How to get started with Feel Better Pilates
We receive a lot of emails here at Feel Better HQ about getting started with Pilates. People who are brand new to Pilates, or to equipment classes, or who have had a long time out of the exercise game are wanting to know how they should start with us, and many of the people who have reached out are asking for a private session or series of private sessions to help introduce them to Pilates before they join a group class. While a private session is definitely an approach that can be taken, it isn’t generally the approach we recommend. Read on to discover what IS the approach we recommend.
We don’t (generally) recommend starting with a private session
We get it. Joining a group where you assume everyone but you knows what is going on can be daunting. What if you don’t know how the equipment works? What if you don’t understand what the teacher is asking you to do? Wouldn’t it be easier to learn everything you need to know before you start? In theory a 1:1 session sounds like it might be just the solution to this conundrum…but in most cases it doesn’t have to be. In a 1:1 session we can spend time familiarising you with how the equipment works and introducing you to some exercises from the Pilates repertoire. You’ll get comfortable with your teacher and the studio. But the purpose and true value of a 1:1 session is in having all the equipment changes managed for you so you get to do more Pilates things. Having a program that is designed for your specific goals and getting to go on all the studio apparatus, not just one machine. When you pay for a private just to learn the things we teach you in a group class you’re missing out on some of the special little luxuries that should come with having a private class!
What if you’re injured or in pain?
A good rule of thumb is that if it’s acute i.e. your pain has only been present less than 12 weeks and you can link it to a specific mechanism of injury (such as falling down the stairs) then you probably should be resting it for the first day or two after onset and then you should be looking to start mobilising it again, but getting some advice from an exercise physiologist or physio might be a good idea if you’re not sure how to manage it in this early phase and you’re concerned.
If you’re returning to exercise after significant illness or injury (such as cancer, broken bones, reconstructive and joint replacement surgeries) then you need to be cleared by your relevant care providers (surgeon, GP, physio) and we may well recommend a transition through private sessions with one of our clinically trained instructors prior to joining a group class depending on where you are in your recovery journey, or refer you to another service that is better suited to your needs. We would rather refer you on to someone that can best meet your unique needs than push you into a setting that isn’t right for you.
If your injury or pain is non-complex - such as minor strains and sprains, general persistent hip, neck or back pain that may or may not be associated with a disc bulge or spondylolisthesis (try saying that three times fast) - then it will likely be manageable within the group setting as we are easily able to offer exercise layering to scale exercises up and down to work best for individual participants and always encourage students to make the best choices for their body on any given day.
Back pain is actually one of the most common things that brings people to Pilates and in 2022 a meta-analysis of 118 clinical trials concluded that while all types of physical exercises were effective for improving pain and disability, except for stretching exercises (for reducing pain) and the McKenzie method (for reducing disability), Pilates had the highest likelihood for reducing pain (93%) and disability (98%) in those with chronic low back pain. Back pain is our bread and butter so to speak, and we can absolutely accommodate your current movement limitations and help build you up to feel less pain and improve your strength and mobility over time and it is perfectly safe for you to be moving in a group class when you feel ready.
So what do we recommend?
We recommend trying out our group classes. Our Go Slow Intro Offer is the perfect way to do this, with 8 class credits for $160 and four weeks to use them. It’s the toe in the studio water you need to know if we’re the studio for you! If you’re worried, we have a beginner reformer class on the timetable and this class is committed to being focused on the beginner and intermediate movements , however all our classes are open level which means we teach to the people that are in class on the day and all our teachers are able to help you scale exercises to meet your needs. The only thing we ask is that you are realistic about how much exercise you can recover from in the 14 day window and not overbook yourself, and to always communicate openly with your teacher if an exercise is causing you pain.
If you’re interested in the equipment classes and you’ve never done Pilates before, or only mat, then we suggest starting with the reformer, and we actually recommend that you try and do 3-4 reformer classes before trying the other class types. We suggest this approach because it is easier to learn a new thing by repeating it a few times in relatively close succession and reformer is what we offer the most of! If you sign up for reformer on Monday, mat on Wednesday and tower on Friday you’ll have repeated the newbie experience in three different class types and not had any opportunities to consolidate what you learned about navigating around your equipment and body position changes in your previous session. However, if you do reformer on those three days and the following Monday you sign up for tower suddenly you’ll notice that even though the equipment and your relationship to gravity has changed, that you have actually done some of these exercises before!
When you attend your first class we ask that you arrive 10 minutes before start time. This gives you time to meet your teacher and update them on any concerns or injuries you may have, find out where to put your stuff, learn how your equipment works and generally get settled before go time. Giving yourself adequate time to do all these things means you start your class far more relaxed than if you are rushing to arrive and your teacher is rushing to show you everything to avoid cutting into everybody’s class time.
Your instincts may be to try and hide somewhere away from the other students if possible, lest they see you having NFI what you’re doing. In reality we are probably going to ask you to jump on a machine next to one of our more experienced community members. Why? Because honestly the first few classes on the equipment can be a lot - there’s straps and boxes and springs and we’re going to ask you to make some shapes with your body which may be entirely unfamiliar to you. If you aren’t quite sure what the teacher is asking then having someone next to you that you can look at if you’re feeling unsure is helpful for most people. Of course your teacher is also there to help guide you into exercises and give a little extra coaching as required, but often a quick visual cue from a fellow student is all you’ll need to get moving.
There’s also a bunch of research that suggests that people often have better outcomes when exercising in a group setting - from quality of performance, to how long we are prepared to persist at a task(1), and how frequently we participate in exercise(2) - all these things seem to be positively impacted by the group environment. Exercise, cognitive activity and maintaining social connection have also been shown to help protect against cognitive decline later in life and a group Pilates class can create an environment that contributes to all of these!(3)
(1) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51539278_Buddy_Up_The_Kohler_Effect_Applied_to_Health_Games
(2) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1479-5868-10-18
(3) https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad180501#ref018%20ref019%20ref020