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Pilates, Fitness and Instruction
Actual Pilates instruction can protect you from injury and support your fitness progress.
A client came into my Pilates studio the other day and said she was doing Pilates at a studio with 20 stations. There was no correction given, nor attention to people in the room who might have needed correction. She said they added ankle weights and extra load to all the exercises. They were using reformers and chairs but she was getting hurt. After one session with me, we discovered that her low back was working far too much because her glutes weren’t firing. That is a VERY real problem for more people than you would think. This is where proper Pilates instruction would be helpful.
Benefits of group fitness
I told my client that sounds like a fun workout, but it sounds like group fitness. And I should know, I’ve been a group fitness instructor for more than 25 years. Group fitness is great! You’re with other people, moving to a beat, having some fun while you move, AND you can always incorporate your Pilates Principles so you have good posture and form when you’re moving (if you know your Pilates Principles).
Pilates improves group fitness, but group fitness will not improve Pilates
Just because there is a Pilates apparatus (reformer, tower, spring board, chair, barrel) doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing Pilates.
We do both fitness and Pilates at the Pilates Loft and there is a DISTINCT LABELED DIFFERENCE in the format so you know EXACTLY what you’re getting.
Our mixed reformer is straight up Pilates repertoire. The focus is to get to the deep intrinsic muscles of the spine and skeleton. This class is designed to make your framework stronger, to make your posture better, and to make everything else that you do just a little bit better.
Our strength training classes Full Body Fusion, Stronger by the Minute, and Barre Fusion are meant to complement the work you’re doing in Pilates because variety is your best co-pilot. In the description of those strength classes the very first line is “this is NOT Pilates” because we know the difference, but we also know both are SO good for you.
Under one roof in Mendota Heights, the Pilates Loft does Pilates extraordinarily well and we also do fitness extraordinarily well. There are no short cuts to Pilates, and understanding the distinction from fitness is what will make you stronger, smarter, and more balanced.