While the PMA respects legitimate intellectual property rights and recognizes the important role they can play in developing a successful business, we do not support attempts by individuals to use tenuous claims of copyright protection to attack studios and instructors who wish to use images from our shared Pilates heritage in a respectful, selective, and lawful manner. We believe that access to the historical legacy of Joseph and Clara Pilates is integral to the continued growth of Pilates.

The PMA itself was created in the wake of a lawsuit centered on the use of the term “Pilates.” Many in our organization well remember the existential threat to the American Pilates industry posed by attempts to use trademark law to monopolize the generic term to describe the practice. Yet, some good came from the Pilates trademark battle. It brought our community together. It reminded many teachers, studio owners, equipment manufacturers, and enthusiasts that we have more in common than we have dividing us.

As we work to grow and professionalize our still-young industry, the PMA encourages, and even facilitates, frank discussion regarding the controversial questions about the teaching and practice of Pilates. We do not believe, however, that defining and determining the scope of Pilates is something that should be up to one person, or even one professional organization. We all have a stake in it. Many voices are, and should be, part of this conversation.

We know the value of Pilates and what it can do to help people. We share an appreciation and admiration for the work done by Joseph and Clara Pilates, as well as the work done by the many talented and extraordinary individuals who followed — even if not all of them are recognized in our official histories. So many people are so dedicated to sharing Pilates with others and we must keep that work alive by bringing it to new communities around the world.

That is the real fight for the soul of Pilates. Let’s keep it up!

PMA Board of Directors

The post PMA Statement on The New York Times Article first appeared on Pilates Method Alliance.

Karolina Schmid NCPT, YA E-RYT500

As a former sociology professor, I know there are different modes of learning: visual, auditory, and tactile. In the world of Pilates, many learn through a mixture of all three.  In an age when touching can be triggering for some clients, it is up to you as the Pilates teacher to know what your client prefers.

It is customary in some countries for clients to put a chip or token on the edge of a map to signal to the teacher that verbal cueing is preferred. In others, asking “May I cue you?” or “May I touch you?” is the norm. Here in Switzerland, larger Pilates chains in have incorporated guidelines for touching in teacher contracts.

While many Pilates teachers are dismayed at the thought of no longer being able to do tactile cueing with their Reformer, Chair and Cadillac clients, these changes present an opportunity to expand your teaching style. One way to do that is to broaden verbal instruction, while another might be to add imagery to your teaching tools.

In the new era of the PMA where we seek to create a more inclusive industry, increasing dialogue with your clients to understand their comfort level and desired form of cueing is a worthwhile effort and can only strengthen your relationship with them.

Karolina Schmid NCPT, YA E-RYT500, is the owner of PILATESwiss Switzerland and the author of The Visceral Approach to Pilates. She serves on the PMA Board of Directors and is a former university sociology lecturer.

The post To Touch or Not to Touch: Cueing and Correction in the Age of Boundaries first appeared on Pilates Method Alliance.

After three years of putting my new skills to use as a Rehab Fitness Coordinator for an outpatient center in Colorado, I decided to open my own Pilates studio. My experience as a rehab specialist and practitioner of Pilates – plus the knowledge that Pilates was just taking off in popularity in the country – gave me the courage to start my own business.

My studio grew over time. Clients began to express interest in becoming Pilates instructors themselves. There were training programs they could join through franchises or through other studios, but I wanted a solution that kept their training in my own studio. I wanted to teach my students in my own way.

Opening a teacher training program would let me expand my business while training clients I already had strong relationships with. It would deepen my own practice and let me grow a community of Pilates instructors within my own world. Pilates was an invaluable part of my life, and training new instructors meant bringing more people into the fold.

Time and resources were a major roadblock: how could I start my own teacher training studio from the ground up given the sheer volume of information I would need to teach? There weren’t enough hours in the day to run a business and create a curriculum from scratch.

When I learned about Pilates Education Institute in 2014, my prayers were answered. I could open a teacher training school within my studio without creating the materials on my own. PEI gave me a pre-made curriculum that I could use and modify as needed for my students. Over time, I created supplemental resources to customize the program and add on learning from my experience in rehab work. By using PEI’s tools, I could focus on my student teachers instead of wasting time gathering all the materials.

Once I began training students, I learned that the best way to learn is to teach. After students had passed the exam for an apparatus, I allowed them to assist in teaching clients. This fulfilled my student teachers’ necessary observation hours while letting them be members of the team. Both student teachers and clients love this method. The student teachers really get the idea of what it takes to run a successful Pilates business!

Since the PEI curriculum is focused on treating clients as individuals with unique needs, student teachers experienced how to effectively manage client needs across both private and group classes. When PEI moved its curriculum to an easy-to-navigate platform accessible online, my student teachers were thrilled to have this easy-to-access training material…but nothing replaced the times we were teaching together. We became a family. After graduating, I hired my newly trained teachers to teach at my studio and those that moved on have enjoyed successful careers in the Pilates industry.

As the current owner of Pilates Education Institute, I’ve taken my expertise and experience and have added new and exciting tools to that original curriculum solution that launched my career as a Pilates educator. I’ve had dozens of students complete the 450-hour teacher training program successfully. My studio education program, Pilates Career Institute encourages all graduates to join the PMA and attend the national conferences for the experience of being around so many gifted lecturers and just the energy of the conference itself. After all, Pilates teachers are the best support system for one another and that feeling of family continues when we all get together when we can!

—-

Don Spence, NCPT

Director, Pilates Career Institute and Pilates Education Institute

The post From Rehab Specialist to Pilates Studio Director to Teacher Trainer first appeared on Pilates Method Alliance.

The post State of the PMA & Board Vision first appeared on Pilates Method Alliance.

The post A Technological Partner for Your Pilates Studio first appeared on Pilates Method Alliance.

You have received the “ok” from local health officials to re-open your Pilates studio. So, what are your next steps? In the past few months you have transitioned to a virtual studio and expanded your “tech” savvy to build your business. During this time, my hope is that you have continued communicating with your clients, whether by phone, email, or social media, as this will help with transitioning them to return to your studio.

Here is a question for you: have you really laid the foundation for clients to return to your studio? Have you called them to see how they are doing, or if they needed anything that you and team could provide? Were your communications about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including mental health, during this time? If you answered “yes” – congratulations! Doing this kind of work is challenging especially when you are not even sure if you will be able to open or maintain a brick and mortar business, but it shows good will and compassion.

When communicating with your clients, do you put yourself in their shoes? What would you like to know? It is all about building a different kind of trust. Yes, they trusted you with their bodies, but now they need to trust you on a new level.

Here are some ideas to communicate to clients:

• • • Phone Calls: call me “old fashioned” but a phone call goes a long way. What to say? “Hi, this is xxxx from XYZ Studio, I’m calling to see how you’re doing.” The conversation will evolve from there. It can let you know their concerns and how to work toward addressing them. Texting is also a good alternative, or using Push Notifications.
    • Surveys: Client surveys are valuable to let you know what clients are thinking while providing anonymity. Questions can include:

  o Are they ready to return to the studio?

• o How are they doing?

• o Do they miss their Pilates sessions?

• o How do they feel from 1 – 10?

           o Have they worked out during this time?

• Video: Create video for emails and social media explaining your cleaning protocols and what you are doing to ensure a safe environment.

Remember communication is key. Even if you feel that you are overdoing it. Keep the lines of communication open.

Keep in mind that some clients may not be ready to return. Others may feel that working out from home in a virtual environment is best for them. It is important that you explain all the ways you are making sure that they can return to a safe environment, such as: masks, cleaning products and frequent cleaning, and staggering the schedule to reduce the number of clients in the common areas. Any and all protocols you are taking to keep them and your staff healthy should be communicated continually and clearly.

Even if you do all of the above, Pilates is not cheap. You may need to consider different pricing options in these times of economic uncertainty.

Do you want to analyze your financials by the numbers, or revenue? Here is a simple equation as a starting point. Calculate dollars per square foot per minute of time. In other words, find out how much you’ll make given your adjusted capacity, per minute/hour of time. Compare that to your overhead to determine what you’ll need on your schedule to be profitable. Doing this exercise will help you evaluate current pricing numbers and how to schedule for profitability.

The process of clients returning to the studio is going to be a slow one. Encourage your clients to continue doing what is best for them. As a studio owner, you will probably continue using a Hybrid Business Model.

Be confident in your policies as you are confident in your teaching and your clients will have confidence and trust in you.

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The post Getting Clients Back to the Studio first appeared on Pilates Method Alliance.

This bill would provide 30 billion dollars of relief funds to fitness studios and facilities between now and December 31, 2020. If you are an exercise professional or health coach who owns a health club or fitness studio, you may be able to benefit from this bill.  Some key facts to understand about this bill:

• Grant funds would be awarded to health club and fitness studio owners and would be capped at actual business losses up to 10 percent of the previous year’s revenue or 10 million dollars (whichever is less).
• Priority will be given to women, veterans and minority-owned businesses during the first 14-days of the grant application window.

Grant funds can be used for:

• Payroll costs;
• Payments of principal or interest on any mortgage obligation;
• Rent payments, including rent under a lease agreement;
• Utilities;
• Maintenance, including construction or reconfiguration to accommodate social distancing requirements;
• Supplies, including protective equipment and cleaning materials;
• Debt obligations to suppliers that were incurred before the covered period;
• Any other expenses that the Secretary of the Treasury determines to be essential to maintaining the eligible entity.

This legislation would establish a Health Club Recovery Fund. If this legislation moves forward it will likely be included in a larger COVID-19 relief (stimulus) package. We do not know at this time if it will go any further, but we are monitoring the legislation’s progress and we will communicate further if and when there are updates.

If the bill is not passed by this 116th Congress which ends on January 3, 2021, it will have to be re-introduced by the next Congress (117th) and follow the same process as described above.

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The post Health and Fitness Recovery Act of 2020 (H.R. 8485) first appeared on Pilates Method Alliance.