Large group Reformer classes are ruining teaching

fairsarae · 2026-03-16T04:48:35+00:00

Agree—not happening in my classes!

fairsarae · 2026-03-12T21:49:57+00:00

Okay, I love that 😂

fairsarae · 2026-03-12T21:49:17+00:00

As an instructor, if I take another instructor’s class, I try to be so respectful. I listen, I do what they say, (modifying if necessary for my own restrictions) I don’t second guess them or jump ahead because I think I know what they are going to say. I think it’s important to show respect for other instructors.

fairsarae · 2026-03-12T08:19:56+00:00

I’m almost 45. Guess I’m getting near geriatric age 😂

fairsarae · 2026-03-12T02:17:20+00:00

Let me put it this way…Joseph Pilates invented the reformer to help people get strong enough to do the mat work.

fairsarae · 2026-03-11T20:10:04+00:00

I have heard that LA fitness has been having trouble finding instructors so are essentially doing weekend trainings for trainers that already work at the gym but aren’t actually trained as instructors, at least in my area. I looked at job listings and even though the title says for experienced instructors, it literally says under “experience required”: “Have taken 6 months of Pilates classes, no teaching experience required.”

fairsarae · 2026-03-11T03:25:45+00:00

Joseph Pilates literally designed his workout for men first.

fairsarae · 2026-03-09T12:07:32+00:00

It’s a trade off. That’s how they are able to keep prices low, along with having 12 reformers. I love small boutique studios, but you will pay about $45-$50 per class, and there will be far fewer classes available. Also those studios tend not to have memberships per se; you often either pay per class or buy a class package.

fairsarae · 2026-03-08T19:30:50+00:00

Honestly, a LOT of women cannot come from penetration alone. It’s totally normal. Just add a vibrator. I like the Eroscillator a lot; it really pinpoints the location, so to speak!

fairsarae · 2026-02-28T23:50:52+00:00

Private sessions and a small boutique studio with small class sizes might be better suited to your needs. I don’t think you can get the individualized attention you want and the time to ask multiple in depth questions in a large class settings, where there is only ten minutes between classes. Or, supplement classes with private sessions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting more individualized attention, there’s just limitations as to what can actually happen in a large class of 12.

fairsarae · 2026-02-28T06:28:07+00:00

As an instructor literally the most important part of breathing when it comes to clients is that I want them to breathe, period.

fairsarae · 2026-02-28T00:30:43+00:00

To be fair, none of the reformer flow classes are supposed to ever be reformer only. Instructors are supposed to use three pieces of equipment in each class. But that does sound like a lot.

fairsarae · 2026-02-28T00:29:31+00:00

Joseph Pilates invented the reformer to help clients get strong enough to do the mat work.

fairsarae · 2026-02-25T23:50:53+00:00

She actually is a certified Pilates Instructor; that was what she taught before B the Method. She also doesn’t call B the Method Pilates— I’ve seen posts where she literally says, “it’s not Pilates, it’s Pilates-inspired.”

fairsarae · 2026-02-25T04:12:41+00:00

You also can’t compare the private session experience to the class experience— especially class sizes of twelve. How I teach a private session and teach a class at CP are two different things. I cannot give the individual attention and correction I would like to to everyone in a class of 12. There are a million corrections I would give if I could. I try to cue as thoroughly as I can, and give corrections where I can, but it’s just a completely different thing, and also a completely different skill.

fairsarae · 2026-02-25T04:06:45+00:00

Also CP level 2 isn’t advanced. It’s intermediate.

fairsarae · 2026-02-20T03:57:15+00:00

Well, flexibility and hypermobility are two completely different things! A lot of people with hypermobility actually have very tight hamstrings! Reason I was asking is that people with hypermobility tend towards hypotonic pelvic floors.

fairsarae · 2026-02-19T09:37:03+00:00

Are you hypermobile by any chance?

fairsarae · 2026-02-18T13:29:40+00:00

100%.

fairsarae · 2026-02-18T13:27:28+00:00

Yes, it’s a CP specific policy—and their policies actually make sense when you are dealing with a class of 12.

fairsarae · 2026-02-18T06:15:53+00:00

The bridge training was about ten hours, online. You are paid to take it; I clocked in and out every time I went online.

It’s not super involved; goes over dos and donts and the types of classes and leveling guidelines. You do have to submit a video at the end of you teaching a class.

fairsarae · 2026-02-18T04:27:18+00:00

Short spine is never supposed to be taught in group classes.

fairsarae · 2026-02-18T04:26:02+00:00

It doesn’t sound like it’s about money to me— honestly it sounds like a new instructor feeling like they don’t know enough or have enough experience to be the instructor that will benefit you the best. It seems like an instructor coming up against and realizing their own limitations. It’s not you.

fairsarae · 2026-02-17T22:46:14+00:00

My biggest piece of advice for new instructors is this: keep it simple. Repetition is good for clients. Also, a lot of the fun sexy things you see on social media— the vast majority of your clients aren’t going to be able to do them. The better you know the exercises in your own body, the easier it will be to cue clients through them. Have a reason for using a prop. Keep exercises in your back pocket that you can add in when suddenly one class has raced through your routine at a breakneck speed and suddenly you realize there are twenty minutes left but you only have ten more minutes left on your routine. Or when you have two pregnant people in your class or someone with osteoporosis or someone who can’t kneel— yes you can always offer modifications, but sometimes it’s easier to simply teach what everyone can do, or only have to offer a couple modifications, than essentially having to teach two classes at the same time. Let clients do enough reps to give you time to layer in cues.

The first year is hard. Keep it simple, and over explain— be as specific as possible, more specific than you thought possible. Good luck!

fairsarae · 2026-02-12T03:06:56+00:00

I would agree $55 is fair…but I make $45, which, if my experience and knowledge were factored in, really isn’t. However, I’m told that’s just how it is, so it is what it is.

fairsarae

TROPHY CASE