How To Stand Out As Exceptional Reformer Pilates Instructor

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Learn Your Clients Names, Injuries, Likes, Dislikes and More

It should be needles to say we all want to be more than another client. I try my best to remember my clients names, injuries and more yet still sometimes I forget. This is the downside of bigger group sizes and teaching in multiple studios yet not an excuse. During the past year I developed couple strategies on how I could do better here. I share my strategies and some heart warming stories in the book From Good To Great – Level Up Your Reformer Pilates Teaching Skills and Create An Outstanding Client Experience”. Hit the link to get notified when the handbook launches!

In addition to learning your clients names and injuries they appreciate if you ask about their day, celebrate their milestones, listen to their worries and make them feel like home. That is what a great community is all about. Helping each other out, caring for each other and making everybody feel like somebody. Clients most likely do not remember what you said or did but how you made them feel. Most of us feel good when we are included as a part of the crew but treated as individuals. Clients who share your values and feel included will come back for more. This is a kind reminder that none can please everyone.

Genuine Passion, Enthusiasm and Excitement

It may be such a cliche to state that do what you love and you are going to be successful. I say it is true. In business and profession where you work directly with people genuine passion for what you do cannot be faked. Genuine passion makes you go above and beyond. The excitement and positive energy is contagious and attract people towards you. Genuine passion and enthusiasm cannot be taught or bought with money.

We all have bad days and do not feel like showing up. When you are passionate about something and have a purpose you will find the light and excitement to show up with enthusiasm. Your body language, tone of the voice, the energy and effort you put into teaching your class tells the story.

Improving your skills, both technical reformer pilates teaching and customer service skills will make you stand out from the crowd. When you are passionate about helping people to reach their health and fitness goals, quite naturally, you want to invest in continuing education and have hunger to learn.

Make It Evident That You Know Your Stuff

Have you ever seen a client putting their best effort in when you say “this exercise is such a great way to improve your posture”? Yeah me too. Where there is no such a thing as “the best exercise” to improve posture, movement itself, strengthening the back muscles and entire posterior chain as well as opening and stretching tight chest and shoulder area will definitely do the trick. We as reformer pilates instructors know this stuff but do we articulate it loud and clear enough to our clients?

Most of the clients do not care whether you teach pilates, yoga, crossfit, zigzag or some other form of movement to them. They care about reaching their goals and having fun in professional and supportive environment. They may want to become stronger to stay independent as they age, sleep better, improve their mental health, climb a mountain on their upcoming holiday, be able play with their grandkids, feel confident, have more energy and the list goes on.

Take a moment to reflect back. How educational are you as a reformer pilates instructor? Are you reminding your clients why they are attending your reformer pilates class in the first place? Are you giving them the motivation boost to stay disciplined when they do not feel like it? Do you educate them about the perks of physical exercise and reformer pilates?

Educate To Motivate

To gain the trust of your clients and to be their go to person you need to articulate you know how to help your clients to reach their goals. This means that your classes and the time you spend with your clients come with a great level of education. You need to be able to weave in the WHY behind the exercises you have programmed for your clients in the communication before, during and after the class.

Exceptional reformer pilates instructors get to know their clients goals. The WHY the client attends the class. Once the goal is clear our job as an instructor is to find a way to help our clients to reach those goals. An outstanding reformer instructor motivates the clients to push through the discomfort with a short pep talk about the purpose of the exercise and benefits that “getting it done” brings to them during the class. And even better pep talk is targeted to clients in the room at that moment and towards their goals.

A marathon runner would be delighted to know that your unpleasant lunge series is helping them become a little faster and efficient runner in the future. As well as that this killer sequence that strengthens the glutes may lower the risk of knee, hip and ankle injury or pain. A desk worker wants to improve their posture and have a chance to prevent neck and shoulder pain. A person with hypertension will be happy to hear that pushing through reformer classes that increase the heart rate lowers the risk of heart disease, improves their blood pressure, sleep and overall mood.

Find out more tips and tricks when it comes to sharing educational content with your clients in the Reformer Pilates Instructor Handbook!

Read The Room And Think On Your Feet

Clients come from different backgrounds, skill and fitness levels. There are lot of variables from day to day like their mood, readiness, energy level, time of the month and so. An outstanding instructor is flexible and capable of altering the class plan on the go. The plan the trainer creates should be anything but show off. The best plan is a plan that serves each client the best possible way.

Chat to clients before the class, ask for injuries and read the room at the start of the class (first 5-10 mins or warm up). This helps you to be more prepared to offer adjustments and modifications as you go. Perhaps it is an adjustment to set up, a prop to assist clients or an optional extra layer or prop to challenge clients abilities.

The winner class is not the one where clients shaked like never before and were offered the latest instagram moves but a class that was well thought of. A class where each exercise has a purpose. It is the one where clients felt empowered, challenged, safe, supported, seen, valued and catered for. The one where they walked out feeling better than when they arrived. A class that where clients where educated about how and why to perform the exercise.

Our job as reformer pilates instructors is to make clients feel confident in their abilities, bring in positive energy and empathy, to understand when to push and when to hold their hand!

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