Do you have any suggestions on motivating my 15-year-old male client with slight scoliosis? He works with me twice a week (at his parents behest) to improve his posture and help counter the effects of his scoliosis. He has a hard time working for 60 minutes, even though he has gotten stronger at beginner reformer. He resistes pushing himself, especially after 30 minutes. He complains that I'm always cuing him, even when he is doing the exercises correctly. Any ideas on motivating him and inspiring him? He is an academic, video-game person, not an athlete, though he now walks 1-2 miles several days/week. My teenage daughter agrees that the work gets boring since it's slow and subtle. She thinks I should show him how it's done and have him correct me sometimes. Any ideas are welcome on how to creatively coerce/teach him.

Why don't you shorten his sessions to 30 or 45 minutes and when he is working on the equipment,once you get him set up in the right form,unless it looks like he is going to get hurt, try not to over cue or correct him too much, just let him move.

Hmmm I think most 15 year old boys athletic or not, are competitive and like a challenge. I'm only a student of Pilates so I do not know the guidelines on how to teach someone with slight scoliosis. However when I was 15 I liked to be really challenged when working out. When some people are in a comfort zone things can become boring and you can easily become un-motivated. If possible can you safely take him out of his comfort zone and really push him to work very hard in his practice? Perhaps really being worked out and having abit more of a sense of achievement will motivate him to try harder in future for the rewards. I can only speak for myself when I was 15 that I liked to be tested and pushed in exercise. If things were slow and boring I would get bored easily. Like I said before I do not know the guidelines on you should teach someone with his condition. With regards cueing alot of teenage boys take being told anything continuosly as nagging! I know I used to! Try not to repeat yourself to him too often if at all possible. Hope this advice helps but obviously I cannot guarentee it will. Good luck!

There is definitely a difference between working with boys than there is working with girls. I am working with a 14 year old girl with severe scoliosis that the promise of a pedicure is more than enough of an incentive.

Boys are different. I have a ten year old son that I need to work with from time to time when his love for baseball (he is a pitcher) starts to effect his posture. The best advice I can give you is, boys have short attention spans, keep the workouts just as short, challenging, and focus on one thing at a time. I love progressive hundreds, chair work and exercises with the towel.

There is also a game that my kids invented where they throw the names of exercises into a hat. They take turns drawing exercises which they have to perform correctly. It is actually pretty fun.

Every kid is different. Good Luck!

Thanks - great ideas from the 3 of you - you are definitely helping me get into his mindset. I will reformulate his workout and hopefully reenergize him. He has worked hard to get stronger so I hate to have him feel unsuccessful. Any other comments are welcome as I strive to become a more fully fleshed-out Pilates instructor.

Aaaaah...teenage boys! Here's my thought -- just as you'd talk golf to a golfer, fitness to a gym person or moving safely to an injured client, put your Pilates talk in the context of what your teenager is interested in.(ie. stronger arm and back muscles will help you hold the Wii controller longer. A strong core will help you sit longer and more comfortably in front of your game system, etc.) I'd also alternate between standing, sitting, lying on back and use props -- big ball, magic circle, roller therabands to keep the temp up. Studies show kids have more ADD tendencies, the more they sit in front of a screen, so your teenager would probably like to change things up pretty quickly. Also, 45 minutes may be more realistic. Good luck!