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Become a better instructor

May 29
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Overcoming addiction through Pilates, with Rebecca Solberg and Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

TW: This episode contains content about substance abuse and addiction.

We acknowledge that this may be difficult and encourage you to care for your safety and well-being by talking to your healthcare professional if any of the issues in this show have affected you. 

This is the inspiring story of how Pilates helped Rebecca Solberg overcome addiction and find connection, meaning and peace.

Pilates is not a substitute for working with a mental health professional. But it can sure be an amazing complement.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

  • Check out our Visualized Anatomy program here
About Raphael Bender:

Raph believes everyone deserves the opportunity to transform into a better version of themselves. His main strength as a teacher and movement professional is the ability to distill complex research findings into a simple, science-based approach to help people move fearlessly, thoughtlessly, and painlessly. He LOVES running, weights, cycling, and Contrology.

Raph holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology (Rehabilitation), a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science, Diploma of Pilates Movement Therapy, and STOTT PILATES full certification.

How to Connect with Raphael:

Purchase Raph’s new book:

  • Strengthen The Person Not Just The Body Part here
About Rebecca Solberg:

Rebecca Solberg is a Pilates Instructor based in Seattle, Washington. She has been teaching Pilates for 8 years now. As a teacher, Rebecca aims to help her clients feel safe and comfortable while working to strengthen their bodies and move with less pain and more freedom. She works with a fantastic group of women at Main Street Pilates (www.mainstreetpilates.com) and also teaches private students outside of the class.

Rebecca holds a 600-hour Pilates Certification, Great Yoga Wall Certification™, and Pilates For Neurological Conditions with Mariska Breland. Currently, she’s studying Diploma of Clinical Pilates and The Complete Pilates Apparatus Course at Breathe Education.

Rebecca likes to keep herself busy with all forms of movement, baking, journaling and spending time with her husband, dogs, family and Breathe Education.

How to Connect with Rebecca:

  • Find Rebecca Solberg on Instagram here and here
Looking for Pilates mastery?

Here are four ways we can help you really know your stuff.

1) Subscribe to our Pilates Elephants podcast and learn why most Pilates education is decades out of date at best, and at worst, just plain pseudoscientific. This inconvenient disconnect means there are many topics in Pilates that are “Elephants in the Room” – things we don’t question because it’s a bit heretical to do so. We’re here to change that.

2) Download our free report: “3 Myths about Posture in Pilates“. Ditch the myths and get the facts on posture. For Pilates instructors and movement enthusiasts alike.

3) Join us in our FREE live, open-mic Community Sessions. We start each session by sharing one of our latest insights that you can take and apply with your clients. And then we’ll go open-mic for the remaining 45-minutes — ask whatever questions you have so you can leave the session equipped to really know your stuff. Details here.

4) Or — our next intake for our Diploma in Clinical Pilates is open NOW. We have limited places for this in-depth, world-leading course. For a limited time — get a free 20-minute Discovery Call with one of our Pilates Trainers. This is not a high-pressure sales call – you’ll be talking with a Pilates instructor, and we’ll answer all your questions to find out if the course is a perfect fit for you. Go here to schedule

May 04
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Nutrition Advice within the Scope of Practice for Fitness Professionals, with Cody Jussel

By Become a better instructor
A FREE Live Community Session on “Nutrition Advice within the Scope of Practice for Fitness Professionals” led by Breathe Education’s Trainer, Cody Jussel.
What You’ll Learn:
  • How to approach nutrition conversations in the studio
  • What is your legal scope of practice and how to stay within it
  • Example scenarios and what to do if you run against them

You can find the link to the PDF of the lecture slides HERE.

Apr 22
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Diploma Info Session, with Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

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A FREE Live Lecture and Info Session about the “Diploma of Clinical Pilates” led by Breathe Education’s CEO, Raphael Bender. 
What You’ll Learn:
  • Pain is not the same thing as injury
  • What to do with every client: The Whole Person Framework
  • What happens inside the Diploma of Clinical Pilates
  • Why you’d be crazy not to enrol in the Diploma this month
Have Questions? Get in Touch with Us
Apr 20
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Is Anterior Pelvic Tilt a Thing? With Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor
A FREE Live Community Session on “Is Anterior Pelvic Tilt a Thing?” led by Breathe Education’s CEO, Raphael Bender. 
What You’ll Learn:
  • Pelvic tilt doesn’t tell us anything about muscle balance
  • Pelvises are not symmetrical
  • We can’t measure Pelvic tilt by hand even though we think we can
  • 80% of pain-free people have Anterior Pelvic tilt
  • Anterior Pelvic tilt is not associated with low back pain

You can find the link to the PDF of the lecture slides HERE.

Mar 09
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How to transition from Classical Pilates to Evidence-based Movement, with Adam McAtee

By Become a better instructor
A FREE Live Community Session on “How to Transition from Classical Pilates to Evidence-based Movement” hosted by Breathe Education’s Trainer, Adam McAtee. 
What You’ll Learn:
  • What one thing everyone needs to see evolve in the Pilates industry
  • How Adam applied Pilates science principles to Pilates practice
  • Adam’s inspiring journey from being in an unfamiliar space to taking Breathe Education’s course and joining the teaching team while being blown away by optimum theories with references on the side.
  • Tips to become an evidence-based Pilates instructor
Jan 30
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How to Motivate Your Clients, with Nathan Ross Rees and Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

Motivating people is hard. Knowing how to motivate people to exercise is even harder. On this episode of Pilates Elephants, you’ll learn how to fearlessly motivate your clients with evidence-based techniques with our guest, Nathan Rees. Where does our motivation to workout come from? Is it intrinsic or extrinsic? Nate and Raph explore these questions that are vital to your abilities as an instructor and help your clients to see results regardless of their fitness level. 

What You Will Learn:

  • How to motivate clients of all fitness and experience levels and fill your classes
  • What should instructors pay attention to during instruction?
  • How to provide individual attention in a large class
  • How much of your instruction should be technical, educational and motivational? 
  • How to push clients to their limit and recognize when it happens

Principles of Workout Motivation for New and Experienced Instructors

Nate and Raph discuss the differences between new and experienced instructors in terms of what they focus on during class. We all want to motivate our clients, but new instructors face feelings of insecurity and aren’t as present in the moment as seasoned instructors. They often worry about the functionality of the task so much that they’re out of tune with the clients in front of them. Over time, it’s natural for these feelings to subside as your teaching skills improve. Eventually, you’ll have more bandwidth to focus on the clients in front of you: how hard they’re working, what they need to hear, and how to improve your cueing. 

How Can You Tell if You’re Effectively Motivating Your Clients?

Nate offers some practical and easily applicable advice for instructors who want to spend less time explaining and more time motivating. He suggests a healthy ratio of technical instruction to educational and motivational. Once clients are able to grasp the movements, then you can focus on why those movements are beneficial to their wellness and all other areas of their lives. How can you tell if your motivational efforts are working? When clients start to reach muscle failure, you’ll notice physical signs like facial expressions or noises. Nate and Raph discuss why pushing your limits is so important in terms of progress, and how to help advanced level clients continue to see results. 

The Power of Social Connection

A huge part of motivation to workout is social interaction. Nate says it’s a key factor in getting clients to show up for class. With a sense of community, people look forward to working out in a whole new way. For this reason, it’s highly important for instructors to know how to welcome new clients into their classes. Nate explains how to make newbies feel welcome by introducing them, making them feel like a part of the crew, and pairing them up with a workout buddy who they may already have something in common with. Social connection is a basic human need, and a healthy community atmosphere in your studio is a powerful way to keep clients coming back. 

About Raphael Bender:

Raph believes everyone deserves the opportunity to transform into a better version of themselves. His main strength as a teacher and movement professional is the ability to distill complex research findings into a simple, science-based approach to help people move fearlessly, thoughtlessly, and painlessly. He LOVES running, weights, cycling, and Contrology.

Raph holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology (Rehabilitation), a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science, Diploma of Pilates Movement Therapy, and STOTT PILATES full certification.

How to Connect with Raphael:

Purchase Raph’s new book:

  • Strengthen The Person Not Just The Body Part here
About Nathan Ross Rees:

Nathan Ross Rees is a highly motivated and passionate Pilates instructor based in Tasmania who enjoys traveling around Australia to run guest classes and hold workshops.

He has taught in 50 different studios across 7 Australian states and territories. A big believer in relationship building, Nathan values progress, vitality, results, connection, presence, abundance, and understanding. He’s always seeking to develop relationships with other instructors and expand his network of mentors. He also believes in the collective genius of the Australian Pilates Community, whose members have exponentially developed his understanding of Dynamic Reformer Pilates.

How to Connect with Nathan:

  • Find Nathan Ross Rees on Instagram here
Looking for Pilates mastery?

Here are four ways we can help you really know your stuff.

1) Subscribe to our Pilates Elephants podcast and learn why most Pilates education is decades out of date at best, and at worst, just plain pseudoscientific. This inconvenient disconnect means there are many topics in Pilates that are “Elephants in the Room” – things we don’t question because it’s a bit heretical to do so. We’re here to change that.

2) Download our free report: “3 Myths about Posture in Pilates“. Ditch the myths and get the facts on posture. For Pilates instructors and movement enthusiasts alike.

3) Join us in our FREE live, open-mic Community Sessions. We start each session by sharing one of our latest insights that you can take and apply with your clients. And then we’ll go open-mic for the remaining 45-minutes — ask whatever questions you have so you can leave the session equipped to really know your stuff. Details here.

4) Or — our next intake for our Diploma in Clinical Pilates is open NOW. We have limited places for this in-depth, world-leading course. For a limited time — get a free 20-minute Discovery Call with one of our Pilates Trainers. This is not a high-pressure sales call – you’ll be talking with a Pilates instructor, and we’ll answer all your questions to find out if the course is a perfect fit for you. Go here to schedule

Jan 09
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Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy, with Heath Lander and Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

In the Diploma of Clinical Pilates program, students learn an invaluable resource for exercise programming called the “exercise toolbox.” Today, you’ll learn what it is and how to create your own exercise toolbox in this interview with Heath Lander. Today we discuss how to find the best type of exercise and level of intensity for each client on any given day and discover the power of simple, layered exercise programming.

What You Will Learn: 

  • What is the Exercise Toolbox (as taught in the Diploma of Clinical Pilates)?
  • How you can use the Exercise Toolbox to challenge each client at the right level 
  • How to design a dynamic warm-up that reduces injury risk and improves performance
  • How to support clients’ autonomy and use critical thinking skills when designing challenge
  • The power of simplicity in programming, and why it’s what your clients actually want

What is the Exercise Toolbox? 

The Exercise Toolbox is a list of exercises broken down into layers of challenge. Each list is made up of five to seven exercises based on one movement such as the push-up, curl-up, squat, etc. The main idea is to have a list of increasingly difficult exercises which you can use with any client, any time, regardless of what kind of day they’re having in terms of pain or ability level. Start at the bottom and work your way up with them. This way, according to Heath, clients don’t feel the discouragement and frustration of starting hard and having to modify. Rather, they get to feel stronger and more confident as they start simple and work up to more challenging exercises. 

The Power of Simplicity

The Exercise Toolbox is a specific way to think about exercise programming which allows instructors to think about movement in terms of strength, range of motion, and control. Heath and Raph discuss the beauty of simplicity in exercise programming but remind us that just because something is simple, it isn’t necessarily easy. With the right level of resistance, range of motion or instability, something as simple as lunges or body weight squats can be extremely challenging. Teaching complicated exercises just because they seem more challenging can be anything but enjoyable for the client. What’s amazing about the Exercise Toolbox is that because of its simplicity, you will be able to give your client the right level of challenge at the right time to move them to towards their goals.

How the Exercise Toolbox Helps Instructors to Improve

Heath explains how the exercise toolbox developed as he observed new Pilates instructors over the past several years. He noticed that new instructors who came to his studio had learned hundreds of exercises which weren’t progressive or grouped in any meaningful way. He also saw that instructors felt pressured to have a wide variety of exercises in each class and avoid repeating exercises. They thought that if they didn’t do it this way, their classes wouldn’t be popular. But Heath observed that those Pilates teachers who taught essentially the same set of movements each class were the most successful. Clients knew what to expect and felt challenged, not to mention, the teacher got really good at teaching those exercises! 

About Raphael Bender:

Raph believes everyone deserves the opportunity to transform into a better version of themselves. His main strength as a teacher and movement professional is the ability to distill complex research findings into a simple, science-based approach to help people move fearlessly, thoughtlessly, and painlessly. He LOVES running, weights, cycling, and Contrology.

Raph holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology (Rehabilitation), a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science, Diploma of Pilates Movement Therapy, and STOTT PILATES full certification.

How to Connect with Raphael:

Purchase Raph’s new book:

  • Strengthen The Person Not Just The Body Part here
About Heath Lander:

Heath Lander had a chance encounter with Pilates which completely changed his life’s direction. He began training as a Pilates instructor at Breathe Education while seeing private clients in his home. Meanwhile, he was still working full time as a special needs art teacher and getting accustomed to life as a single dad. Over the next decade he taught over 15,000 hours of group and small group/clinical classes. He went on to open two locations of White Dog Studio, where the mission is to provide challenging, rewarding, and effective exercise for people over 40. He has also worked as an instructor trainer at Breathe Education since 2011 and has taught in the Certificate and Diploma courses. In 2021, he began working full time for Breathe Education and has created coursework and tutorial materials for the updated Diploma of Clinical Pilates. His other professional passion is online mentoring and trainer development through his personal brand, Contrology Collective.

How to Connect with Heath:

  • Find Heath on Instagram here
Looking for Pilates mastery?

Here are four ways we can help you really know your stuff.

1) Subscribe to our Pilates Elephants podcast and learn why most Pilates education is decades out of date at best, and at worst, just plain pseudoscientific. This inconvenient disconnect means there are many topics in Pilates that are “Elephants in the Room” – things we don’t question because it’s a bit heretical to do so. We’re here to change that.

2) Download our free report: “3 Myths about Posture in Pilates“. Ditch the myths and get the facts on posture. For Pilates instructors and movement enthusiasts alike.

3) Join us in our FREE live, open-mic Community Sessions. We start each session by sharing one of our latest insights that you can take and apply with your clients. And then we’ll go open-mic for the remaining 45-minutes — ask whatever questions you have so you can leave the session equipped to really know your stuff. Details here.

4) Or — our next intake for our Diploma in Clinical Pilates is open NOW. We have limited places for this in-depth, world-leading course. For a limited time — get a free 20-minute Discovery Call with one of our Pilates Trainers. This is not a high-pressure sales call – you’ll be talking with a Pilates instructor, and we’ll answer all your questions to find out if the course is a perfect fit for you. Go here to schedule

Jan 02
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Neutral Spine- What is it and Should We Care? With Cloe Bunter and Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor
Neutral Spine

What exactly is neutral spine? With so many of us in the Pilates community teaching neutral spine alignment to clients and trying to master it ourselves, it’s surprising to learn that most of us don’t really know what it means. And yet, it seems to be engrained in Pilates culture. Today we’re debunking the myth of neutral spine and giving you evidence-based tools to help empower your clients to move fearlessly through all spinal movements.

What You Will Learn: 

  • What neutral spine really means, and why you shouldn’t worry about it
  • Is neutral spine a position that can be measured or palpated via postural analysis or visual assessment?
  • What Joseph Pilates taught (or didn’t) about neutral spine
  • The origins of neutral spine as it applies to Pilates
  • Does evidence indicate that lifting with a neutral spine is really safer than lifting with a flexed spine? 

What is Neutral Spine?

Neutral spine is widely understood in the fitness profession as a “safe” spinal position associated with injury prevention. But according to biomechanics, neutral spine is a zone (rather than a specific position) in which all the ligaments around the spine are loose. Simply put, neutral spine is about a 10 degree range in which muscles provide the only restraining force on the spine. It isn’t something that can be evaluated via spinal palpation or visual assessment, since everyone has natural variation in their bone structure. 

Where Did Neutral Spine Come From?

Joseph Pilates himself didn’t teach neutral spine. His successors (including Romana Kryzanowska) and their students were influenced by physiotherapists who promoted neutral spine. Fast forward to the 1990s, and neutral spine was widely taught as a basic element of Pilates. To this day, many people who cue neutral spine believe that it has always been a part of Pilates, although the most Joseph ever taught in this area was to press the spine firmly to the mat.

Does Neutral Spine Prevent Lower Back Injuries?

Raph and Cloe look at a fascinating study on pig spines from 20 years ago which suggests that the greatest risk for spinal injury was the amount of compression on the spine, rather than the degree of spinal flexion. They also discuss more recent biomechanical studies which show that force applied to the spine is the same whether the spine is flexed or in neutral during lifting exercises like deadlifting or squatting. Interestingly, studies show that when lifting maximally, a flexed spine is actually associated with greater strength and more efficient use of energy. Looking at the world’s most elite powerlifters, it’s easy to see that when they lift four to five times their body weight, their spines are definitely flexed. This begs the question of what Pilates instructors should be cueing instead of neutral spine. Raph and Cloe offer teaching tools to help you confidently teach without relying on neutral spine and to prioritise fearless movement. 

Resources mentioned in the episode:
  • Neutral is a zone not a position here
  • We can’t palpate bony landmarks reliably (plus guidelines recommend against it here
  • And anyway pelvises are not all the same shape here
  • Experienced physical therapists can’t detect lumbar flexion of less than 34 degrees in a squat here
  • Plus, standing posture is highly individual and poorly reproducible here
  • Pig spines are injured by LOAD not by flexion here and here 
  • Spinal flexion during lifting is not associated with back pain here
  • The vast majority of disc bulges are not related to lifting and those that are, do not have more pain or disability here
  • People with back pain actually lift with their backs more straight than pain free people here
  • Flexed lumbar spine during a maximal lift is associated with greater strength in pain-free people here
  • Because spinal ligaments are MUCH stronger than spinal muscles here
  • Lifting with your back straight imposes higher forces on the spine than lifting with your back rounded here
  • Retraining people to lift with their back straight does not prevent back pain here
About Raphael Bender:

Raph believes everyone deserves the opportunity to transform into a better version of themselves. His main strength as a teacher and movement professional is the ability to distill complex research findings into a simple, science-based approach to help people move fearlessly, thoughtlessly, and painlessly. He LOVES running, weights, cycling, and Contrology.

Raph holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology (Rehabilitation), a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science, Diploma of Pilates Movement Therapy, and STOTT PILATES full certification.

How to Connect with Raphael:

Purchase Raph’s new book:

  • Strengthen The Person Not Just The Body Part here
About Cloe Bunter:

With 10+ years in the industry, both teaching Pilates and nurturing new instructors, Cloe is passionate about empowering new and seasoned instructors to think critically and move fearlessly. Empowered instructors empower their clients, and in turn, change lives.

Cloe is fascinated by movement in general, and its ability to enhance our lives at any age. Her own movement practice includes Contrology/Pilates, running, weights, and kettlebells. Cloe has a Diploma of Clinical Pilates, Cert IV in Pilates, and Cert IV in Training and Assessing.

How to Connect with Cloe:

Looking for Pilates mastery?

Here are four ways we can help you really know your stuff.

1) Subscribe to our Pilates Elephants podcast and learn why most Pilates education is decades out of date at best, and at worst, just plain pseudoscientific. This inconvenient disconnect means there are many topics in Pilates that are “Elephants in the Room” – things we don’t question because it’s a bit heretical to do so. We’re here to change that.

2) Download our free report: “3 Myths about Posture in Pilates“. Ditch the myths and get the facts on posture. For Pilates instructors and movement enthusiasts alike.

3) Join us in our FREE live, open-mic Community Sessions. We start each session by sharing one of our latest insights that you can take and apply with your clients. And then we’ll go open-mic for the remaining 45-minutes — ask whatever questions you have so you can leave the session equipped to really know your stuff. Details here.

4) Or — our next intake for our Diploma in Clinical Pilates is open NOW. We have limited places for this in-depth, world-leading course. For a limited time — get a free 20-minute Discovery Call with one of our Pilates Trainers. This is not a high-pressure sales call – you’ll be talking with a Pilates instructor, and we’ll answer all your questions to find out if the course is a perfect fit for you. Go here to schedule

Dec 01
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Working with Adaptive Clients: Thinking Outside the Box, with Cody Jussel

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session on “Working with Adaptive Clients: Thinking Outside the Box” led by Breathe Education’s Trainer, Cody Jussel.
What You’ll Learn:
  • Terminology preferred by the adaptive community
  • Useful props to have on hand
  • How to facilitate an empowering experience for adaptive movers
You can find the link to the PDF of the lecture slides HERE. 
Nov 24
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Vertigo: What is it and how we can help it with exercise, with Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session about “Vertigo: What is it and how we can help it with exercise” led by Breathe Education’s CEO, Raphael Bender.
What You’ll Learn:
  • What causes vertigo
  • What to expect if a client suddenly experiences vertigo
  • How to facilitate effective and surprisingly simple vestibular rehabilitation exercises with your clients

You can find the link to the PDF of the lecture slides HERE

Oct 05
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Osteoporosis and exercise: debunking the biggest myth

By Become a better instructor

Osteoporosis, defined as an extreme loss of bone density, is one of the most common age-related conditions. It currently affects more than 200 million men and women worldwide.

Enter it into a Google search and you get a whopping 70.9 MILLION search results. Narrow that search to “osteoporosis and exercise” and you’re still at 43.5 million. That’s no small amount of information to sift through.

And here’s the crux — we know that almost anyone can post anything about any subject. So, when your clients run a search trying to understand more about osteoporosis and exercise, how do they even know what’s true? And how can you help them debunk deep-set myths and offer education in a way that will guide them toward a happier, healthier lifestyle?

Let’s dive right in by addressing the elephant in the room: The most common held belief surrounding osteoporosis and exercise is that low impact, lightweight, gentle exercises are the most beneficial, the “safest,” for clients who suffer from osteoporosis.

And that’s simply NOT true.

While it may seem counterintuitive, those lightweight, gentle movement exercises are going to be way riskier. What osteoporosis clients benefit from most is high-intensity resistance and impact training. Weights are good! Heavy load is good!

The Strength, Impact and Density Correlation

While there’s certainly plenty of misinformation out there, as you’re educating yourself and your clients about osteoporosis and what exercises they’ll benefit from most, take a look at this ReasearchGate study chronicling the connection between bone density and strength. There’s a ton of good stuff in there, but basically, as your clients strengthen their muscles, their bones benefit too! They’re not going to get that same benefit from light weights or light resistance.

And it’s not solely about prevention. The right exercises are safe and effective in treating osteoporosis and increasing bone density too! Studies from Science Direct (here and here), and The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research all demonstrate a direct correlation between mechanical load and management of osteoporosis.

We know these studies, though filled with great facts about exercise and osteoporosis, are also a lot to read through. Not to worry. Raphael and Cloe cover all of this and more in Episode 26 of our Pilates Elephants podcast.

Pilates and Osteoprosis

Many people often feel like osteoporosis is just a normal part of aging, and nothing can truly prevent this, but that’s not true! In fact, prevention starts at a young age. It’s no secret that our bodies do just about everything more efficiently when we are younger. That includes building and managing our bone density. If parents need one more reason to get their kids off the couch and outdoors, this is definitely a big one. Encouraging clients and their families to simply be active and strengthen their muscles is valuable.

So, can Pilates itself help treat osteoporosis? As we consider the invaluable benefits of resistance training in building muscles and couple that with our understanding that research provides a demonstrable correlation between muscle strength and bone density, then the answer is YES! Pilates is one way to improve bone health at any age. In fact, the International Osteoporosis Foundation recommends routine exercise to prevent osteoporosis. Bottom line – Pilates is typically safe and beneficial for individuals already diagnosed with osteoporosis, but clients should be encouraged to talk with their healthcare provider before starting any new exercise routine.

Oct 05
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Cueing up that next breath for a client? Here’s when to pass

By Become a better instructor

A question we’ve heard plenty of times from students and professionals alike is how breath factors into our practice — or more to the point, should we even be cueing clients to breathe during their practice.

While breathing is naturally a big part of what we do here at, ahem, Breathe Education, the answer to this question is a little more variable than you might expect. Perhaps the more useful question here is why you would cue breath. The most basic reasons we might guide a client’s breathing are to relax the body and settle into the environment of the lesson. To that, it might be helpful to cue breath at the beginning or end of a class, if only to aid those transitions into or out of the Pilates headspace, or to help someone find a shape as they work through positions. We’ve all felt those instances where we can breathe our way through moments of discomfort or difficulty, so sometimes prompting that deliberate inhale-exhale can help push a stretch to the next level. That can be especially true in positions that involve spinal extensions or flexions, which map very nicely to the pattern of breathing. You can test this wherever you might be right now by taking a nice, deep in-breath. You’ll find your spine naturally wants to extend a bit, and then vice versa on the exhale.

Maybe the last big reason we’d cue someone’s breath is if we know they’re either pregnant and/or have high blood pressure. This is because breath-holding can actually raise our blood pressure as we go through the exercise, which can have some unintended side effects if those underlying conditions are present.

Ok, so those are instances where we might want to cue breath. So why wouldn’t we want to do that?

The simplest answer is this: Current research shows that motor learning (movement skills) is facilitated best by keeping things simple. Cue what is necessary to get people moving. This is especially important for beginners, who typically have enough to focus on already without the added layer of syncing up their breathing with all this unfamiliar repertoire. Breathing is the first thing we did when we were born, it’s not something we were taught to do so why do we feel the need to cue each and every breath?

So there we have it, our quick take on when and why to cue breathing! Our CEO and thinker-in-chief Raphael has touched on this subject a few times in his (very) helpful AMAs, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’ve got further questions.

Sep 01
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Shoulder Impingement, with Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session about “Shoulder Impingement” hosted by Breathe Education’s CEO, Raphael Bender. 
What You’ll Learn:
  • The theory of shoulder impingement
  • What the research tells us
  • How you can help your clients with shoulder pain
  • Communication with clients and allied health practitioners around the diagnosis of shoulder impingement

You can find the PDF of the lecture slides including links to the research HERE.

Jul 28
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Squat biomechanics: Knees in or out? With Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session about “Squat biomechanics: Knees in or out?” led by Breathe Education’s CEO, Raphael Bender. 
What You’ll Learn:
  • Factors influencing squat biomechanics
  • Are weak glutes to blame for knees going in (valgus)?
  • The mechanism of ACL injury in athletes
  • Components of skilled movement

Resources mentioned during the session:

  • Knee valgus in squatting does not predict future ACL injury here
  • People with knee osteoarthritis have more cartilage degeneration on the medial knee compartment, regardless of valgus or varus alignment here
  • Women have more knee abduction in weight-bearing activities here
  • Conflicting and poor quality evidence of a relationship between hip muscle strength and knee valgus here and here
  • Less ankle dorsiflexion is associated with more knee valgus here
  • Paralyzing the gluteus medius doesn’t change the Trendelenburg test here
  • The ITB stores elastic energy during running here
  • Humans make near-optimal adjustments of control to initial body configuration in vertical squat jumping here
Jul 07
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Squat Biomechanics, with Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session about “Squat Biomechanics” led by Breathe Education’s CEO, Raphael Bender. 
What You’ll Learn:
  • Squat biomechanics: How far should you lean forwards?
  • We look at how the Pelvic Morphology (Acetabulum + Femoral Neck Design) ascertain your squat depth and shape.
  • Raph discusses the relationship between your centre of mass (COM), torso position and squat depth.
  • We look at genetic inheritance and how that changes your squat depth and overall shape.
  • We get out some slides to show why people don’t all squat the same (Acetabulum Angle + Femoral Neck Angles / Length)
  • Children vs Adults (Head Size Proportion) and its relation to COM.
  • Do yogi’s have more hip problems from deep squats?
  • We look at applying external cueing to deep squats taking into consideration everyone’s different pelvic shape rather than going to deep into technique.
  • There’s a great discussion at the end surrounding building progressive load tolerance and the relationship between spinal alignment and injury.

Resources mentioned in this session:

  • Young kids have big heads and short legs here
  • Elite powerlifters use a stoop lift strategy (lifting with their back not their legs) and round their back when deadlifting near their maximum: here and here.
  • No evidence that flexing the spine during lifting is a risk factor for back pain here
  • Regular people, and olympic weightlifters flex their spines when they lift here and here.
  • Yoga is really frikkin safe here
  • Strength training at long muscle lengths is more effective at increasing strength, at least in the lower body here
  • Strength training through full range of motion is at least as effective as stretching, for increasing flexibility here
  • And Stu McGill’s ideas on how pelvic and hip joint shape influence what your squat looks like here
Jun 04
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How Much Does a Pilates Instructor Course Cost?

By Become a better instructor

How Much Does a Pilates Instructor Course Cost?

As a Pilates instructor, you can choose the business you want to run and how you want to share the joy of Pilates with your clients – and that level of freedom is something that is very attractive to people who are looking to become Pilates teachers. Choosing the right Pilates course can be tricky, as you want to get the best value for your investment, which is why it is important to know exactly how much your Pilates instructor course will cost.

Here at Breathe Education, we are proud of the depth of our online Pilates course – and that is why we are confident enough to be upfront about the costs. We have helped more than 3,000 students to go from complete beginners to confident teachers through our online immersive tuition. We are the preferred training providers of industry leaders around the world, and by providing a safe learning environment we create teachers who are sought after by clients and who can walk into jobs straight after graduating.

There are many things to think about when training to become a Pilates instructor, and one of the most important questions to ask is how much does it cost to be a Pilates instructor. Courses can be expensive so it makes total sense to choose your course wisely. When you choose Breathe Education, you can be sure that the price you pay for training will be a small amount when compared with the knowledge and level of proficiency you’ll be taking with you after you finish.

More than Just the Course Cost

When comparing Pilates instructor training cost, there is more to factor in than just how much the actual tuition costs.

In some Pilates courses, there are hidden (and not so hidden) extra costs for additional mentoring, examinations, or help – and this is something to bear in mind when you are considering where to go for your training.

Here at Breathe Education, our training packages represent the complete, final price – no hidden extras, no additional costs for more specialist units, and no cost for personalized one-to-one support. When you are looking at our Certification in Pilates Matwork and Reformer, the cost you see is the full Pilates instructor cost and once completed, you will be ready to take your business and run with it as either a self-employed teacher or as part of a Pilates business as soon as you graduate.

How Much Does It Cost to Become a Pilates Teacher with Breathe Education?

We have a straightforward billing procedure that makes it simple for you to understand the full Pilates teacher training cost. We offer monthly payment plans to suit you, and you can spread the cost depending on your budget.

You can choose to pay straight up or over 6 months or 12 months– and there are no hidden extras. You are closer than you think to being a fully qualified and accredited Pilates teacher with Breathe Education. Reach out to us today and book a call where we can chat more about your specific circumstances and what you want to achieve at the end of your studies.

May 26
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Anatomy & Biomechanics of Diastasis Recti, with Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session about “Anatomy & Biomechanics of Diastasis Recti”, led by Breathe Education’s CEO, Raphael Bender. 
What You’ll Learn:
  • What is Diastasis Recti?
  • The Anatomy of the Rectus Abdominis / Transversus Abdominis / Rectus Sheath
  • What is the Linea Alba?
  • True ribs, False ribs, and Floating Ribs
  • Is there an abdominal exercise that’s best?
  • Does the likelihood of diastasis increase with multiple pregnancies?
  • Why do we consider diastasis to be a problem?
May 05
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Anatomy of the Shoulder, with Raphael Bender

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session about “Anatomy of the Shoulder” led by Breathe Education’s CEO, Raphael Bender
What You’ll Learn:
  • Exercise-related muscle cramps – what causes them and is there anything we can do to help?
  • Gym-related injuries – why aren’t certain exercises such as a chin-up with the bar behind the head done anymore? Is it related to injury? Is it related to shearing on the tendon?
  • Can exercise help reduce discomfort or size of a bursitis?
Apr 28
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Community Session Episode 7

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session where Raphael Bender, Breathe Education’s CEO, unpack the following:
  • What could be a reason for discomfort in the start position of spine stretch? If the issue is around hip mobility/ flexibility, how can I improve this?
  • Internal vs External Cues: If someone was really arching their lower back (ie supine moving through leg lowers) do I cue to correct that? Are they still getting the benefit of the exercise?
  • Pelvic floor and core: If we are not internally cueing but we have clients who feel like they are ‘bearing down’ and can’t keep their abdominals engaged – what would be the recommendation?
  • There’s a client with a posterior lateral disc protrusion that reports left side pain in lumbar extension which is making them nervous. How can I best guide and encourage this client?
  • Scan reports: Location vs finding.
Apr 21
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Community Session Episode 6

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session where Raphael Bender, Breathe Education’s CEO, unpack the following:

  • We are often told to keep our limbs and joints “straight” in certain exercises (ie supine arms in straps on the reformer). Can we talk about why we do this and are there any benefits?
  • “Don’t do that, you might hurt yourself” – Is there a high prevalence of people who actually injure themselves in Pilates?
  • Do you ask permission to touch your clients – hands-on assist?
  • If someone has fear around their back pain and then experiences increased pain after a class – what language do you use to reassure them? Especially in the absence of a therapeutic relationship.
Apr 14
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Community Session Episode 5

By Become a better instructor

A FREE Live Community Session where Raphael Bender, Breathe Education’s CEO, unpack the following:

  • Is a desiccated/degenerative disc causing my back pain?
  • What are the do’s and dont’s after a hip replacement?
  • A client who is healthy and in his 60’s has stenosis plus sciatica, what should I do?
  • A client has had lung surgery, what can I do with them?
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