If you ever wonder
why different Pilates teachers seem to have different approaches, vocabularies, or uncanny abilities to spot that your left ribs are doing something suspicious… it might help to know that Pilates qualifications come in just as many varieties as onions.
Some teachers have completed short online courses — the spring onions of the training world. Fresh, quick, and perfectly fine for sprinkling some basic movement knowledge on top of a class. They’re slim, speedy (speed is NOT a conventional Pilates approach!) . These spring onion teachers also tend to say, “I was certified in just a couple of weekends!” Spring onions are lovely in a stir-fry… but you wouldn’t expect them to hold up a stew.
Then there are teachers trained through more detailed online or blended programs, the shallots. Small but surprisingly layered. These teachers have peeled through anatomy modules, technique modules, teaching practice, and possibly underwent a minor existential crisis about how to cue a neutral pelvis. Shallots bring depth — but their training still varies widely.
And then, of course, there are the big Spanish onions of the Pilates world — teachers who’ve completed long, in-person, highly regulated courses, like those from Body Control Pilates or the Pilates Foundation or similar. These qualifications can take many months (or more) of hands-on training, supervised teaching, exams, and enough anatomy to rival a modest medical textbook. Spanish-onion teachers may make you cry, but only in the “my glutes have just located themselves” sense.
Why does this matter for you as a client?
Because if you are older, have musculoskeletal issues, or are managing osteoporosis, it is vital that your teacher knows what is safe and what most definitely is not. Some classical Pilates exercises — especially those involving strong flexion, loaded roll-downs, or the more circus-like repertoire — are not suitable for clients with bone loss or fragility.
So don’t be shy: ask your teacher what their qualification involved and how long it took. Did they study anatomy? Were they assessed teaching real people? Was there hands-on supervision? The good teachers — of every onion variety — won’t mind you asking. In fact, they’ll probably be delighted.
After all, Pilates is about working from the inside out… and it helps when your teacher has more layers than a very well-educated onion.
