Starting pilates

[nrs5000]

I feel the need to get my core in shape and to deal with some posture and strength balance issues and am thinking about some one-on-one pilates training. I haven't done it before. Are there particular things I should think about, look for, or questions I should ask potential instructors? Thanks.

[Too Tall]

Sure! I *attempt to get all of my coached clients to do this.
Make sure your instructor has 800+ hrs. of certification. If you send me names offline I'll be glad to vet them for you.
Lots of opinions "out there" and I'm of the opinion that mat work is the essential skill to learn. Beginner classes are awful if you are in any sort of shape but stick with it. The beauty of private lessons is that the instructor can advance you quickly. I'll be blunt, the reformer is for a certain sort of client and generally that is not a fit bicycle rider/racer....stick with Mat work for now.
You should learn a complete mat routine that you can do at home...if you are looking for a goal.
Pilates changed the way I sit on a bike dot period.

[nrs5000]

Thanks, very helpful. PM'd some names.

[ned]

I've emailed a friend here who is an excellent pilates instructor and used to teach in Berkeley. I'll PM you her recommendations when I hear back.

[j44ke]

I am not going to disagree with TT, because I have only my current and very short experience to go by (8 months?) I will only say that I started on the reformer and the cadillac alongside mat exercises and have found it challenging and rewarding. My instructor studied with and worked alongside Romana Kryzanowska, who in turn was a student of Joseph Pilates. I would seek out an instructor who comes from that lineage - from the Kryzanowska/Pilates school of instruction, what is called True Pilates. Why? My sense is that there is a rigor and uncanny genius to the movements developed by Joseph Pilates that appears to come through in less diluted fashion through that school of instruction than some of the more commercial ventures. That's my sense, but I have that only in comparison with friends who are taking other pilates classes elsewhere that are not so clearly related to the original practice. My instructor has also been a dancer with Martha Graham and is a physical therapist specializing in mobility issues. So in a practical way he knows both sides of the activity, injury and cure. I went because I was pulling muscles in my back, had shoulder weakness and problems with stability in my neck. All of these have been addressed with the pilates I have done so far. Each lesson begins with a short interview where he asks about various parts and movements before deciding on a plan for the day. I have never been injured or strained by anything we've done, though all of my sessions are challenging and some are amazingly so. I can now do some things I have never been able to do. He is excellent at figuring out the way things are wrong and shaping the exercises so they do not cause harm. There are other instructors in the same studio who are not as good as he is, and if I had started with one of them, I would not have continued. So I would say based on that experience, if you get someone you feel lukewarm about or don't like, try another instructor. There are good ones out there and that makes all the difference. Someone who fits the work to you and your specific body strengths & issues, rather than fitting you into a system or rigid program, is the key part of one-on-one training.

[Too Tall]

j44ke - is working with the holy grail of pilates instructors. My first instructor went to NYC for the same certs. and it shows.
FWIIW It took me 4 yrs. to get to advanced work than I quit and do everything on my own. At some point these things become parlor tricks. Stay focused on what is right for you and chuck the rest.

[j44ke]

FWIIW It took me 4 yrs. to get to advanced work than I quit and do everything on my own. At some point these things become parlor tricks. Stay focused on what is right for you and chuck the rest.

True as per usual, Mr. Tall.

[nrs5000]

Thanks to all for these very helpful comments,etc.

[nrs5000]

TT, PM'd a couple more names. Thanks again.

[Joel Benjamin L]

is 'pilates anytime' (online venue) hokum?

[Too Tall]

is 'pilates anytime' (online venue) hokum?

If you are not already well schooled how to do pilates you'll hurt yourself with that cr@p.
If you know these routines and just want to follow or learn some new moves than by all means it's great.
Me and the wife have similar youtube workouts we like to follow...breaks up the boredome.

[Joel Benjamin L]

Thanks Tootall!