Pilates- Repertory or Philosophy
by Lesley Powell, director of Movements Afoot
A woman called Movements Afoot the other day about movement classes. When I told her that I mainly taught Pilates Mat classes, she exclaimed that they were too hard. Pilates should be a concept of connections and the process of finding these connections. Many studios/clubs teach a repertory class with not knowing who their clients are. When I teach Pilates Mat to teachers, I try to instill in them of teaching to who is in class.
Many of the original Pilates clients were dancers. They have the flexibility to immediately do the rollover. As an ex-dancer and now in my 50’s, it takes a lot longer for me to warm-up and get to the flexibility that I once had. I can’t do rollover right away. Due to health issues and menopause, I have to work differently about my flexibility and fitness. Now put yourself in the shoes of a client new to Pilates and fitness. There are some clients with hernia disks and osteoporosis of the spine that should not be doing the traditional Pilates advanced exercises such as rollover.
One can have a very demanding Pilates mat class without all of the flexion and speed. Too many clients are not doing abdominals exercises correctly. Bulging the abdominals out and exhausting them in crunch type exercises do not necessarily train to improve posture. One of the most challenging exercises of the entire body is the pushup.
Pilates workout for Osteoporsis and Back conditions
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