Classical Reformer Pilates TEACHER TRAINING GALWAY

June/July 2025

REFORMER PILATES TEACHER TRAINING GALWAY OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE

Welcome to my Classical Reformer Pilates Teacher Training at my studio The PilateScene in Clarinbridge, Co Galway, starting in June 14/15th 2025 and ending July 12/13th 2025. This course is for you if you want to dive deeper into Reformer or if you want to qualify as a reformer teacher.

This course is fully approved by the CThA and fully insured by Balens Europe BV, once the prerequisites have been met - see below. I used to take people without mat but it makes no sense as the whole point of reformer is to give meaning to the matwork. So get your mat course done and then focus on the reformer, otherwise your teaching will lack alot of juice, and you will probably end up doubling back.

This course takes 28 hours in person to complete over 2 weekends plus your own homework if you wish to certify, which will realistically take another 20 hours or more depending on your experience. It is an intensive enjoyable program designed to give you the knowledge, skills and confidence to teach basic to intermediary reformer pilates repertoire classes based on the Classical Repertoire as designed by Joe himself. It will also turbo boost your own practice and ability on the reformer. If you are a keen student this course will bring you a lot farther than classes. I only take 9 students on this course so you will learn so much and get so much being in this small group.

Joe designed the reformer to help students to do the mat work. So the reformer really teaches the pilates technique in a way that builds understanding and connection - that’s what gives you the Pilates magic.

I know lots of teachers who skip to the reformer but the teaching will never have the depth of the Method without the understanding gained by studying the mat. For example - frogs = legs of double leg stretch. If you don’t know what double leg stretch is you are going to be “winging it” - I do feel this is one reason why reformer is taught so badly. If we want to really help our students to regain their physical health and work with various body issues we need to be really well trained ourselves. Plus the principles are expected to be known and in your body - mainly so you can inspire your students.

Prerequisites

So prerequisites for the course if you wish to certify are either a Mat Pilates Teacher Training and 20 hours of Reformer Classes either online or in person. The course is not designed to teach you reformer it is designed to teach you how to teach reformer. If you wish to do my Mat Pilates Teacher Training course first you will be at a major advantage as you will have alot of crossover between the courses and therefore your understanding will be so much deeper. Click here for Mat Pilates Teacher Training. If you are not sure give me a call we can discuss.

Back to the course - On the course we will work together to understand the exercises, the transitions between the exercises and how to teach modifications for students who struggle and progressions to keep your students growing on the pilates journey - but more than that you will really start to understand how the body works under resistance and learn to up students loading appropriately.

Your Pilates training journey with me is going to focus heavily on learning the Classical repertoire - developing your teaching skills so you are confident in your ability to cue, know how to use modify and progress exercises, and most importantly how to really help your students to progress and enjoy the art of reformer pilates. This repertoire covers Level beginners, intermediate and advanced - as well as a few super advanced moves so you won’t have to train ever again. Although I want you to keep training forever.

You will also work on deepening your own practice at the same time - I passionately believe in the significance of your own journey of discovery and experience and the development of your unique personal voice and style as a pilates teacher. Without a good home practice you will struggle to keep your teaching fresh and interesting for your students. Therefore having a reformer is not a total necessity but would put you at an advantage and make you a better teacher. You can pick up cheaper reformers on ebay, aliexpress or even facebook marketplace.

What we will cover in the reformer teacher training course in Galway.

This 28 -hour Pilates Teacher Training course is based on the work of Joseph PIlates with some contemporary pilates in there too - to make the exercises fun and accessible to all. Some more of my pilates inspiration come from Romana, Benjamin Degenhardt, Michelle Larsson, Alan Hederman, Cara Reeser, Mejo Wiggins, Cathy Grant - to name but a few. I also have spent many years working in the style of Blandine Calais-Germain who is so strong on safe abdominal work . The focus in this course is understanding and teaching reformer pilates in such a way that your students look forward to coming to your class.

You will learn about alignment, extension, breath, initiation, anatomy, fundamentals of the pilates method, regressions and progressions. You will not be that teacher that counts to 10 - but the teacher that teaches.

There will be a full library of the exercises available to you on video to assist you in learning the choreography and how to teach the poses. This will also help you to learn the correct cues and approach.

At the end of the course you will be ready to practice and teach the Classical Repertoire of Reformer exercises - . You will learn to find the set up for success for each pose - starting position is so important, key elements to a pose , cues to fix misalignments and various images that really bring your reformer pilates classes to life with variety and different focus’.

This course would suit someone who wishes to work as a reformer pilates teacher or a keen student who wants to learn more about reformer pilates .

Course Timetable for June Reformer Teacher Training Galway.

The course will start in June 14/15th 2025 10-5pm. The second weekend will be July 12/13th. Homework is set to assist you in becoming a great reformer teacher. The max number of students is 9. There is plenty of home work both in practice and in teaching to do. Students will have to send me videos of them teaching reformer.

THE EXERCISES OF THE REFORMER

This is the meat and veg of the course. We will cover as follows

• Centering

• Rowing

• Long Box

• Long Stretch Series

• Stomach Massage

• Short Box

• Articulation

• Kneeling

• Integration

• Knee Stretch

• Pushups

• Splits

  Its a lot of ground to cover you will learn how to cue these poses, demonstrate them, regress them if students find them too hard and advance them if students find them too easy. You will learn the contraindications of each pose so you can feel confident in your ability to teach safely. You will learn common misalignments that you see a lot on the reformer and how to fix them. You will also learn some key hands on adjustments to really help your students to go deeper. Please ensure you know these exercises before you start. Pilatesology is a great resource here.

QUALIFICATION IN REFORMER TEACHER TRAINING GALWAY

If you wish to certify you will be required to submit homework showing that you have a good understanding of the reformer and that you can teach all of the above series’. This takes some practice and time and will ensure that you succeed and become a great teacher.

After qualifying you can gain insurance with Balens BV Europe and become a member of CThA and get insurance with them.

COST OF THE COURSE

The cost of the course is 900 euros. A non-refundable deposit of 300 euro is required to book a place. You can pay the balance at the first weekend.

PREREQUISITES

In order to certify you need to have either a Mat Pilates Teacher Training achieved and attended a minimum of 20 hours of reformer classes prior to the course. This can be online or in person. This is so you don’t waste your time. If you are coming just for your own enjoyment there are no prerequisites- but if you are a complete beginner it wouldn’t be a good starting point - no matter how fit you are.

Or if you don’t have a Mat Pilates Teacher Training you need to have - insurance and qualification in another movement modality eg yoga, physical trainer, physiotherapist etc - this course must have Level 3 Anatomy - my own Mat Pilates Course has this. Plus at least 1 year of reformer pilates done - you need to feel you know the reformer well before you sign up for this course. This is a requirement to gain insurance.

Or if you have are a fitness professional, physical therapist or physiotherapist with 20 hours of reformer experience this will suffice as long as you have the Level 3 Anatomy done.

I have met teachers who have just jumped into reformer trainings with no prerequisites - I did this myself - complete waste of time and money - let me assure you that your foundation is essential if you want to be a really good teacher. Otherwise you will just end up counting reps in an exercise and you will die of boredom and so will your students. This course is not about reading through a manual - its about me sharing the joy of reformer with you. Although reformer is on trend at the moment please don’t jump into a cheap online course its not enough - I have done them - waste of time and money. Equally its not worth 3000 euros - the market is a little awash with both ends of this spectrum. With all this in mind I look forward to training you and adding the reformer to your teaching skills.

Please ensure you read the terms and conditions. If you are not sure or you want to chat give me a call - 0863137219