You may have noticed your instructor heading to the small desk to make some notes during your studio session. This is a key part of how we make sure your workout addresses your needs and that we precisely tailor the exercises, the set up you need, the choice of props, the level of resistance and so on. Some of you have quite complex (and changing) things you are working on and it is important we keep track accurately. It enables different instructors to collaborate on your program and substitute instructors to get up to speed quickly.
1. The front of the card records the key things about your posture, biomechanics, pathologies and medical issues, injures etc. We summarise your goals in doing Pilates, what you want/need to focus on and the no-go areas. This is created after your Initial Assessment process and then updated when things change (as they usually do). It can get pretty crowded if you’ve been coming for a while and have resolved some issues and added interesting new ones. We do start again for some people, and a “reassessment” private session is sometimes a really good idea.
2. The attached cards are a chronological record of your sessions. We note any fresh injuries or “sore bits”, a particular focus area that we want to make sure we attend to, new exercises you are learning or some specific variation that works for you, we describe how to make you comfortable doing certain things that you find tricky and we identify movements that aggravate conditions. So, the comments might look like:
- “Wry neck today so Cx (“cervical spine”) releases and avoided upper body work”
- “Increase focus on passive thoracic extension and external rotation of humerus”
- “Adding progressions to scooter series, working on vestibular system”
- “1/2 roller for Ref FW (reformer footwork)”
3. There’s a lot of shorthand as you might imagine – and many exercises/variations have no commonly accepted name so we try to describe what’s involved as clearly as possible. The instructors each have their own way both doing and recording exercises – so we often have to ask each other for explanation!
These are your records and you are welcome to review your card and see what we are doing (although some of us have dreadful handwriting, not to mention the jargon!). Creating a dependable, accumulative approach is how we help you get the enduring benefits of Pilates.
