Pilates Tips from the Pros | FusionPilatesEDU.com

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

MASSIVE DISCOUNTS! TODAY ONLY! Cyber Monday is one of the only days of the year that we offer discounts on Online Pilates Workshops. SALE ENDS TODAY – ACT NOW!!! click the links to see course descriptions & details… Online Pilates Apprentice (Comprehensive): SAVE $300.00! Use Promo Code: CYBERAPPRENT Online Pilates Refresher (Comprehensive): SAVE $150.00! […]…

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

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 […]…

Footwork on the Footplate

Footwork is a foundation and skill building exercise. Classical footwork done on the bar is amazing to create an awareness of core stability around the spine and pelvis, to find proper alignment, and to have ease of motion in the legs. The whole foot is never grounded on the foot bar, which can be an […]…

Mary Bowen Interview

Please enjoy this interview with Pilates Elder Mary Bowen. We had such a good time hanging out with her while she was here filming her online workshops and teaching her Pilates Plus Psyche and Lifelong Pilates. If you’ve studied with Mary, you’ll know that her energy and fullness of life is simply undeniable. This interview […]…

The Thoracolumbar Fascia

by Jennifer Gianni I just got back from teaching a 12 hour Anatomy in Clay class in Hilton Head Is., S.C. at Core Pilates. It was a fabulous – a curious group will do that to a class. Twelve hours is never enough time and this was especially the case with this ‘hungry for knowledge’ […]…

Call & Response: Ab Curl

A teaching basic that needs energy, practice, and patience is the idea of creating a basis of communication with your client. This communication is not always verbal, but it is just as important, if not more so, than what the client says. As a teacher, you must read what the body is saying and translate […]…

The Gazelle, the Kangaroo, and YOU

by Jennifer Gianni The age old standard in the science of movement and biomechanics is that muscles contract and shorten and this energy is transferred through passive tendons to create change in the joint and therefore a change in shape. And this is still true… but only for steady movement such as bicycling. In movements […]…

Exercising During the Second Trimester

The body will start to change visibly during the second trimester. You will hear people say that the second trimester is the best part of being pregnant, the honeymoon period of the pregnancy. By this point, most women have gotten over their feelings of nausea and extreme tiredness and actually feel very well. My mother […]…

The Fascial School

I am just back from an awe inspiring and life changing educational experience in Germany at Ulm University where the 3rd Fascial Summer School took place. A group of only 75 of us that included medical professionals , researchers, body workers and movement therapists were in attendance. We had the incredible privilege of sitting […]…

Wall Squats

The wall is such a great tool to explore the Pilates repertoire. I love to think about it like an upright Reformer, finding all the cues and movements that we find lying down on the carriage. This is the perfect place to work on the Pilates principles in the upright position. Also, wall squats are […]…

Correct Calf Raises on the Mat

Working calf raises into your mat classes and private sessions is essential in the practice of bringing the Pilates repertoire into upright moving posture. All of the work that we do in the studio means nothing if our clients cannot translate it into their everyday lives. Working on calf raises is the perfect place to […]…