WHAT WE DO (AND DON'T DO) IN OUR CLASSES
A perspective on teaching fitness for 26 years in an ever-changing world.
Between our amazing team of highly qualified and experienced teachers, we have years of teaching AND training between us. We ALL continue to train our own bodies, because we cannot teach YOU if its not in OUR body first.
So that coupled with teaching all kinds of bodies in all types of classes, looking at movement patterns, dealing with personalities as well as injuries means we all do our very best to give our clients the best we can.
We get lots of referrals from local health professionals and from our lovely clients – after all they know what we do and how much they benefit so love to spread the word BUT our classes are not for everyone!
So in the interest of transparency and perhaps to help you decide if our classes are for you, here are some useful bits of information that should help manage all expectations - yours and ours!
DITCH WHAT YOU SEE ON SOCIAL MEDIA - please!
First off…ditch the images that appear on social media – who the heck cares about what some Z list celebrity, influencer, TV presenter, You Tube sensation or film star is doing. Their life/lifestyle is not yours.
Some of them are posting like crazy to increase their reach and get a sponsorship for flogging a smoothie or clothing line, another could be trying to get a new job.
It’s got nothing to do with normal everyday life and what they look like bears no resemblance to your life or what you need your body to do in your usual working day.
Unless of course, your working day is posting on social media or filming with Tom Cruise.
The images that you see, particularly with regard to Reformer classes is just some marketers idea of what ideal health/fitness should look like, but it’s just that – a marketing plan not a fitness plan. It sets up unrealistic expectations that will almost certainly not be reached.
Yes we all know this, but we can still get caught up in it and put pressure on ourselves. So do yourself a favour and listen to your own body, not someone else’s.
SO HOW CAN WE HELP YOU ACHIEVE FITNESS GOALS FROM A PILATES BASED PERSPECTIVE?
It’s all about MOVEMENT – where does movement start? Simple - inside out.
The more connected to yourself, and your OWN body, the better you will progress because you will understand your body more and can connect to the movements more easily.
It’s lovely to see a client self-correct, instead of waiting for us to tell them. Constantly ask ‘where should I feel this’ is not going to help your progress. It’s your body, not ours. Getting to know it will only benefit you in the long run.
WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE IS NOT THE GOAL - well it might be, BUT if you feel better, move better you are going to feel better inside too. Then just maybe you will be more forgiving about how you look and celebrate the body you have, that allows you to do the good stuff and the not so exciting stuff too, like taking the bins out or cutting the grass. If you don’t have a Tom Cruise lifestyle, these mundane jobs still need to be done.
None of us are perfect, thank goodness, but many of you are dealing with all sorts of issues that life throws at us every day. We don’t need to be instagram perfect to be a wife/husband/partner/daughter/son/work mate/best mate..other options available!
You are a human BEING and a human DOING and you need a body that works as good as it possibly can.
TERMS YOU HEAR IN CLASS
Alignment – how do all the moving parts sit/behave in relationship to each other?
Core - a much used term these days - abs/bum and back - to help support your spine.
Posture – how you look – could be anything!
Stability – or are you a jelly?
Movement – joints move, muscles lengthen/shorten, tissues move as you move throughout the day doing the stuff you do.
Exercise – movement we do to try and improve our physical and mental health – can be Pilates, could be walking or gardening!
OUR AIM is to make EXERCISE.
♥ Enjoyable (or you won’t want to keep doing it)
♥ Achievable (or you won’t want to keep doing it)
♥ Educational (or you won’t understand WHY you need to keep doing it)
For some of you it’s necessary to prevent recurrence of back pain or other joint issues that keep flaring up.
This could be because you didn’t choose your parents very wisely or you have a job that puts strain on some bits of your body and you need to put some extra effort in to restore balance, or you have been involved in an accident or any other of the many reasons things go a bit pear shaped.
Or you are just getting older and realising that things don’t work the way they used to and you want to try and ensure you can do the things you like to do.
All we want is for you to do all the stuff you love to do for the rest of your days by incorporating what you learn in class to your daily life.
⛔ We don’t ask you to push through pain – ditch no pain no gain.
☺ Do expect to feel the burn sometimes, that’s simply because you are working muscles in a particular way, and they might not be used to that level of effort. They get used to it quite soon.
⛔We don’t spend hours dreaming up ways to push you beyond your limits or work you so hard you want to throw up!
☺We do ask you to listen to your body, get to know the signs and signals it is sending you, it’s doing that for a reason!
⛔Holding your tummy in, pulling your belly in, squeezing your pelvic floors is not Core Stability! Nor is a 6 pack!
☺Doing exercises that include whole body movements DOES work your core!
☺Changing or adapting an exercise when you need it – symptoms flare up or you are having a bit of crappy day IS a good idea. You are still working and doing good stuff.
☺Moving through exercises with just the right amount of effort, tension and flow means you get stronger.
☺It all takes regular practice.
☺It works!
So if you want to join us now you know where we are coming from, get in touch.
Since 1997 we have taught small classes, been hands on with everyone, even online our class sizes and input remains the same. We’ve been running Group Reformer classes for 18 years and we work with loads of local health professionals..
We are very often full in most classes - because our clients stick with us for years and years.
We are lucky to have great people in class and we look after them. (It’s why they come for years and years).