Stripping for Pilates
Classical Pilates gets a bad rap by some who believe it is either a rigid list or a dogmatic "do or die" method. Quite the opposite.
During my years at Drago's studio observing Romana Kryzanowska teach I was always impressed how wildly different each session developed. Through the course of a day,, week or month no two sessions were the same.
I came to understand that if you had a deep understanding of an exercise you could be infinitely creative and deliver a truly custom workout to each client no matter the condition. I saw it as two sides of the same coin, namely:
Totally Classical = Completely Customized
"What are you talking about Alycea"? How can you be completely custom if you are working from a list? Ahh - hear me young grasshopper. You've got so. many. choices.
Sequencing. Tempo. Repetition. Isolation. Position.
I just made an acronym! STRIP! Yowza.
Ok consider a few examples and then I'll let you run back to teach. You can use each of these tools to completely reinvent a workout. Whenever I hear the works "spice it up" in connection with adding new made up stuff - I think - but WHY? Just STRIP.
Take your client with a weak ankle (spoiler - that was me). I was trying to make it strong. Romana chose the Tendon stretch on the Wunda chair as my go-to move. I had to do it 3 times in the session. Before, Middle and End. That was sequencing - where do you put the move - what comes before and after? I had to do it slow. SUPER slow. Insanely slow. That's the tempo. Repetitions were simple 5 - 8. Then she had me isolate the moments that the ankle shook or wobbled or "jumped" through a tough area and hold on to that moment. Isolation is the bomb.
Position gets it's own paragraph. Where else can I work that position? Tendon stretch in the Footwork, lying down. Tower on the Cadillac (upside down now). Even the Foot Corrector begins in the Tendon stretch position and works the foot up and down.
Can you think of other positions/ moves where your ankles get to do the Tendon stretch?
Bottom line - look at each move - the information is all there - the lists of moves are not rigid - they are rich and with your own critical thinking you can be powerfully creative - and completely custom build your workouts! Learning a new move each visit does NOT make your client better or stronger. They need mastery over an existing skillset.
Serve them well. STRIP.
~A