Pilates Tips from the Pros | FusionPilatesEDU.com

Initiation of the Long Box Arms

Training the shoulder girdle can be a daunting task with clients. There is so much room for error when working with the arms due to their extreme mobility or lack thereof. Fine tuning and attention to detail is primary when working with this area of the body. The slightest rotation of the humerus can change […]…

Lateral Rib Cage Breathing

Building better breathers is a primary concern for Pilates teachers. If we can arm our clients with one thing, it is the power to cue into and work on their breath. This skill building is something that they can take with them in all facets of their life. We are primarily concerned with the breath […]…

Toning the Inner & Outer Thigh with Magic Circle

As we already know, the Magic Circle is an easy, inexpensive, and effective tool that will help you achieve your Pilates body. Try to find just twenty to thirty minutes a day to use your Circle to tone and lengthen. If you’re consistent you will start to feel and see the results within the month! […]…

Initiation of the Mermaid on the Foam Roller

Mermaid is such a great exercise whether it is on the mat, Reformer, Cadillac, or chair. The side bending of the spine gives the vertebrae a wonderful opportunity to yawn and expand from side to side. This is so helpful in encouraging spinal articulation in all ways. By using the foam roller here as a […]…

Using Pilates to Prevent and Heal Lower Back Pain: Stretches

Millions of us live with moderate to severe back pain on a daily basis. Our hectic lives of spending long hours at a desk, in front of a computer, or behind the wheel of a car makes it difficult to maintain good back health. Many of us are learning what professional athletes have known for […]…

How to Care for Your Ladder Barrel

The ladder barrel is a wonderful piece of apparatus that any well equipped studio must have. Its uses are many, and to get the best results from it, caring for the equipment is a high priority. Even if it is not your own, taking pride in your workspace is essential. Working with the equipment requires […]…

Kathy Grant: A Teacher’s Teacher

I never had the privilege of meeting or working with Kathy Grant, but have many friends and colleagues who did work with her extensively. My mentor, Marie-José Blom from Long Beach Dance Conditioning, was quite close to her and speaks of her often. In fact, on the day of Kathy Grant’s death I was with […]…

Help! My Clients Always Cramp in Bridge!

Clients who cramp usually have a variety of reasons why this is a problem in movement. It can be anything from nutritional deficiencies to medication side effects. But it also comes from starting to innervate and move an area of the body that isn’t used to being called on. When repatterning the body to move […]…

Mary Bond Interview

We were so happy to have Mary Bond join us in Asheville for an amazing live workshop and to shoot a couple of great online workshops. If you’re not familiar with her work, you should be! Enjoy this interview – and see below for some more info on Mary. Hope you enjoyed the interview – […]…

Overball Deep Neck Flexor Strengthening Exercises

The deep flexors of the neck are a very important area to pay attention to while working with your clients. Very often the neck flexors are underused and over stretched. Poorly constructed seated posture reinforces the forward head shear that accompanies too much computer work and drive time. By focusing on the area on the […]…

Cyber Monday

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Mat Bridge

Bridging is a very common exercise in group mat classes and on the equipment. Clients have a hard time establishing anchors and being able to fluidly move through the spine. Great chunks of the spine will usually be skipped over by most people while doing Bridge. Learn some valuable cueing and propping techniques so that […]…

Working as an Independent Contractor, Part 1

It’s rare that you will find a Pilates Studio which hires instructors as employees. For the most part, you will be working as a Pilates Instructor as an Independent Contractor. There are pros and cons to working as either an employee or an independent contractor. Working as an Employee In most cases, you will receive […]…

Preparatory Counter Movement and Elastic Recoil

In this video post I’m going to add on some exercises to continue the up training of our fascial body suit and the concept of preparatory counter movement and elastic recoil. Seated springy side bends, Kneeling arch/curl, Crab modification and open leg rocker are all offered as ways that we can build up to the […]…

Pike on the Wunda Chair

The chair can help us build a lot of functional strength because so many of the exercises are done seated or standing. The Pike exercise is a full body exercise and takes an equal amount of inner and outer strength no matter what spring setting you choose. In the video you will see the contrast […]…

Differentiation: Arms and Torso

Learning and paying attention to differentiation skills is an essential building block of the Pilates Method. Realizing where the stability happens and where the movement comes from is a light bulb moment for a lot of clients. The Reformer is one of the best places to hone this skill because of all the feedback you […]…

First Training Principle of Fascial Fitness & Preparatory Counter Movement

I am recently back from Fascial Summer School in Ulm, Germany where I studied with top fascial researcher Robert Schleip and Fascial Fitness creator Divo Muller. These brilliant researchers have come up with 5 principles for training the fascia. I want to explore the first principle, preparatory counter movement. In this video post I’ll look […]…

Parkinson’s: Tennis Ball Stretches for the Hands

Tremors in the hands and fingers are very common in our Parkinson’s clients. Doing exercises that talk to their connective tissue, brain, and nervous system can really help them key down and organize better. Learn some simple hand stretches with the spiky or tennis ball that can get rid of undue tension and gripping in […]…

Spiky Ball Side Hip Release

This sequence of hip releases at the wall with the spiky ball is an excellent warm up for any group class. It is also excellent to teach your private clients so that they can come into the studio to do it before their session and can do it at home in between sessions. If done […]…

Swan on the Mat

It is important for the instructor to let the client move so you can see how they organize or don’t organize. This is when you can really pick up on where the imbalances lie. In Swan we typically see lots of compression in the lumbar spine, which can lead to a lot of dysfunction over […]…