The Art of Pilates Instructing and the Importance of Experience
- Apr 14, 2025
- 4 min read
Melissa Jane Reinke is a highly experienced Pilates Instructor and the proud owner of Melissa Jane Pilates, a boutique studio based in St John's Wood, London. With over 18 years of experience, Melissa has been dedicated to teaching the Pilates method since 2006, helping countless clients improve their strength, flexibility, and overall well-being.
In recent years, group Pilates Reformer classes have exploded in popularity. Sleek studios, rhythmic playlists, and the allure of toned bodies have drawn crowds eager to experience this seemingly magical method. But as the demand grows, so too does a troubling trend: the rise of undertrained instructors leading large group classes without the depth of knowledge or experience that the Pilates Method truly requires.
To be fully trained in the Pilates Method is no small feat. It involves years of both practical and theoretical study. A comprehensive Pilates education demands mastery not just of Mat work but of all the equipment developed by Joseph Pilates himself: the Reformer, Wunda Chair, Cadillac, Ladder Barrel, and more. These aren’t just exercise machines; they’re ingenious pieces of apparatus, many of which Joseph built and used in his own home. In fact, one of his original Universal Reformers was converted into a chaise lounge, a testament to both his creativity and his belief in integrating movement into daily life.
A skilled Pilates instructor will know thousands of exercises and, more importantly, how to adapt each one to suit the unique needs and limitations of individual clients. This skill is not optional; it is essential. And it should absolutely be applied even in group classes, whether on the Mat or the Reformer. Personally, I’ve stopped classes when I saw someone struggling or failing to grasp the movement. I would gather the group together and break the exercise down again. That’s what good teaching looks like. If that’s not possible due to the class size, then the class is simply too big.
The truth is that Pilates equipment, while powerful and transformative, can also be dangerous when misused. Injuries in large group Reformer classes are becoming more common, and no client should ever fall off a Reformer or any other apparatus. When they do, it’s a failure of the system. It’s the result of large gym chains attempting to monetise a method they neither understand nor respect. Their priority is volume and profit, not quality or safety.
This commodification of Pilates was made possible by a pivotal legal ruling in October 2000, when the term “Pilates” was deemed generic and free for public use. While this democratised access to Pilates, it also opened the floodgates to a watered-down, often unsafe version of the method being practiced under its name.
To truly understand the heart of Pilates, one must look back to its founder. Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in Germany in 1883. A sickly child, he
became captivated by the classical Greek ideal of a person balanced in mind, body, and spirit. This pursuit of physical and mental harmony shaped his life's work. During World War I, while interned in England as an "enemy alien," Joseph began rehabilitating injured soldiers, ingeniously attaching springs to hospital beds to help them regain strength and mobility. These spring-loaded beds were the precursors to what we now know as the Reformer.
Joseph was not only a visionary but a man of action: a boxer, skier, diver, and gymnast. He called his method “Contrology,” emphasising the art of control over the body, not mindless repetition. His 1945 book, Return to Life Through Contrology, outlines his philosophy and method as a system rooted in alignment, breath, precision, flow, and concentration.
And in his own words, he was clear about the dangers of misusing the method:
“If any particular part of your body is under-developed or shows an accumulation of excess fat, select Contrology exercises specifically designed to correct the respective conditions, repeating the exercises at stated intervals throughout the workday whenever it is possible to do so. However, be sure Never to repeat the selected exercise(s) more than the prescribed number of times since more harm will result than good by your unwittingly or intentionally disregarding this most important advice and direction. Why?
Because this infraction creates muscular fatigue poison, there is really no need for tired muscles.”
Today, many so-called Pilates classes consist of high-repetition workouts, often ten or more of the same movement, which, while they may have value as a fitness routine, stray far from the original Contrology method. True Pilates is not about burning out the muscles. It’s about mindful movement, practiced with Concentration, Control, Centering, Precision, Breathing, and Flow. When these principles are lost, so is the essence of Pilates.
Pilates is not just an exercise trend. It is an art, a science, and a deeply transformative practice that demands respect, dedication, and experience. As instructors, we owe it to Joseph’s legacy and to our clients to uphold the highest standards in how we teach. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about how many people you can fit in a class. It’s about how many people you can truly help.
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Read more from Melissa Jane Reinke
Melissa Jane Reinke, Pilates Instructor & Studio Owner
Melissa Jane Reinke is a leading Pilates instructor in London, with over 18 years of experience teaching the Pilates method. Since starting her journey in 2006, she has worked with students of all levels, using her expertise to help clients build their strength and flexibility, recover from a range of injuries and adapt to pregnancy/postpartum. A former childhood figure skater, Pilates played a pivotal role in Melissa's return to the sport she loved, leading her to become the Bronze Adult British Champion in 2016. Having personally overcome her own back and ankle injuries through Pilates, she is passionate about helping others achieve strength, recovery, and overall well-being, tailoring her approach to meet each individual’s needs.
