5 Ways To Spice Up Your Work

By Kerrie Ann Frey

Whether you are a strict purist to the Method or follow a slightly less stringent approach to the original work of Joseph Pilates, there is always room for creativity in your sessions.  Being creative allows instructors not only to be professionally playful at times, but also to help clients understand or work up to an exercise.  For example, you might use a pillow to cradle a client’s neck or a ball to keep feet aligned.

In some instances, instructors also need to be creative to keep clients’ interests piqued, particularly in this economy when absolute necessities are often cut from the household budget.  By ensuring our clients’ safety as well as excitement, we will all be working steadily well in to the future.  We will also have the added benefit of refraining from boredom ourselves.

Studios also at times require us to be creative with our teaching.  One studio I work at has all the apparatus and I float from piece to piece, depending on what works best for the body in front of me.  The other studio is in a health club setting and only has Reformers, a situation that is becoming more frequent across the country.  At last year’s Inner Idea, Rael Isacowitz, Mari Winsor, John Gary and Kathy Corey discussed this trend at length – Pilates in the fitness world.  Whether as an instructor you approve or disapprove of the migration in to the gym environment, it is future of Pilates for many.

So how do we incorporate creativity in to our sessions safely while maintaining the principles of Pilates? Here are 5 suggestions:

1. Play with resistance and/or spring load. For example, if you normally work heavy springs on the footwork for the Chair, try scooting to the very front of the seat and lighten the load to one low spring.  Watch how hard the transverses has to work to keep the movement fluid and controlled. The same principle can be used for the Stomach Massage series on the Reformer.

2. Borrow from other reputable “schools” or training institutes.  Try Ron Fletcher’s towel work or Kathy Corey’s Core Band for a completely different dimension to mat work, for example. Some instructors, like Pilates professional Cecile Bankston, have worked with many master trainers. “After practicing and teaching Pilates for over 20 years, I’ve moved around so much that I’ve been exposed to lots of different techniques. My teaching is really a mix of all of those different styles put together,” Bankston says. “I use whatever works for each individual who I am working with.” She is careful to always give credit to the person who gave her the exercise when possible.

3. Pilates professional Lynda Lippin recommends changing the relationship to gravity.  “A knee fold lying on the mat is easier than a knee fold sitting, which in turn is easier than a knee fold on all fours, which in turn is easier than a knee fold standing up. Leg circles are harder standing than supine. Footwork is harder on the legs standing (see the old photos of Joe Pilates doing standing footwork), but harder on the abs supine.” In other words, stand up when you normally sit down and sit rather lie supine. Lippin also suggest trying standing on one leg and doing arm circles, or hinging forward over your standing leg and doing swimming while standing.

4. Re-investigate an exercise’s family tree. I stopped researching my family when I found too many predispositions towards crazyville; however, digging through the Pilates family tree not only is a great way to guide beginning students, it’s good for reminding your advanced clients how far they’ve come. Take pelvic tilt to the Roll Up to Bridge to Articulated Bridge to Bridge on the Reformer with heavy springs then to light…and on and on.

5. Give props to Props. Lippin uses props for instability, resistance, or assistance.
“Try bridging with legs on a ball, or doing cat or planks with hands on top of a foam
roller! Props can also assist, such as using a band to assist leg circles.”

Laurette Ryan of Balancepoint Pilates gives her students their money’s worth in form by placing a quarter on body parts that need stabilization. She suggests placing a quarter on the top hip when doing side-lying series.

One creative “prop” I bring to class is using the Push Through Bar as a ballet barre for standing footwork or other exercises that employ the principles of Pilates. Barre work can elicit incredible quadriceps, hamstrings and calf workouts while retaining the flow, centering and control of Pilates. Try demi and grande plies with Releves in first and second positions as part of Footwork. Engage seat work with battements and attitude lifts.

Adding creativity to workouts does not mean veering from the Pilates protocol. It brings a fresh joy to your instruction and might even help students gain a deeper understanding of their own practice. Being an innovator himself, it is likely Joseph Pilates would approve of the new additions to the Pilates world as we see more converts to the practice we love.

About the author: Kerrie Ann Frey is the founder and owner of Fit Mom USA, a former stroller exercise-based program that has evolved in to an online presence with fitness, wellness, and nutrition information for all men and women. Her passion for fitness began with credentials including A.C.E. PT and LWMC and grew to include her true love – Pilates. She is West Coast Pilates certified and trains clients in several studios in the New Orleans area. Additionally, she shows her mother that her Master’s in English really was useful when she writes Pilates-based articles for print and online publications nationally. Contact Kerrie Ann Frey at kerrie@fitmomusa.com, www.kerrieannfrey.wordpress.com or follow Kerrie’s Blog.

Tags: Cecile Bankston, John Gary, Kathy Corey, Kerrie Ann Frey, Lynda Lippin, Mari Winsor, Rael Isacowitz, Ron Fletcher