Let’s dive into the world of Classical Pilates with Andrea Maida. Whether you are a contemporary or a classical Pilates teacher you will learn a lot from this interview.
- Have you ever thought about the importance of the Classical Pilates order?
- Or do you personally feel “confined” by the strict order?
- Do you enjoy repetition in Pilates?
- Or do you feel that you constantly have to come up with something new for your clients?
The choice on how to teach is yours and I am not trying to make this decision for you. However, as always, I encourage you to question and to dive deeper into Pilates.
There is a reason and purpose for each exercise in Pilates.
Contrology (pilates) is not a system of haphazard exercises designed to produce only bulging muscles.
~Joseph Pilates
And we shouldn’t treat a Pilates workout as a conventional gym workout. Instead, let’s try to figure out the genius of Joseph Pilates and his system. Andrea Maida, an extraordinary classical Pilates teacher, has been intrigued and excited about exploring the importance of the classical Pilates order in her personal practice and while teaching her students. Today she wants to share with you what she has discovered along with several other Pilates “revelations” that have revolutionized her Pilates vision.
I hope that this interview will help you develop a fresh look on classical Pilates order and how to use it to the benefit of your clients (and yourself.) Listen, learn and ask your questions.
Here is what else we will focus on in the interview:
- the importance of Classical Pilates order
- Andrea’s explanation of the purpose of the order of mat exercises (download)
- Andrea’s complete Super-Advanced Reformer order (download it)
- The must-have exercises for any Pilates session
- “check-in” exercises to track your client’s progress and keep them coming back
- how to encourage clients to take Pilates from the studio to their day-to-day life
- Andrea’s advice on how to enhance your teaching style
Download these resources
- Interview Worksheet download the worksheet to organize your notes and REALLY take Andrea’s advice to your practice.
- The importance of Order of Pilates Mat Exercises
- Classical Pilates Reformer Order
Connect with Andrea Maida and learn from her
- http://www.pilatesandrea.com/blog/ – Andrea’s Blog and studio website.
- Pilates Andrea on PilatesBridge.com
- https://www.facebook.com/pilatesandrea/ – Facebook
Interview Transcript
1. Andrea, please share your Pilates story. How did you start practicing Pilates and how (why) you became a teacher?
I started Pilates as a client because I had no fitness plan in place. I was working as an actor and got cast in a play where I had to wear black vinyl, bare midriff and prance around. I was very scared of my costume. I had a friend who was also in that play and she suggested that I try Pilates.
I’ve always done Yoga, I enjoyed movement as a child (gymnastics etc.) I didn’t really know what Pilates was but was ready to try it. I thought it was going to be like Yoga (because it was a mat class.)
I got there and started doing the mat exercises and thought to myself “It really IS NOT like Yoga. They seem so specific about what they want me to do be doing and using. They are talking about muscles…”
I tried to do a Roll-Up but nothing happened. I was getting kind of mad (*laugh*) I feel that I stuck with Pilates because I was stubborn enough. After all, Roll-Up was only the second exercise and I should have been able to do it!
I started to take an Apparatus class with some of my friends while working a day job that I wasn’t enjoying much. At one point I was looking for a new job and I came to my Pilates mat class and there was a sign on the door saying “Part-Time Studio Manager Needed.”
I started working at a Pilates studio and I was able to take more classes more affordably. They started a training program at their studio (it was in Washington DC.) The studio owners were trained by Romana and wanted to create a teacher training program that was very close to Romana’s Pilates to have a better chance of staffing their busy studio. They met with several people (me included!) and said “We think you would be great for our training program. Did you ever think about becoming a Pilates instructor?” I said “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly…”
It took me a while to decide because I wasn’t sure if I liked teaching people. But once I started I felt that it was really rewarding. I never had a job where I had to tell people what to do so it felt really weird at first.
Then I just kept trying to make myself a better teacher and feel more comfortable in my job. I was always seeking more education that led me to train with Romana and eventually led me to Jay Grimes in Los Angeles.
I’ve been doing Pilates since 2000 and teaching since 2003.2. How are you trying to influence the Pilates community through your online presence?
I’ve heard about Romana and I wanted to experience her training. I realized that the only way for me to get continuing education with her was to get certified through their program (and I was fine with that.)
Over time I started noticing that there were a lot of people who wanted to learn about classical Pilates but it was not so accessible to them.
Looking online I saw that there were a lot of technical, anatomy-based, in-depth articles written about Pilates. I really wanted Pilates to be fun since it is really a form of exercise, so you have to have a sense of humor about it. And as you find out more information about your body, it’s often not the information that we want to find out. So you have to laugh it out. (*LAUGH*)
I started my blog (click here) because I wanted to write something that would be light-hearted and help people do good things for themselves. Sometimes it’s hard, especially if you teach Pilates, to make yourself work out.
Since I’ve been writing my blog I found out that it has been helping me articulate and deepen my understanding of the method as well. (I didn’t really think about it as I started.)
3. What is your personal definition of Pilates? (for a first-time client or a person who has no idea what Pilates is all about.)
I’ve heard people describe it as “It’s an investment in your quality of life.”
I think that Pilates is instructions on how to take care of you body.
When you get this body it works fine but as it gets older it develops these idiosyncrasies. Pilates helps you to understand what it is that you are doing to yourself that your body eventually says “You know, we don’t like that anymore. And we wish you would stop!”Pilates gives you information so if something bothers you, you can say ‘Oh well, I understand this because of my experience in movement.”
4. How do you structure the first session with a new client? What is your focus for this session and how do you “test” his/her body?
The first session, if you’ve never done Pilates before, is very foreign, it’s really a lot of weird equipment, the positions that you are not used to and the instructions that are coming at you. I try to let the person tell what has been going on with their body and I watch for what is going on that they are not saying.
I try to let the new clients try different equipment and experience the movement with spare guidance while keeping them safe and keeping them moving. They are learning that they are not going to be perfect at first but they need to figure out for themselves how things are going to go.
That’s my goal though sometimes it doesn’t happen quite as beautifully. I keep them safe and away from the things that are not indicated for them without making them feel injured, or having a discussion about why they can’t do something.
5. What Pilates exercises are “must-haves” of any Pilates session for you (any level)?
I feel that the Stomach Massage Series and the Short Box are really important. We learn them first but they keep being so challenging. Especially the Short Box because it gets deeper and deeper.
6. What in your opinion is the genius of Joe’s order of the exercises on the mat/Reformer?
I’ve been pretty much always in classical Pilates so we always adhere to the order (but I can’t speak for the contemporary Pilates.) I feel that the order is one of the things that we get from Joseph Pilates himself. He spent his whole life organizing the exercises this way. I believe there is even documentation that is decades apart that shows that there has been very little change to the exercises and to the order.
Joseph Pilates’ order warms up the body, and then works part of it and then goes to the other part of it, and then puts everything together combining it with a big free movement, and then focuses on specific muscles groups.
I feel that more and more is revealed to me as I get it more in my body about how he prepares you. Each exercise is not a world into itself but is a component that you build on in the next exercise. And he gives you a skill that kind of turns onto its head. “Okay, you learned that but now you are going to do it here but you are going to do this other thing too.”
I feel that his genius is putting us in the same situation but in a different position (turned around, with or without resistance, with another element etc.)
I feel that the order is really how we get to experience really what he created. There are other people who’ve done similar exercises but the order is really his alone.
7. Which exercises do you usually put into your Reformer workout?
For the clients who can do a good portion of the exercises, I try to teach them a complete Reformer workout in 40-45 minutes. I heard Jay Grimes say the other day at a workshop that you should be able to do Advanced Reformer in 30 minutes.
Depending on the level of the client I try to make them do all the exercises that they can currently do on the Reformer and then we usually have time for the exercises somewhere else that prepare them for the things that they might learn in the future.
I leave the exercises out on the Reformer only if they are not appropriate for the person or if there is a time constraint.
8. What is the importance of repetition in Pilates?
Pilates is not the same as traditional exercise. I’ve heard it described as a martial art where you are learning skills that build one upon another and help you to learn even more complicated skills.
In my experience, I really enjoy the repetition because I can really use it as a barometer of how things are going in my body. I feel that you really notice the nuances when you are doing a simpler program.
And there are always the exercises that you put in afterwards, the exercises YOU need, that you check in with to see how the things are going.
I feel that the way you really learn the skills of Pilates is through consistency and repetition.
9. What are good “check-in” exercises that make the clients realize what they should be working towards?
Pull-Up on a Wunda Chair because it really shows you whether you have a powerhouse or not.
Teaser on a Cadillac usually feels good for most clients (though it might not feel as good in some other places.)
Short Spine Massage on the Reformer because it helps the clients to get a little break after the Short Box.
10. What are your tricks for keeping your clients engaged and excited about their next session (even though you are practicing the same order of the exercises)?
I am really fortunate to work with the people who are not put off by the order or the fact that we do a lot of the same things. And that really is only a portion of the session. After we do a warm-up with the Reformer or the mat we do a selection of things that they don’t do so frequently.
I have a lot of people who come because Pilates makes them feel good in their bodies. They seem very motivated by the order. “Oh, I can do this! I know where it goes in the order.” And I get excited about the fact that I don’t have to tell them about what to do because they know and they’ve been thinking about it.
11. How do you encourage and instruct your clients to take Pilates from the studio to their real life?
(listen to the interview to find this answer :-))
12. What Pilates exercise do you believe most teachers and students get wrong? (mat, Reformer or apparatus)
All of the exercises in Pilates theoretically are about the center. And the ones that are hard to make about your stomach are the Side Kick Series and the One Leg Circles on the mat. The movement of the leg is sometimes very distracting.
For years I’ve thought that I was just throwing my leg around (*laugh.*) Once I realized that it was really a stomach exercise, my hip started to feel much better and it changed really a lot of things.
13. How do you guide a brand new client to find his/her “center” and to establish that essential Pilates core connection?
With some of the clients that are very tense I find it beneficial to let them relax.
By letting them not work so hard in other places will send a message to their stomach and they will finally feel it.
What cues do you normally use when teaching?
I try not to talk too much and let them do the work. I’ll use tactile cues to correct them and guide them in the movement.
14. Is there a particular piece of advice that you would like to share with other novice or seasoned Pilates instructors to enhance their teaching style?
I am a big fan of education. I really like to get to the source, Joe Pilates, as much as possible that’s why I like studying with Jay Grimes. I feel that educating yourself and experiencing Pilates exercises in your own body is an invaluable tool when you are teaching other people. It enhances your experience of the exercise and enhances your eye of what should be going on, it helps you see the energy of their movement.
I can’t say enough about taking lessons and conditioning yourself to be a Pilates “role-model” (you have to “walk the walk” if you are teaching other people how to exercise.)
I feel that I work on my empathy when I have my own lessons.
How often do you practice Pilates?
I take a class with Karen Frischmann at Vintage Pilates every Monday. I also try to have an hour-long Pilates session every other day, but even on the days when I don’t have a full workout I do the exercises when I am waiting for somebody.