By Amy Leibrock 

Whether you get involved with Pilates in the Schools or want to teach Pilates to kids at your local YMCA, getting children started in Pilates can be a rewarding and inspiring experience. Just ask Kim Carruthers. After 10 years teaching Pilates, she had a thriving studio, Physical Perfection, in Los Angeles and star clients like Tyra Banks and Patricia Arquette, but she was looking for something new to excite her, something, she says, “to bring the benefits of Pilates outside the walls of my studio.”

Carruthers found what she was looking for when she volunteered to teach Pilates to children who were financially less fortunate in 2005. It was so successful, both for the kids and for her, that now, on top of her fulltime studio, she teaches six classes per week to kids and teens through her Pilates in the ‘Hood program. Carruthers sees her students get fitter, but they also tell her it helps them focus on their schoolwork and relax when they’re stressed—and many practice at home or teach moves to their families. “Part of my goal is that later on in life, no matter what, this will be a foundation for them,” she says.

It sounds great, right? After all, wasn’t this also Joseph Pilates’ goal? For everyone to do Pilates? Yes, but if you’re ready to bring Pilates to the children and have never worked with kids, you might have some questions. Like, how do you explain the Powerhouse to a 7-year-old? Or how do you find the kids in the first place?

To answer these questions and more, we sought Carruthers’ advice. In this first part of our 2-part series, she shares her tips for teaching kids and teens. In Part 2, she’ll offer up ideas for starting a program in your own area.

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By Elaine Ewing

Have you ever had a Pilates client who seemed to be advancing nicely, then sciatica strikes? This condition—which is an irritation or pinching of the sciatic nerve—often includes pain radiating from the lower back down the back of the leg, tingling in the toes or feet and numbness along the track of the nerve. Sciatica is a symptom of another problem in the body, such as a herniated disk, lumbar spinal stenosis, disc degeneration, pelvic instabilities or Piriformis Syndrome. It is important to remember that, while Pilates work can increase sciatica symptoms, it is not a cause of the condition.  

Luckily, the practice can be modified to make irritation of the sciatic nerve less likely. In working with clients, and in my own battle with the condition, I’ve found that certain positions, practices and cues can actually cause an increase in irritation, but a few subtle changes can help deter flare-ups. Below I’ve listed some easy-to-avoid situations that can contribute to discomfort in sciatica sufferers. Usually, when one of these root causes is found and eliminated early, the sciatica will decrease or disappear.

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By Lesley Powell

“Push your shoulders down.”

We hear that phrase frequently in Pilates studios, but I say it’s time to throw that cue out. Why? For most people, pressing the shoulders down freezes the shoulder girdle’s function and interrupts its natural rhythm.

The arms connect to the torso through the shoulder girdle, shoulder blades, clavicles and humerus bones. Each bone moves in different degrees of rotation and timing. The timing and the control of these motions are essential to a healthy shoulder. This “scapular-humeral rhythm” is like a symphony—each bone is an instrument playing a different variation of a melody.

A great scapular-humeral rhythm will invite the correct phrasing of the arm and core muscles. When you get a client to better use her shoulder girdle, her arm strength, posture and connection to the core will improve. Read on to learn how this rhythm works and how to help your clients improve theirs.

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By Carrie McCulloch

Carrie McCulloch is a 4th-year medical student at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, a Certifying Instructor for Pilates Academy International, and Course Co-Director for the Functional Anatomy for Movement & Injuries (FAMI) Workshop.

Degenerated discs, prolapsed discs, bulging discs, herniated discs—these terms float around Pilates studios quite freely. Indeed, these conditions are some of the most common reasons why clients with back pain seek help from Pilates instructors in the first place. Despite their familiarity, however, these terms—and the medical jargon surrounding them—can get quite confusing. Here, I’ll explain the particulars of three common disc problems and suggest programming tips for affected clients.

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By Maria Leone, owner, Bodyline Pilates Studio

The first six months of teaching Pilates professionally are often the most difficult. No matter how thoroughly each new teacher prepares, there is no way for rookies to be ready for every situation they will encounter. What a new teacher often fails to realize is that clients will expect much more from you once you pass from an apprentice or teacher in training to a certified instructor. The experienced clients will be comparing your session to previous workouts. They will be looking for a workout which makes the old repertoire feel new, as well as a feeling of progression. Those new to Pilates will expect a workout that challenges them physically even though they are beginners.

Unfortunately, this is a rite of passage for all new teachers. No matter how long you’ve trained or how many workshops you’ve taken, nothing can take the place of applying your knowledge to real live clients. I have had a staff of five to 12 trainers for over 10 years. The success of my business has been partly dependent on the ability to assimilate new teachers quickly and effortlessly.  

Read on for my top five tips that will help new Pilates instructors teach safely and intelligently…

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Pilates finess videos can jumpstart those days you don’t feel like putting yourself through a workout, but it’s rare to glean useful teaching tips from a standard exercise dvd. For true teaching inspiration, it may be a better idea to look to some of the specialty videos available, instead.

For a brush-up on efficiency:
“Transitions and Order”, from Rebecca Leone and Heidi Byrnes of Pilates Powerhouse NW
If you need to add order and efficiency to your studio or sessions, check out the tips in this DVD. Designed for studio owners and instructors, the first part of this offering details practical suggestions for equipment storage and maintenance. After implementing these ideas, never again will you scramble around during a session looking for the correct prop. The remainder of the DVD is dedicated to teaching the transitions between classical exercises on the mat and Reformer—where to put the handles after each exercise, when to tip the headrest down, and so forth. This video is especially useful for instructors who have a clear understanding of the exercises, but are looking for ways to speed up and smooth out their classes and private sessions. After learning the linking steps on this DVD, instructors can slowly teach the transitions to students, which will ultimately keep the students focused all session long.

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Need some inspiration to get your students moving? Just show them this list of the benefits Pilates devotees enjoy, supplied by Margot McKinnon of Body Harmonics in Toronto.  

1. Your abdomen starts to flatten.

2. Your low back pain dissipates.

3. You can bend and twist with more ease.

4. You can tighten your abdominal wall when you lift heavy objects.

5. Your neck and shoulder strain subsides.

6. You feel like you stand straighter and taller.

7. You sweat doing simple Pilates exercises because you are engaging more muscles and, in effect, working harder!

Do your students complain of neck pain (or can you see it in those strained looks on their faces)?  If so, point them to this helpful video tip from Anita Seiz via MyYogaOnline.com.

Looking for some abdominal exercise inspiration? Between packed teaching schedules and clients with roving attention spans, who among us isn’t! We asked Taylor Phillips, a Power Pilates–trained instructor who recently joined Equinox Fitness Clubs as a senior trainer, to share her five favorite ab-busters. Try these moves on your clients, or let her variations inspire you to create a few new moves of your own.

1.  The Hundred:  Begin vigorously pumping arms to 5-count inhale, 5-count exhale, as in the traditional Hundred.  For last 30 counts, slowly lift arms with resistance to ceiling on inhale, slowly lower arms to hips on exhale. Take 5-counts to lift, 5-counts to lower.

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By Margot McKinnon, founder of Body Harmonics Pilates in Toronto

When you ask clients about their feet they usually respond with a quizzical look. Unless there is pain or the possibility of purchasing a snappy new pair of shoes, feet are rarely on anyone’s mind.

Why should anyone care about feet? They connect us to the ground. Their architecture is the foundation for all of the body parts above. Feet propel us forward, backward and sideways. Each foot spreads the body’s weight over an area large enough to support and distribute the pressure as we stand, walk or run. This is quite miraculous when you compare the size of our feet to rest of the body’s height, size and weight.

Read on to find out the truth behind five common myths about feet, and for ways to integrate foot-friendly exercises into your Pilates classes.

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