Creativity and flow on the Reformer

So you want to build creative and fantastic flows? There are a few things you need to understand first!

Let’s start with the foundations. We need to respect and perfect the Foundations of Pilates

Before branching out and getting super creative with your Pilates flows. It might sound obvious but it’s important to have a strong understanding and respect for the Pilates principles and the foundations of Pilates. Knowing the history of Pilates and the classical repertoire and using that as your foundation for creating flows on the Reformer will take your teaching to the next level. Making sure you have really done the groundwork throughout your courses, observation and practice teaching hours as this will help you to layer your workouts into something more individual to you. It’s also important to know that being too creative can also backfire when teaching in a group setting – we need to understand when to dial it back, when to amp it up and how to strike the right balance between foundational movement and creativity when planning your classes - this will come with time and  practice so keep it simple when starting out.

Have strong Anatomical knowledge

Anatomy is at the forefront of what we do as movement professionals! Having a strong understanding of Anatomy allows you to teach to each individual body that you see. Not everybody's the same and if you understand what is happening underneath the skin (the bones, muscles and joints) it allows you to adjust to each individual you see in the room. If I want to change the repertoire up or make an exercise different (more challenging or more supportive) - having strong Anatomical knowledge and knowing how the body moves leaves a lot more space for creativity when teaching a Reformer class.

Transitions

I believe transitions play a super important part when it comes to planning and teaching a creative and flowing group class - using where you are in space and how the Reformer is set up to your advantage when moving your clients into new positions and exercises can make a big impact on the flow and outcome of your class. Once a certain level of practice is reached, you can use transitions as part of the workout. You want to strive to reach a level where there is no starting and stopping, but rather the entire workout is one fluid piece of choreography.

Creativity

The best way to create a class that feels unique and offers different challenges for your clients is to get on the Reformer and try different moves in your own body! Always focusing on the ‘WHY’ is so important when I do this. Sometimes you will see a move on Instagram or social media and yes - it looks cool but WHY do we do it? Is there a place for it in your class? Does it feel good or does it make functional and biomechanical sense? Will this motivate or frustrate your clients? These are the questions I ask myself when I try different things. Yes - I am always trying out fun moves that I would never teach in a group setting but that’s a part of our self-practice as instructors and knowing when to bring that to clients that are not movement professionals themselves is key. Be sure to look at your creativity and inspiration through the lens of your training, and apply what you know about biomechanics, progressive sequencing, Pilates principles, and effective cueing before you try new ideas out on clients.

Creativity can be something as simple as adding rotation to a lunge series, a heel lift, a prop or it could be a whole new take on a classical Mat Pilates exercise on the Reformer. Just make sure you are trying it in your own body and asking yourself these questions before making your clients do it. Just because it looks good doesn’t mean it FEELS good. I’m a huge advocate for going to as many different classes and instructors as possible - this will always fuel your inspiration and give you fun ideas that you can bring to your own classes. Different cues and verbiage that resonate with you as a student can also give your clients a new view on an exercise they have done many times before.

It's also super important to know your audience and what they need! Is it 6pm on a Monday? Have your clients been stuck at a desk all day? What do they really NEED? You could have the most outrageous and creative class plan but sometimes that class plan has to go out the window to hold space for the audience you have at the time. It’s important to get to know your community - every studio has its own demographic and we need to cater our class plans to that audience to give them the workout they really love so they feel happier, stronger and keep coming back!

Here’s a little example of how I structure my Reformer classes:

Warm-up & breath: Take a couple of minutes to centre and connect to body and breath. Begin to mobilise the spine and body with a dynamic warm-up. Sometimes I do a standing squat warm-up or abdominal series warm-up.

1st side unilateral: Begin your Reformer flow (I try to stay with the same footbar and spring setting throughout or minimise any spring changes). I start my unilateral work and work each part of the body all on one side. Moving through your single leg/balance series, single arm series, ab series or side plank series, keeping your transitions in mind and reducing a stop/start feel when moving through each body part. Be sure to start with a base layer and add 3-4 layers to each exercise to provide a challenge to every person in the room.

Bilateral series: This could be posterior chain work, extension, stable spine series like a plank or roll back series on the box - something that is bilateral to break up each side.

Other side Unilateral: Work the other side of your unilateral series. You can even reverse the flow here.

Finisher: Time for a final challenge to really finish on a high note before you cool down, stretch and come back to your breathwork to round off the session.

I find planning my classes around this template makes the class feel like a full-circle moment and gives the workout a sense of flow and choreography! Have fun class planning!

Ashleigh has always loved moving and nourishing her body with the Pilates practice and believes this form of movement is medicine! Ash is a senior instructor and Studio Manager at BodyLove Pilates & Course Facilitator at Bodylove Academy in Sydney, Australia. Ashleigh has qualifications in Mat & Reformer Pilates as well as pre & post-natal training taught by expert & BodyLove founder, Ali Handley. With over six years of experience, Ashleigh finds joy in bringing together a more empowered you through movement as well as inspiring and educating those who wish to make Pilates their career. 

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