Pilates Technique Thursday: Are You Teaching the Exercise or the Principle?

Teaching principles, not just exercises, creates lasting understanding and movement confidence.

One of the most important questions a Pilates teacher can ask is this: am I teaching the exercise, or am I teaching the principle behind the exercise?

Many teachers become focused on the movement itself. They spend time making sure the client places their feet correctly, moves their arms in the right direction, and completes the required number of repetitions. Whilst these things are important, they are only part of the picture.

The Pilates Method was never intended to be a collection of exercises performed in a specific order. The exercises are simply tools used to teach a deeper understanding of movement.

Take the Hundred as an example. Is the goal simply to complete one hundred arm pumps? Or is the goal to teach breathing, endurance, stability, concentration, and control? If a client learns these principles, they can apply them to many other movements throughout their practice and daily life.

The same can be said for Footwork on the Reformer. It is easy to focus on pressing the carriage out and returning it. However, the real lesson may be about alignment, balance between the right and left sides, maintaining a stable pelvis, and understanding how the feet connect to the rest of the body.

When we teach principles, every exercise becomes more valuable. A Roll Down is no longer just a spinal movement. It becomes an opportunity to explore articulation, breathing, control, and awareness. A Standing Balance exercise becomes a lesson in posture, weight distribution, and confidence.

Clients who only learn exercises often become dependent on being told what to do next. Clients who learn principles begin to understand how their bodies work. They become more independent and more capable of applying what they have learned outside the studio.

This is where teaching differs from instructing. An instructor may guide someone through a sequence of movements. A teacher helps the client understand why those movements matter and how they can improve their movement patterns in everyday life.

As teachers, it can be helpful to ask ourselves a simple question during every session. What is the lesson within this exercise? What principle am I trying to teach?

The answer may not be the movement itself.

This week, choose one exercise and spend less time focusing on what the client is doing and more time explaining why they are doing it. You may discover that the greatest value of the exercise lies not in the movement, but in the understanding it creates.

After all, clients may forget a particular exercise, but they are far more likely to remember a principle that changes the way they move for the rest of their lives.