Enhance your teaching skills: Tips to help you become a better Pilates instructor

As a Pilates instructor, you get to spend your days guiding and supporting clients and helping them achieve their health goals and improve their strength, flexibility and mobility. Your work and expertise has a very real, measurable and powerful impact on your client’s physical and mental health and overall wellbeing.

Your responsibility to your clients…

While this is such an honour and a fulfilling, rewarding way to spend your working life, it also comes with responsibility… A responsibility to continue to enhance your teaching skills, and to stay up-to-date with the latest industry developments, advances in technology and techniques. Being an effective, successful Pilates instructor requires a commitment to growing your knowledge and skills at all times throughout your career, so you can provide the most informed and effective care to your clients as possible.

Whether you’re an experienced instructor, or you’re just starting out in the Pilates industry (or aspiring to do so!), there’s always room to grow. So to give you a head start, we’re sharing some powerful times to help you become a better instructor, and advance your career in the rewarding, dynamic Pilates industry.

Why is continuous learning so important?

The Pilates industry is always evolving and changing - in response to growing demand and awareness about the profound benefits of the practice, the development of new equipment and techniques, the expansion of Pilates into new formats and methodologies, and a bunch of other factors. Staying up-to-date with the latest trends, innovations and opportunities in Pilates allows you to provide more effective training and support to your clients and set yourself apart from your competition in the eyes of both employers and clients.

In a competitive industry, it’s crucial you’re always one step ahead of everyone else if you want to make your mark… Which means staying on top of new practices and developments in Pilates is crucial!

It’s important for you, as well as your clients

And in addition to improving your client care and job opportunities, continuous learning and growth also allows you to deepen your own understanding of human anatomy, refine your teaching practices, and stay inspired in your chosen career path. You’ll feel more engaged, and more fulfilled seeing the difference your knowledge is making on the lives of your clients.

Learning is a process - it’s never “complete”

Professional development never stops for Pilates instructors. Embrace this opportunity to enhance your expertise, and prepare to deliver higher-quality programming and support to your patients, and secure your position at the forefront of the dynamic, competitive Pilates industry.

Skills every Pilates instructor needs in their repertoire

These skills are fundamental additions to your toolkit as a Pilates instructor:

Human anatomy and movement patterns.

Understanding how the body moves, and how to program Pilates sequences to work with human anatomy and biomechanics allows you to teach classes with precision and confidence. You’ll master the ability to adapt or modify movements to cater to different levels and physical requirements or limitations.

Deepening your knowledge of how to target and activate specific muscle groups, and how to advance or regress movement patterns for various fitness levels and abilities ensures you’re able to provide safe, effective instruction to your chosen group of clients. Constantly refreshing and refining your anatomical knowledge through courses and workshops allows you to deepen your understanding of movement patterns, and improve the quality of your teaching.

Communication and cueing.

Learning how to clearly articular precise, accurate and effective cues is essential in allowing you to guide your clients through their Pilates practice. A great instructor is someone who has practiced refining their language and descriptions of movements, and deeply understands the intention behind each exercise, so clients always understand exactly what and why they’re doing in every moment during a session.

Mastering this skill prevents confusion, frustration, and even injury or poor technique among your clients. Remember, communication involves more than words - your body language and demonstrations are also crucial elements!

Personalisation.

Each client attending your sessions has their own goals, abilities and limitations. The best Pilates instructors are able to adapt exercises to cater to the unique needs of each individual - which requires a solid foundation in anatomical knowledge and a deep understanding of your core client base.

Whether you’re supporting a client rehabilitating an injury, or helping another increase their strength, having the confidence and ability to personalise your classes and sequences powerfully elevates your effectiveness as an instructor. Continuously assess your clients’ needs and progress, and adjust exercises to challenge and support them in a safe, considered way.
Motivation.

In Pilates, motivation is essential for helping your clients push themselves further, improve their results, and achieve their individual goals. Approaching each session with energy, enthusiasm and encouragement will inspire your clients to keep pushing and proving how capable they really are, and will encourage them to continue returning to your classes time and time again. Use positive reinforcement to help your clients stay motivated - whether that’s acknowledging and praising their improvements, or gently encouraging and pushing them - understanding how to work with different personality types allows you to determine the best approach for each individual client you work with.

Creating a Supportive Environment.

Establishing a supportive, nurturing environment also helps improve your clients’ motivation - it fosters a sense of trust in the expertise and care you bring to your classes, and makes them feel more inclined to keep coming back and pushing themselves towards their goals. Get to know your clients - including their names, this is a massive factor in creating a lasting client-instructor relationship and retaining your customer base long-term - listen to their feedback and needs, and provide personalised advice when requested. Taking the time to build these relationships and motivate your clients will ensure long-term success in your teaching and career, and your clients’ progress.

Tips to help you become a better Pilates instructor

Continuous learning

Ongoing education is essential, as we’ve discussed. Attend as many workshops, webinars and networking opportunities as possible. Complete online upskilling courses regularly, and continue learning about advanced or emerging techniques, or practices specific to the group of clients you’ve chosen to work with, to continue developing your skills, expertise and your appeal to potential customers.

Your learning is never “complete”

Whether you’re learning about new pieces of equipment, new Pilates formats (hot Pilates or tower Pilates, anyone?), emerging injury prevention or rehabilitation strategies, or recent research developments specific to your chosen client niche, there’s always plenty to learn to enhance your teaching ability and appeal.

Check out Unite Health’s huge range of online short courses to get started today!

Self-reflection

Regularly checking in with yourself to reflect on your teaching ability is so powerful. Think about how your clients are performing in your classes. Are they responding to your cues, or are they confused and unsure of your demonstrations? Are they energised and enthusiastic throughout each session, or do you notice a drop in motivation as the class continues? Are your clients achieving their goals and feeling good about themselves and their progress, or do they seem frustrated about where they’re at in their practice?

Tips for analysing your own performance

If you find it difficult to make time to ask these questions while teaching, try filming some of your classes (with your clients’ consent) and watching them back later to see how the class responds to your teaching style and programming.

Self-reflection helps you identify areas in which you can improve and elevate, allowing you to upskill and fill in any knowledge or skill gaps and positively improve your instructing ability.

Feedback

Any constructive feedback your clients give you is a gift. It’s invaluable for your growth and self-improvement, and while it may sometimes feel challenging to hear and accept, it’s an opportunity to improve and elevate your craft.

Get your clients involved

Regularly ask your clients for feedback - positive or negative - on your programming, classes, and the overall experience you provide. Ask them what’s working well, and what could be improved. And don’t stop there - take this feedback onboard, and use it to motivate you to elevate in any areas that need some work.

Remember, you’re doing it for your clients… But also for yourself, and your own career success. The best Pilates instructors have the most career opportunities, the greatest income potential, and feel more fulfilled and enthusiastic about their work!

Network and be inspired

Don’t forget about your peers! Networking or reaching out to other Pilates instructors you respect or admire can give you ideas on how to improve your own teaching style and methods.

Learn from your peers

Try attending classes at other Pilates studios, and noticing what works well, and what doesn’t. There’s something to be learned from every class and instructor - whether you take away a new movement to integrate into your own classes, you’re inspired by the energy or approach another instructor takes, or you discover something you don’t want to incorporate into your teaching, it’s always immensely beneficial to get out there and experience the skills and shortfalls of others in similar positions to you.

Ask other instructors for feedback

You can also ask other instructors to attend your classes, and seek their insights and feedback about your teaching. This is another opportunity to continuously improve and learn from other experts around you.

Finding new ways to challenge yourself and your clients - whether it’s introducing elements of other classes you’ve attended, or incorporating new teaching techniques and styles you’ve seen modelled by other instructors - keeps your passion and enthusiasm for your job alive and ensures your classes always feel interesting, dynamic and exciting for your clients.

Practice makes perfect!

To be a truly great Pilates instructor, you need to practice what you teach! Your clients look to you to model and guide them throughout a class. They expect to effectively communicate, cue and demonstrate movements - which is only possible if Pilates is a regular part of your own routine. This gives you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the movements you’re programming, and perfect your technique so you can help your clients do the same. It allows you to create sequences that seamlessly flow together, as you can test them out yourself prior to teaching. It means you can identify any movements which may not be appropriate for certain clients’ abilities or needs, and recognise important cues to use to prevent any form inaccuracies or muscle weaknesses.

Testing out your classes on yourself and regularly practicing Pilates in your own time is the most important way to improve your instructing ability and mastery of your practice. It will build your clients’ trust in you, and your confidence in yourself at the same time.

Upskilling: Your one-way ticket to improving your instructing skills

If you’re genuinely committed to becoming the best instructor you can be, enrolling in an upskilling course with an evidence-based, highly respected education provider like Unite Health is the very best way to go about it. It’s an investment in your future, opening doors to a huge range of career opportunities and possibilities.

You’ll master the latest techniques, deepen your knowledge specific to the clients you choose to work with (or maybe broaden your potential client base by studying and understanding a new group of clients you want to support), and elevate your confidence in programming and adapting classes to suit various needs and goals. You’ll improve your teaching style, be inspired by other like-minded Pilates enthusiasts and instructors, and learn top-quality content developed by leading healthcare professionals based on years of clinical practice and research.

Upskill with Unite Health’s diverse range of online course options, including courses about:

• Women’s health (for Menopause, Endometriosis, and the Pelvic Floor),
• Courses tailored to specific injuries or physical needs (like Osteoporosis, Spinal Surgery or Physiology, Injury and Healing)
• Or demographics (like APPI Pilates for Kids and Teens),
• Or unique and effective pieces of equipment (like APPI Pilates on the Arc Barrel or the Split Pedal Chair) and
• Options designed to add skills to your repertoire to set your classes apart (like our Mindfulness for Pilates course).

You’ll enhance your credibility and expertise, allowing you to stand out in a competitive industry to both clients and potential employers. The more effective you are as an instructor, the more you help your clients achieve their goals and the more success you’ll achieve in your own career!

Become the most exceptional, in-demand Pilates instructor you’re capable of being and take your teaching career to the next level by enrolling in one of our courses today!