Pilates Exercises Method

Pilates has gone from being a little known exercise system to a trendy fitness fad. Many celebrities credit Pilates as the reason behind their toned and sculpted bodies. The reason that Pilates has previously been little known is due to a trademark issue. Previously the term Pilates could only be used by instructors who had gone through a specific program.

Other people had to call their exercise systems ‘Pilates-inspired’ or ‘Pilates-based’. The term Pilates is no longer trademarked and this has seen an explosion of programs called Pilates. Not all Pilates instructor certification is the same and you will soon see this when you sign up for a class with a badly trained instructor.

Bad Training

Studying Pilates takes time, a year at the very least. However many people claim to have Pilates instructor certification having studied Pilates for much less time. This is because Pilates training courses are now offered for only a weekend. This means that personal trainers can take a weekend course and obtain Pilates instructor certification. This is a problem because often a weekend course is not enough to properly train a prospective course.

The problem that consumers and legitimate trainers face is that without the trademark on Pilates exercise anyone can offer exercises and claim them to be the Pilates method. The same goes for equipment, anyone can now stamp the Pilates name on equipment without properly making sure that it is suited to the Pilates method.

Industry Standards

At the moment there are no industry standards in terms of Pilates instructor certification. This may change in the future as moves to standardize Pilates instructor training throughout the industry. At the moment there is a test that has been developed by the Pilates Movement Alliance. Unfortunately not everyone has adopted this test.

Although this test has been used by many top ranking Pilates studios and programs to judge instructors, it is not the only program that ensures the best Pilates instructor certification. There are still programs out there that ensure the people who undergo training will provide quality instruction.

Making sure that you have good training is largely up to you. To make sure that you have good Pilates instructor certification you need to make sure that you thoroughly check out the program you are about to enrol in. A good way to check the suitability of a program is to talk to instructors and look at the programs and courses they attended.