“Go lower.” “Full range.” “Deeper is better.” “Don’t let the knee bend that far.” “Keep it small.” Pilates instructors receive a lot of conflicting advice about exercise range of motion. A larger range changes joint position and mechanical demand, but deeper is not automatically better. Some are taught that full range is always superior. Others are taught that particular joint angles are dangerous. Then rehabilitation introduces partial ranges. Strength training introduces d

You start a plank and your abdominal muscles feel completely fine. Your shoulders are working, your legs are strong enough to hold the position, and you could probably continue for another 30 seconds. Except your wrists are already uncomfortable. The same thing might happen in four-point kneeling, push-ups, Pilates exercises on the Reformer or any position where you need to support your body weight through your hands. Planks require the wrist to tolerate both extension and bo

“Go lower.” “Full range.” “Deeper is better.” “Don't let the knee bend that far.” “Keep it small.” Pilates instructors receive a lot of conflicting advice about exercise range of motion. A larger range changes joint position and mechanical demand, but deeper is not automatically better. Some are taught that full range is always superior. Others are taught that particular joint angles are dangerous. Then rehabilitation introduces partial ranges. Strength training introduces de

A client is shaking. Their muscles are burning. They tell you, “I can really feel that.” The exercise looks difficult. So it must be strengthening them, right? Not necessarily. This is one of the most important distinctions Pilates instructors need to understand. An exercise can feel extremely difficult without providing a particularly strong strength stimulus. An exercise can feel difficult without necessarily providing a high strength stimulus. An exercise can create an eno

You start a plank and your abdominal muscles feel completely fine. Planks require the wrist to tolerate both extension and body weight. Your shoulders are working, your legs are strong enough to hold the position, and you could probably continue for another 30 seconds. Except your wrists are already uncomfortable. The same thing might happen in four-point kneeling, push-ups, Pilates exercises on the Reformer or any position where you need to support your body weight through y

Take a squat. Put it on one leg. Add a foam pad. Hold a ball. Close one eye. Add rotation. Now put it on a moving Reformer carriage. Is it better balance training? Or have we just made the exercise increasingly difficult to perform? Pilates instructors are exceptionally good at creating instability. We have moving carriages, springs, boxes, balls, unstable surfaces and endless opportunities to reduce someone's base of support. And because the exercise becomes harder, it is ea

You have probably heard the terms concentric, eccentric and isometric hundreds of times throughout your Pilates education. You may know that concentric means a muscle shortens, eccentric means a muscle lengthens and isometric means a muscle maintains its length. But knowing those definitions is very different from being able to apply them when teaching. Take a simple Reformer footwork exercise. Understanding muscle contractions helps Pilates instructors recognise how exercise

If you have ever searched for Pilates classes, you have probably seen terms like: Reformer Pilates Clinical Pilates Physiotherapy Pilates Equipment Pilates Studio Pilates And if you are new to Pilates, it can be difficult to know what any of that actually means. The equipment can look similar. The exercises can sometimes overlap. Both may involve springs, straps, footbars and controlled movement. So what is the real difference between Clinical Pilates and Reformer Pilates? Cl

Lower back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek physiotherapy. It affects people of all ages and activity levels, from office workers and busy parents to athletes and retirees. If you are experiencing lower back pain, you may have been told that Pilates can help. But is reformer Pilates genuinely effective, and what makes a physiotherapy-guided approach different? Reformer Pilates provides a supported and highly effective environment for lower back rehabilitatio