With the growth of the pilates industry over the past ten years, there have been huge changes in how pilates is practiced.
It’s become increasingly confusing for people to understand what the pilates method of exercise actually is and what makes it unique from other exercise methods.
There are a number of factors that contribute to this.
Despite a huge amount of work done by a number of people over the past few decades, unfortunately, the pilates industry remains unregulated.
There is an industry organisation (there used to be two), but it is not a requirement to be a member of this organisation to work in the industry.
Education is also unregulated.
Unfortunately, there is a trend in the pilates education sector to move away from government accredited courses with just four remaining registered training organisations in Australia who run government accredited diploma level courses.
All of this has led to an explosion of non-registered training organisations offering fast education and qualifications to feed the growing need for instructors, primarily group reformer instructors.
The bottom line…there can be a big difference in the quality of education being provided.
Another factor is the abundant availability of information, which can sometimes be contradictory or misleading.
There are lots of positive outcomes from all this fast growth. The industry is starting to self-regulate, a competitive market is forcing higher standards and there are now a variety of ways to practice pilates.
Joseph Pilates original vision of taking his work to the world…” everyone should be doing my work” …is becoming a reality.
But with the realisation of his vision, the essence, integrity and genius of his original exercise method has the potential to be lost to the need for a fitness workout.
There is nothing wrong with doing a fitness workout on a piece of equipment called the reformer.
But the question of whether you are actually practicing pilates will largely be down to the instructor’s level of education, their teaching skills and the business model of the studio.
This applies to ALL types of pilates classes not just group reformer.
Whilst the industry continues to evolve, there is one aspect that will remain constant and that is Joseph Pilates created more than a bunch of exercises and more than a piece of equipment.
He had a deep understanding of the importance of the development of the body, mind and spirit to live a long, happy and healthy life.
And this is why we teach the original pilates method here at Pilates Plus.
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