Pilates for Everyday Olympics

For most of us, our clients aren't competing at the Olympics in Paris, but they are unloading the dishwasher, sitting at a desk for eight hours, having to pick up and move to a new departure gate at the airport, and babysitting their energetic grandkids. We can prepare our clients for better outcomes in their everyday Olympic events, not just by teaching Pilates, but by building a relationship of trust and care with our clients. This episode explores the importance of building a therapeutic alliance and concrete strategies you can use in your classes.

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Show Notes: 

My favorite research article: Enhanced Therapeutic Alliance Modulates Pain Intensity and Muscle Pain Sensitivity in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: An Experimental Controlled Study by Fuentes et al.  

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Episode Music:

Tracks: Tobu - Good Times, Tobu & Itro - Sunburst 
Tobu Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tobuofficial
Itro Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/officialitro
Released by NCS 
https://www.youtube.com/NoCopyrightSounds

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to Pilates Teachers' Manual, your guide to becoming a great Pilates teacher. I'm Olivia, and I'll be your host. Join the conversation and the Pilates community on Instagram at @pilatesteachersmanual and visit buymeacoffee.com/OliviaPodcasts to support the show. Today's chapter starts now. 

[00:00:56] Hello, hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. [00:01:00] Today, we're coming off of the high of the Olympics in Paris, where we watched incredible athletes from all over the world do absolutely incredible things in their respective sports, breaking world records and Olympic records, and continuing to be stronger and faster and more powerful than humans ever before in the history of humans and the history of the Olympics. And it's incredible to watch incredible people do amazing things with their bodies. You can really see what all of the hard work and dedication and genetics of people that allow them to perform in such a high capacity. 

[00:01:37] But for most of us as Pilates teachers, our clients are not Olympic athletes. The everyday Olympics for our clients is preparing to sit at your desk for eight hours or to wrangle kids in the park or maintain independence as they age. That's carrying a full suitcase when you're traveling during the holidays. [00:02:00] That's putting a coffee cup back on the top shelf after emptying the dishwasher. Getting in and out of the car, going up and down stairs. All of those things are what our clients are working on every single day. They're not trying to shave a tenth of a second off of their time for a meter dash.

[00:02:19] They're trying to walk to another gate when their gate changes at the airport. And a great thing about Pilates is that Pilates is excellent for elite athletes who- maybe you do work with elite athletes. There are definitely Pilates teachers who specialize in professional athletes. Um, but for most of us, we're working with weekend warriors. We're working with, you know, with regular people who are just trying to do regular everyday things and feel good about themselves, feel stronger, feel more flexible, feel more confident. And Pilates is fantastic for both groups of people. 

[00:02:56] I think it's important to remember that Pilates [00:03:00] is great and Pilates is exercise. Like both of those things are true. And exercise is great for a lot of reasons, and because Pilates is exercise, it gets to be the reason for all of those things, too. And we know that exercise is excellent. It helps us increase the good things, whether that's increasing self efficacy, helping our clients be stronger and more flexible and more coordinated, improving sleep quality, improving mental health, improving circulation by decreasing inflammation, and decreasing stress and anxiety, all the good things that we know that exercise does Pilates because it's exercise is providing those benefits for our clients. So we're already teaching something that's improving the lives of the people that we work with. 

[00:03:54] And so one thing I want to dive into within this context of our clients in the everyday [00:04:00] Olympics is how can we help our clients have the best outcome from their Pilates, not because they're going to compete in some Olympic Pilates. Like I know we keep adding Olympic sports. Don't think we need to have a Pilates Olympics, but how can we help our clients get the most out of the sessions they have with us the classes they have with us. 

[00:04:22] As far as my teaching philosophy goes it's really tied to this adage that people will forget what you said but they won't forget how you made them feel and I think that that really applies to teaching Pilates, too. So in this episode, we're looking at specific skills that we can employ as Pilates teachers in order to help our clients succeed and, you know, get the gold medal in their day to day life.

[00:04:52] Specific strategies we'll be looking at are verbal, like the cues that you give, how you say what you say and what you say. [00:05:00] And also nonverbal, like the way you carry yourself in class, your attitude as the teacher, as well as exploring some strategies to show your clients that you care because the caring component, the trust that we build with our clients, is a way that we can set ourselves apart that even beyond being a great Pilates teacher and knowing the Pilates exercises and the modifications and the exercise settings and all of those things. We can take it even a step forward and improve those outcomes for our clients even more 

[00:05:32] I know that while you're in training to be a Pilates teacher, you're already learning so many things. You're learning the choreography and the equipment and the exercises and Pilates history and the muscles and what's working and, you know, all of this stuff. There's already so much that you are trying to digest that it seems unfair to put another thing on your plate and say hey, by the way, also do this. 

[00:05:55] But the argument I'm going to make is that the Pilates stuff is important a hundred [00:06:00] percent. And being a Pilates teacher means that you're going to teach Pilates a lot of the time, but building a connection between yourself as the teacher and your client is as important as the Pilates stuff, if not more important. 

[00:06:16] In past episodes where I've shared my philosophy and talked about the importance of building a therapeutic alliance with our clients, you know, having this relationship with our clients where they're trusting us and we're trusting them, that they believe that we care about them because we do care about them. They believe that we're looking out for them, that we know our stuff. They feel seen and heard. They're willing to try things when you ask them to try things because they trust you. It's a partnership, not a top down hierarchy that you're working with this person, not teaching at them. 

[00:06:51] And that might sound a little woo woo and being like, all right, and whatever, but, but the research actually supports these claims. [00:07:00] Building a strong therapeutic alliance with clients, often patients in a medical capacity, has been widely researched, especially within the context of low back pain and how building a therapeutic alliance changes outcomes or impacts outcomes with clients who are dealing with low back pain, especially chronic low back pain. And even though we are teaching Pilates, we aren't working in a medical capacity, if we knew that there are things that we could do to help our clients. play with their grandkids and, you know, not have to go into a retirement home and not even need a surgery necessarily. Like, wouldn't we want to do that? Of course we would. Of course we would. 

[00:07:44] Um, always a caveat with surgery. There are always times where surgery is the right option, but there are times where exercise can have an equivalent outcome. We're always going to defer to medical professionals, but there are interventions that we can take that are non [00:08:00] surgical within the Pilates setting. So there's our little caveat on that. 

[00:08:04] I also get excited about this topic because whenever I talk about a therapeutic alliance, I always get to reference my absolute favorite research paper and link it in the show notes that talks about the importance of the relationship we build with our clients in the work that we do, um, in this paper by Fuentes and several other amazing researchers, they divided low back pain having participants into four groups, two groups got to work with the TENS unit, which is that electrode shock thing where they attach the little things to the affected area and it sends that electric shock and then your muscles tense and release really quickly.

[00:08:41] That's called the tens unit. So two groups got the tens unit and two groups got a placebo. And within the groups that got the tens unit, one group had a caring medical professional who was working with them and one had a very detached kind of here's your treatment and then leave medical professional.

[00:08:59] And same thing with the [00:09:00] placebo. They got a caring, uh, clinician in one group and they had a very detached, very clinical cursory clinician in the other group. And they looked at who is going to have the best outcomes from this treatment. 

[00:09:14] And the best outcome came for the group that had the TENS unit and a caring professional. And you would say, of course they did. The TENS unit is the proven treatment. Of course, that's going to have a positive outcome. That's why we do it, right? 

[00:09:28] But the second best outcome is not just the tens unit with a detached person. The second best outcome was the placebo treatment with a caring professional followed by the detached professional with the TENS unit, still a positive outcome because back pain also halves- in the natural history of back pain- every six weeks. But the placebo with the detached clinician had the least best outcome. 

[00:09:56] So this is powerful. And I love that article so [00:10:00] much because it confirms what has been my experience teaching Pilates that when you care about the people, when you put the effort in to build the relationship with your clients, you can help them succeed in their everyday Olympic tasks.

[00:10:13] Coming up after the break, we'll look at verbal skills, ways that you can teach and cue and things you can say that help build that rapport, build that relationship. We'll talk about nonverbal things, the way you conduct yourself, the way you hold yourself, your personality, all of the nonverbal things about you, and then specific things that you can do in your class, like right now to continue to set your clients up for success, not only in Pilates, but in their life outside of the Pilates studio. That's coming up next.

[00:10:54] Hi there. I hope you're enjoying today's chapter so far. There's great stuff coming up after the break too. [00:11:00] Be sure to subscribe wherever you're listening and visit buymeacoffee.com/OliviaPodcasts to support the show. There you can make a one time donation or become a member for as little as five dollars a month.

[00:11:13] Membership comes with some awesome perks including a shout out in the next episode, a monthly newsletter, a monthly zoom call with me, and more. You can also visit links.oliviabioni.com/affiliates to check out some sweet deals on products I use and love. Now back to the show.

[00:11:51] There are several verbal skills that you've probably been honing in your teacher training or that you learned in teacher training that are going to [00:12:00] help you build this relationship with your clients. Cueing the exercises, cueing the movements in class in a way that is very clear and concise will support your clients because they won't have to guess what you want them to do or what they should be doing.

[00:12:17] You set them up for success by giving them a very clear blueprint of what you'd like them to do so that they can focus on what they're doing and not what you mean. They then get to relax because they know that they don't have to do any additional work. You are giving them exactly, very clearly what you need them to do and they're going ahead and doing it.

[00:12:37] I think in terms of the words that you choose, anytime you can give a correction and use invitational language or use positive language in the way that you're framing what you want, you can frame what you want, um, verbal corrections as a question, like how would it feel if you did this instead? Or could you try it [00:13:00] like this? Or I love the way you're reaching your arm overhead. Could you also do that while maintaining this other thing that you also want them to do? 

[00:13:14] It seems like such a simple switch, but this suggestion that you're making to your client, even if you're like, well, this is the choreography and this is what comes next when you're not ordering them to do it or commanding them to do it this way, but letting it be an exploration for them. Like, could you straighten the leg more? Could you lift your arm higher? It becomes something that they can dip their toes into and there's no assumption that they'll be able to do it perfectly or that they'll be able to do it like that. But you're framing it like, could you try? 

[00:13:49] We know that whenever we can give our clients agency where they have the power to make the choice. They feel better like we've- there's really funny research [00:14:00] where even letting people pick the color golf ball that they're going to use in the experiment, the fact that they had a choice in it is helpful. So the fact that your clients are coming in and choosing the reformer that they're going to be on, or they're, you know, choosing their station, um, that that also has positive outcomes. So you're giving them that choice and then honoring the choice that they make. If that's what they choose to do. Um, you take it and if it's not what they choose to do, you don't force the issue. 

[00:14:29] I think always framing things positively is helpful. What do you want more of instead of what do you not want? So if someone is doing a plank and their hips are higher than you'd like them to be, instead of saying, "don't lift your hips," which is what they're currently doing and what you don't want them to do, you could say, could you lower the hips in line with your shoulders and heels? So you're telling them what you [00:15:00] want. Could you drop those hips a little bit lower? And then they have something that they can do, which is positive, versus something to not do where they're like, well, I want to not do that, but what am I supposed to do instead? So whenever you can frame it positively, I think that that is helpful. 

[00:15:16] How you say it also comes into this verbal context because nothing feels worse, I think, than being ashamed or embarrassed of what you're doing. So how you say it, that you're using empowering language, that you're positively reinforcing the things that you love. Like that you're seeing that you want more of, you know, the thing that they're doing so that people feel good about themselves doing it. Any language that's like, no, not like that. Or that's a terrible plank. Like, I know you would never, ever, ever say that, but for the purpose of stating the obvious, making people feel good about the work that they're doing is going to be more motivating to [00:16:00] them than telling them everything that they're doing wrong as a laundry list, like that's not going to be as helpful. 

[00:16:06] I think, as far as nonverbal things, the way that you carry yourself, your personality, your attitude about teaching, I think there's a reason why there's kind of a bubbly, positive fitness teacher persona that we see very widely and that's because bubbly and positive, like makes you feel good. It's like smiling at yourself in the mirror feels good. Like frowning yourself in the mirror feels not good, you know? So whenever we can be positive non verbally, and that might be cuing with a smile. The fact that, like the fact that you enjoy teaching and that you are passionate and excited about what we're going to do in class today goes a long way. 

[00:16:52] You know, that you smile at people when you see them, you welcome them in and you check in with them and you see how they're doing, all of these things, [00:17:00] um, even waving at people when they come in, Hey, come on in. You know, um, having very open body language, you know, we're not having our hands on our hips or hands in our pockets or arms crossed in front of our chest. Any of those sort of defensive postures. We're open and we're engaging with people. We're not sitting on our phone in the back of the room. You know, like that body language goes a long way. 

[00:17:24] I think your attitude also shows up here. Like a lot of times as Pilates teachers, we can editorialize and we'll share stories, or we'll talk about things that are going on in the world or our lives. Maybe you don't teach like that, but if you do, you know, being overall positive and genuine and warm makes your class the kind of class that people want to be a part of. Because even though Pilates is great and exercise is great and the studio is great, like we can make it bigger and bigger. People come to class for you because they want to hang out with you and they want to do a good thing for themselves and that's really something that has people come [00:18:00] back. 

[00:18:00] So there is like a little bit of a customer service component. I've talked about a teaching persona, but just having that smile on is really helpful while you're teaching and when you're not teaching. Just being a genuinely positive person. 

[00:18:14] As far as actionable strategies, one of them is smiling when you talk. I don't know if you've ever done stuff on the phone, but people can hear when you're smiling. People can hear, ideally, when it's not forced, you know that you're actually excited about what's going on. But smiling when you talk, it makes everything feel a lot warmer. 

[00:18:35] The invitational language I think is a great strategy that you're asking a question.

[00:18:41] Even when I'm teaching the exercise, I'll ask a question. I'll say, you know, if you've got gas in the tank, could we build on this? Could we straighten that leg? Could we add the opposite arm? Could we pick up a hand weight? Could we grab that short loop? Like you can even cue progressions [00:19:00] as a question as well. It doesn't just have to be a correction using clients. 

[00:19:05] Names is huge. We don't want to feel like a nameless blob in a sea of people. We crave human connection with others, and especially if you're teaching group classes, building that group energy up is what sets a really great group teacher apart. So creating this space, whether you call it setting the container or however you think about it, but creating that container for your group class where you know the people in your class and remembering people's names, making a conscious effort to learn their names and use their names goes a long way.

[00:19:50] And that doesn't mean that you have to go and memorize your class roster every night before your class. But whether it's, you know, I use little name tags at the reformers [00:20:00] or if you're checking people in and you have the attendance sheet, but trying to learn people's names, remember their names, remember things about them, whether it's something going on in their shoulder or something that their kids doing like that will also set your class apart. 

[00:20:15] More people want to take your class and on its face, you'll be like, well, more people taking my classes, like selfish, and like that is a personal good thing that could happen to you, but you're also getting more people to do Pilates, to reap more benefits, so that when an unexpected thing happens in someone's life, their elevator's out of service in their building and they have to climb three flights of stairs. Or, you know, they've got all these groceries in their trunk and taking them in one trip instead of two trips, like these every day, a little bit more than we think we're going to have to do, but we suddenly have to do it. 

[00:20:54] Like those situations come up constantly. Train station's out of order, [00:21:00] so you have to go to a different stop or the bus is rerouted and now you have to walk an additional four blocks. Like lots of things come up in our life where we want to be prepared for them. And so within the context of the Olympics, I'm calling that the everyday Olympics. And by employing all of these strategies, by building that therapeutic alliance, you're just amplifying the positive impact that you can have in clients lives.

[00:21:23] And I think that that's important. I think if we know that we can help our clients be even better and be able to face whatever challenges come their way in their life, that they'll be ready for them, I think that we should capitalize on that, definitely. 

[00:21:39] Huge thank you to all my supporters on Buy Me A Coffee, especially while I was on hiatus. That newsletter for August just went out, so I'm really looking forward to catching up with you soon and having a coffee chat. If you'd like to support this project, or if you just want to reach out and say, hi, you can visit that, Buy Me a Coffee page and join the fun. It's a good time. Thank you all so [00:22:00] much. I hope you have a great couple of weeks and I'll talk to you again soon.

[00:22:11] Thanks for listening to this week's chapter of Pilates Teachers' Manual, your guide to becoming a great Pilates teacher. Check out the podcast Instagram at @pilatesteachersmanual, and be sure to subscribe wherever you listen. For more Pilates goodness, check out my other podcast, Pilates Students' Manual, available everywhere you listen to podcasts.

[00:22:34] The adventure continues. Until next time.