There are many ways that a career in Pilates is within your reach. The first question to ask is do I want to teach just Pilates Mat or do I want to be able to give a full session to a variety of clients including special needs or prenatal clients. As an education Pilates studio offering teacher training and certificates of training in Pilates for the last 15 years, Core Pilates NYC has seen it all. There seems to be clearly 2 paths of interest both motivated by commitment and budget. And then there’s the online option. With the insurgence of the digital age even becoming a movement professional can be achieved though an online course – making it more convenient than ever to get a teacher training and certificate of training in Pilates.
The first and most efficient way to become a Pilates instructor is by getting your Pilates Mat Teacher Training certificate. At Core we offer the Mat Training Course which teaches both beginner and intermediate Mat levels in the classical system of Pilates exercises.
Our Mat teacher training course runs over 2 weekends or 20 hours and involves a practical test out at the end where we watch prospective new teachers in our course teach a mat class! This option is perfect for anybody who wants to teach right away in a gym or studio. But it only qualifies them to teach Mat and not Reformer or the other apparatus.
That being said, it can be still be a very lucrative path if one chooses to market themselves for at-home private training. Most at-home clients don’t have Pilates Reformers or apparatus but still want to train at home in the Method. Teachers can earn upwards of $85 or more for private instruction in Mat.
The grandest of all teacher training is to enroll in a what is known as a “Comprehensive” Pilates teacher training course. Most of these certification courses require about 400 – 600 hours at a host studio and are broken down into intensive weekends where students are taught the various Pilates apparatus and how best to integrate them into a full-fledged classical Pilates session. This is usually the best path for anybody wishing to make a career out of the teaching Pilates because you come out of these programs fully prepared and knowledgeable about ALL Pilates apparatus, principles and in some programs special populations.
Online. Is. The Future. For Pilates teacher training. This statement is quite controversial especially when it comes to learning movement. The first wave of online took shape with fitness streaming. Everything from yogaglo.com to pilatesanytime.com to dailyburn.com all paved the way for getting fit at home for a low monthly subscription fee. This idea than translated into teaching how to teach for folks who couldn’t make it to a national recognized Pilates or yoga teacher training program.
Many opponents of the growing trend of online teacher training think that it diminishes the quality of the work and that the essence of a Pilates education is in being present at a studio with a community of apprentices and to have that hands-on experience. We think it is possible to curate a great online experience but it’s something that has to be done smartly so not to degrade the method and churn out half-par Pilates teachers.
If you want to learn more about becoming a Pilates instructor in any of Core Pilates NYC’s teacher training programs please contact our director at [email protected] or call 212. 260. 5464.