IS YOUR INSTRUCTOR FIT TO TEACH

IS YOUR INSTRUCTOR FIT TO TEACH?

In the fall of 2000 a court decided that the name 'Pilates' could not be trademarked. This means that Pilates is a generic term and anyone can call their exercises 'Pilates based' or 'Pilates style'. For this reason you should always enquire about the teacher's training and credentials to ensure that the instruction that you receive is accurate and safe.

There is no uniform training and certification programme nationwide in either Canada or the U.S.A. Some training bodies 'certify' teachers after attending a one weekend course! This 'certification' is of course not recognized by anyone other than the training body that issued it. The word 'certification' is therefore fairly meaningless in Canada and the U.S.A. where upwards of 25 million clients attend Pilates classes every week.

In the U.K. this problem has been addressed. Previously, Physiotherapists, Chiropractors and other health professionals had no way of knowing to which Pilates teachers they should, and more importantly should not be sending clients. Now qualifications can be checked at www.exerciseregister.org. Teachers on this register shown as 'level 3 Pilates' are advanced teachers and at present this is the highest U.K. teacher rating.

Properly trained teachers in Europe, Canada or the U.S.A would have attended workshops, carried out student teaching, taught existing classes under the supervision of an experienced teacher, and would have been tested by written and practical examination. At the end of the training programme, continuing education would be mandatory.

TESTIMONIALS

'Like many others earning their living in the new age of electronic information, my life has become increasingly sedentary with extended periods spent hunched over a computer keyboard. Frequent but short lived fitness initiatives, visits to the gym etc. did nothing to relieve chronic backache and tension across the shoulders. Having read about Pilates in a newspaper article it seemed to offer a solution and had the bonus of not requiring me to rise with the sun and dash myself off to the gym with all the other macho members of my peer group. From my very first Pilates lesson with Ian Dilworth it started to ease my muscular problems and appeared to help my concentration and clarity of thinking. After three years it has become a fundamental part of my daily routine that allows me to maintain the long periods at the keyboard demanded by research and book publication. Other benefits such as being able to ski for most of the day on several consecutive days and a much improved stamina for hill walking have become apparent over the years. Perhaps most important of all my twice weekly Pilates sessions have provided a small oasis of calm where I can relax and mentally resolve research and business problems'.
Allan MacKay
- Research fellow and author