An article by Carla Mullins, the co-director of Body Organics as Published in the Pilates Journal April, 2023

There is no doubt that our society, industries and communities are all undergoing massive technological transformations, with the rapid digitalisation of our lives. Even the pilates industry is undergoing massive change in the way we work, learn and interact with our clients and each other. I call the process the re-formation of pilates, in some ways it is akin to the reformation of Christianity in the 16th century following the introduction of the printing press. In the case of the pilates method it is mass marketing through social media, zoom and the mass production of reformers that has resulted in challenges to the concept of the pilates method.

There are those who will cry that this is ‘the end of the world’ and that darkness shall descend upon us all. I on the other hand would like to stop and ask; What has been the impetus for change? What has changed? Who has benefited from these changes? How can we harness the reformation movement to improve the pilates method profession and industry?

The impetus for change?

‘The pilates method, has struggled for many years to attain legitimacy in the eyes of medical practitioners, policymakers and clients. The pilates method was gaining traction in Australia, until it was categorised as ‘an unproved natural therapy’ under The Natural Therapies Review 2019. There is no doubt that many in the ‘pilates profession’ were deeply disappointed at this setback. Whilst others within the pilates industry were gleeful at the weakening of a recognised body of knowledge and skills, and the development of authoritative bodies able to guide the development of criteria for professional standings. The changes did not seem to effect physical therapists who have relied on their training in other modalities to legitimise their use of pilates, even if they aren’t actually trained in the ‘pilates method’. Furthermore, despite clear guidelines that pilates is not coverable through private health, Physiotherapists have been doing so for some time.

This weakening of this professional standing allowed for the strengthening of a pilates industry whereby equipment, training, franchises and software could be promoted to a growing and unregulated market.

In the last decade, there has also been a corporatisation of allied Health Practices in Australia. Leading to practices of large group classes similar to that seen in gyms, the only real difference in some cases is that a young inexperienced graduate is leading the class and therefore the class is GST-free. Physiotherapy companies are providing large ‘physio-led classes in settings of six or more reformers’ providing HITT reformer classes. A particularly frustrating example of marketing was one very large physiotherapy company showing a person doing short spine on the reformer, next to a line saying how great their classes were for people with osteoporosis!

To understand how this has become possible is we have to recognise the underlying duality in the pilates world. On the one hand pilates is presented as this aspirational system of health, fitness and beauty whereby famous people are seen to promote this special ‘secret’ to leanness. On the other hand, pilates is seen as a safe and responsible mindfulness process that can strengthen and support people from various states of health to a stronger more physically and mentally functional person. The marketing of these two worlds has been seen as a one or the other rather than as part of a continuum whereby a skilled and highly trained practitioner is able to work with clients at all stages of this continuum.

The pilates industry has been willing to trade off the name of pilates in order to promote specific profitable goals, without supporting the broader goals of pilates. In so doing risking the hard-fought legitimacy of those in the pilates profession.

The results is that our clients can be impacted by the dangerous and poorly trained pilates instructors and health practitioners who do not understand the nuances of movement patterning and progression. We are seeing unskilled practitioners who are using pilates equipment in environments that look and sound more like a nightclub than a studio.

These examples are seen throughout the pilates industry and have been marketed as ‘pilates porn’ with individuals doing an endless variety of lunges and handstands on a reformer. The images revealing no methodology other than taking a gym workout on to a reformer; in other words the reduction of the pilates method to a reformer. A process known as the reform-ation. Instructors use pre-filmed videos and loud music to have clients move, because after a weekend course, they cannot truly program the nuances of a large repertoire let alone modify to a client’s needs. The role of the instructor is not necessarily to teach pilates but rather to supervise individuals for insurance purposes and often to help complete incident reports. These instructors also have a role in helping to promote the premium image of pilates by creating a facade of expertise and attention. Understandably, the pay is good per hour but there is little consistency in those hours, with instructors paid for a few hours at a time with little income security and consistency. In many ways, the work has become part of the gig economy rather than as a profession. I would not be surprised if we don’t see the introduction of an ‘uber like app’ where you can order your generic instructor for a class.

Even more concerning are large classes that accept clients without proper screening. Clients have come to me after going to a number of large franchises, even after some reformer physiotherapy classes with injuries. Clients with hip pathologies and vestibular pathologies have been led into ridiculously dangerous lunges on the reformers, resulting in falls and severe tendon injuries. There is an understanding that ‘pilates’ is good for you, but not necessarily an understanding of what type of pilates is good and how tailoring the work is important. It’s like saying food is medicine, and then thinking that a McDonald's cheeseburger must therefore be good for your body.

This process of ‘reformation’ has undermined the professionalism within pilates and leaves us with the question of who benefits from such an approach?

There is no doubt that this reformer fad is popular, there are many people who ‘love the burn’ and novelty. However, it is not the pilates method which incorporates at its bare minimum a series of whole-body movements with a focus of practice, progression and self-mastery of health. By removing the pilates from the reformer experience, but marketing as pilates, the big benefits flow to:

Franchises that are able to create a formula that can be reproduced and commodified, trading on a name that has until now connoted a premium product.

Instructor trainers able to simplify pilates to a series of moves that can be learnt online or in super short courses with insufficient practical skills-based training. Many of these courses are linked to franchises and gyms where people are essentially paying for their training to be employed at that franchise.

Training provided as Continuing Education rather than certification. Resulting in poorly trained instructors who have no recognised qualification for pilates association membership and insurance purposes.

Corporate Allied Health practices that can churn clients through generic ‘exercise classes’ subsidised by Health Funds and GST exemptions.

Equipment providers able to sell en masse equipment or affiliated products that can be quickly mass-produced, with little concern for consumer or environmental sustainability.

Video streaming subscriptions, and app developers that can generate endless array of class formats to meet the needs of instructors or gyms. Catering to poorly trained instructors who are unable to purposefully program or understand the process of progression and modification of repertoire. The problem creates a whole new business opportunity whereby weekly programs can be marketed resulting in bland generic classes taught where clients get to do even more weird cross-fit variations on a reformer.

Software companies creating booking systems, financial membership structures and apps to service the mass market.

Clients who are happy to pay to participate in the latest fad. For many, it has meant that they are exercising and moving for the first time in years, and that must be considered a benefit. Whether or not they are being misled into paying for premium mediocrity rather than pilates method is a matter for further consideration as to consumer safety.

While these benefits some greatly, there is a cost to the broader legitimacy of the term pilates, as teachers of the pilates method disappear without passing on their skills. The deskilling of the pilates method is meaning that we are loosing the knowledge and skill base that gave pilates the reputation in the first place. Once that has been plundered ‘the legitimate practitioners’ are left with the difficult task of having to rebuild a reputation and the injured bodies.

What can be done?

A starting point is that those who have trained in the pilates method start focussing on reclaiming the term. This means when someone says they are doing reformer pilates you highlight that they are doing reformer fitness, not the pilates method. You advocate for fitness associations to remove the name from pilates as part of the reformer fitness classes. Advocacy around this is hard when so many large training providers are focussing on offering reformer mat training rather than emphasising comprehensive training.

We should also be ensuring that quality training and quality apprenticeship models continue to be a pathway to membership of a professional pilates organisation. Ensure that pilates method studios keep conversations open to reformer and mat trained teachers and show that there is more to the pilates method.

Pathways to restoring a profession of pilates teachers should ensure that:

There is a body of knowledge about anatomy and physiology in context of movement.

Dynamic analysis of movement patterns is an essential skill learnt through apprenticeship based models using the pilates apparatus as the medium.

Recognition that trainees are to be treated with respect and encouragement as they are the future of the pilates method.

Appropriate use of technology in training assists students to acquire knowledge around anatomy, pathology and repertoire. In person skills based training is also needed to produce graduates who are able to communicate, assess, plan program and teach real clients.

Insurance providers recognise the minimum standards of training certification and education as identified by professional pilates association for all practitioners to be covered for malpractice.

Pilates Certification is only possible through a pilates industry (eg PAA or NPCP) professionally recognised Certification process, and the practice of franchise continuing education practices end.

GST reform so that all gyms charge the tax. At the moment there are anti-competitive practices with Allied Health corporations able to receive a 10% price subsidy to providing a gym service which has nothing to do with a tailored health program.

There are some that say it is too late for all of this because we have already been ‘re-formed’. I argue that as we reach peak reformer and franchises start to fail, interest wains this is the perfect time to call for better regulation and higher standards. Over the next few years is the time when the interested parties will start to be distracted looking for another way to make fast money. We can reclaim pilates and survive this re-formation.