Our bodies have not changed over the past 100 years, but our environment has. We live in a society of getting out of bed, inhaling our Starbucks and a muffin, driving in our car, “flexion”; sitting at a computer, “flexion”; then off to a spinning class, “flexion”; then to a Pilates mat class, and more “FLEXION.” Joseph Pilates worked with dancers who lived in extension, and who were already fit and well aware of their body alignment. He was most defiantly a visionary, but not an exercise physiologist. With the boom of Pilates in the “fitness” industry, clubs are forced to hold one-day mat “certification” or even two-day equipment “certifications” – with the trainings offering only several exercises without purpose or even information on how to modify them for today’s population.
Unfortunately, many students are in large, crowded classes where the trainer has no idea the woman in the back has herniated discs and a cesarean. The teacher then demonstrates a roll-up “flexion,” a traditional Pilates exercise, and never learned the dangers in their one-day “certification” that the roll-up utilizes more hip flexors than actual abdominal muscles. The woman in the back then leaves feeling nothing but pain in her back and neck, and feels like a failure because the trainer only stayed in the front of the class, and never bothered to walk around to give mandatory modifications for those who had never attended a Pilates so-called mat class.
After teaching at hundreds of conventions I have witnessed trainers themselves struggling to perform these traditional exercises that even they cannot perform correctly. Then, they return only to teach the exercises that are injuring their unsuspecting students. Not to mention, I have had hundreds ask me why, since they have been teaching Pilates mat classes, their own backs hurt. And, after interviewing them, they never learned how to do a postural assessment, and did not even learn their issues. We, as trainers, are responsible for every student that enters our room, and we should know the purpose of the exercises and why we are performing them for today’s society.
If a club truly is concerned about the quality of their trainers, it needs to be mandatory that the trainers attend long and intensive educations that actually teach how to do a full postural and injury assessment and which exercises are appropriate for that client. They should also learn the purpose of every exercise. (And, not necessarily exercises developed for dancers.) Mat classes should be a maximum of 15, and mandatory pre-Pilates mat should be required for at least three to five sessions. Equipment should have no more than six to a class.
Clubs can make the changes to offer safer programming: 1. Mandating better certifications that actually teach more than just the exercises 2. Offering an introductory mat class that will prepare all students to be mainstreamed. 3. Charging for small classes that utilize props as group personal training 4. Keeping large mat classes at a beginning level only, and if students want advanced training, it can be offered in a small group basis with hands-on training. Finally, scrutinize traditional Pilates exercises for the general population – for a large group.
Creating safer exercises for the GENERAL FITNESS POPULATION
Adding props, such as a small ball in mat classes, will ultimately help students prevent themselves from stressing and or injuring their low back. Starting with standing, rather than supine work (even just bending or moving the arms and legs with correct breathing) is much more functional than starting with a cold back on a mat performing the 100. (To actually train the core correctly it is not on the back on a flat surface.) Our core is our arms and legs, and the powerhouse is the front and back of the torso. However, if the trainer feels that they need to perform a lot of sitting or supine work, placing a small ball behind the spine, when in a seated position, and then rolling the spine in a C-curve over the small ball is 408% more effective and safer than a traditional roll-up or crunch. All students can perform this pain-free and actually achieve the powerhouse muscles they are looking to train. Unanimously, after interviewing hundreds of trainers, we’ve found they feel the difference and feel it is easier to cue the student to perform the exercise correctly.
Leslee Bender B.A. ACSM, NASM, ACE, AFAA is the Creator of the Bender Method and Founder of The Pilates Coach. She has presented internationally for over 25 years and has brought a safer approach to Pilates training for the general population.
