repertoire that is extremely functional, interesting and achievable for all levels of ability. Sitting on the edge of the cadilac is also an easy position to get into for many, and standing at either end of the cad allows for movements incorporating the push through bar, roll down bar or the springs attached from various heights. If someone has compromised balance, consider the equipment from this perspective. It might not be ideal in this case to teach movements on the reformer, which incorporates a moving base of support, instead, supine exercises on the cadilac may be a better starting point.
It might be assumed that performing Pilates exercises on the equipment is more advanced than matwork Pilates, however; there are occasions where using the resistance of the springs is actually a more appropriate starting point, especially for your beginner clients. If we consider someone who is new to Pilates and perhaps lacks body awareness and finds it difficult to find the "rest position" or maintain alignment through basic movements, sometimes working against resistance is preferable. For example, during foot series on the reformer, extending against the resistance of springs provides joint compression through the lower limb, improving awareness and proprioception, allowing for a better quality of movement. The beauty of the equipment is that you can adjust the level of resistance by adding or removing the number of, or the weight of the springs you use, depending on what your goals are. As well as providing joint compression to aid proprioception, working against resistance is obviously paramount to train strength. Strength will be a vital component of most rehab programmes at some point, making the large Pilates equipment an attractive rehab tool. Incorporating the large equipment early on, allows your clients to become familiar with the movements under low load perhaps to start, and then gradually increase the challenge to strength, without needing to change their programmes dramatically.
Incorporating the large Pilates equipment into your beginner programmes can be an extremely relevant, interesting and versatile option for many, regardless of mobility, age or experience with movement.
APPI Pilates Equipment Certification Series
The APPI Equipment Certification Series is the perfect way to begin your Pilates large equipment training. On each course repertoire will be covered on the reformer, cadilac, split pedal chair and arc barrel. Participants will learn over 120 movements for training lumbo-pelvic stability (
equipment level 1), scauplo-thoracic stability (
equipment level 2), spinal articulation & stretch (
equipment level 3) as well as higher level full body movements (
equipment level 4) throughout the series. Complete your training this year on our Intensive series running in October;
APPI Equipment Certification Series, Intensive: 10-13 Oct & 15-18 Oct, Melbourne (QUICK BOOK)
Or view our upcoming
course schedule for more locations and date options.
