Benefits of Pilates

Slower than aerobics, but more dynamic than stretching. Pilates is a sweet technique invented by an athlete in the Twenties who is enjoying enormous success today. But what does it consist of? Pilates consists of a vast series of exercises focused on body control, involving four interconnected sections: exercises on breathing, posture, limbs and trunk, and finally on the neck and head .

Among the benefits of the Pilates method there is certainly an improvement in posture and ligaments, as well as a strengthening of the bone structure. In addition to this, Pilates allows the subject to work that class of less robust muscles, those that are usually not noticed and that, during other gym sessions, are never solicited. Another benefit is mental . The Pilates teacher is the one who invites the subject to perform the movements with awareness, stimulating an exercise in thought that induces meditation, calm and a state of psychophysical well-being. But what exactly does the Pilates teacher do?

The Pilates teacher

Becoming a Pilates teacher means knowing how to introduce a practitioner not so much to a series of exercises as to a real philosophy of movement . Depending on the person in front of or at the level of the group, if it is a class, the Pilates teacher will study a training program that will allow the subject to achieve physical and mental harmony, strengthen the muscles without weighing them down unnatural way, improve elasticity and tone every part of the body, especially thanks to breathing techniques. During the lesson the instructor explains the correct execution and posture. Good level instructors will also know how to evoke in the practitioner the feeling that will lead them to the effective execution of that exercise.

Becoming a Pilates teacher also means being familiar with the various tools covered by the discipline and developed by Joseph H. Pilates. The main machines that the Pilates teacher must know how to use are four: the Reformer, a bed on which a platform runs through some rails, similar to the rowers of traditional gyms; the trapeze or Cadillac, a sort of bed with an upper steel structure, on which the practitioner can hang himself in different positions, using ropes and pulleys; the chair, similar to a simple chair, but with some pedals connected to increase resistance; and finally the barrel, fundamental for the lengthening of the vertebral column, it is a half-cylinder shaped structure.

There are obviously also exercises on the ground, which are performed on a mat, a mat. It is very important that the instructor is able to recognize the limits or physical difficulties of the student, is able to dissolve them with visualization and verbal support . When it comes to performing exercises on the ground it is easy for the instructor to ask the student to obtain one or more of the accessories covered by the discipline (elastic band, ring or magic circle, ball).

How to become a Pilates teacher

Most of those who want to become Pilates teachers come from the world of dance and / or rehabilitation therapies, as well as those who have a degree in physical education .

In Italy, some highly professional schools operate, offering training courses to become certified Pilates teachers and offering the guarantee of serious training. Some schools to become teachers of Pilates require a basic preparation in the field of body disciplines and accept only ISEF graduates, Rehabilitation Therapists or dancers. Once the sufficient degree of basic preparation has been ascertained, these schools provide for the training of the Certified Pilates Teacher through an intense course followed by a long training, essential for a correct understanding of the method. After a final exam, the Pilates method instructor diploma is awarded. Improving the quality of teaching comes with time and patience. The instructor's work will consist of constant training and experimentation, especially regarding the language to be adopted depending on the person who turns to this professional figure to obtain a benefit in terms of psychophysical well-being.

If you want to become a Pilates teacher, one of the most well-known training schools that you can contact is surely: Polestar Pilates (a reality distributed all over the world, conceived by Brent Anderson and Elisabeth Larkam), True Pilates (sole location Italian of the New York school directed by the official heir of Pilates) and Power Pilates (training center based in Verona led by the teacher Trainer Katerine Cid).