A 6-Week Small-Group Mentorship in Applied Exercise Science for Pilates Instructors
You can know a lot and still not know what to do next.
You can understand anatomy. You can know the Pilates repertoire. You can understand biomechanics. And still stand in front of a client thinking: Okay. But what do I actually do here? That's not because you need another list of exercises. It's because knowing information and using information to make decisions are different skills.
That's what we're going to practice.
From Principles to Practice is a six-week small-group mentorship for Pilates instructors who want to get better at applying exercise science and biomechanical reasoning to the people and problems they encounter in the studio. Not by memorizing more answers. By getting better at asking questions, making observations, forming reasonable hypotheses, testing your thinking, and deciding what to do next.
01
The next step after learning the principles is learning how to use them.
There is a difference between understanding a concept and being able to apply it when you're standing in front of a real person.
02
A client doesn't arrive with a perfectly organized problem.
They have a goal. A task they are trying to perform. Their own movement history and preferences. Their current capacity. And sometimes a problem that doesn't have an obvious explanation.
03
You have to decide: What am I actually seeing?What information might be relevant? What could I change? What happens if I do? What does that tell me? What should I do next?
That's the space we're going to spend six weeks practicing in.
The AOP applied biomechanics pathway
Suggested learning pathway for a better understanding of biomechanics in the studio
BUILDING STRENGTH THROUGH BIOMECHANICS - The Ebook
Learn the principles.
Force. Torque. Mechanical load. Levers. Progressive loading.
THE HIDDEN MECHANICS OF PILATES - The Workshop
Apply the principles to movement.
Learn to look underneath an exercise and understand what mechanical demands it creates.
→ FROM PRINCIPLES TO PRACTICE - The mentorship
Apply the reasoning to people.
Practice using what you know when the problem isn't neatly packaged and the answer isn't obvious.
The mentorship is where we synthesize the concepts in the Ebook and the workshop.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN TO PRACTICE:
OBSERVE → DESCRIBE → HYPOTHESIZE → INVESTIGATE → UPDATE → DECIDE
OBSERVE What is actually happening?
DESCRIBE Can you describe what you see before immediately explaining it?
HYPOTHESIZE What are some reasonable possibilities?
INVESTIGATE What could you change to learn more?
OBSERVE AGAIN What changed? What didn't?
UPDATE Does what happened change your thinking?
DECIDE Given what you know now, what makes sense to do next?
This is the process we'll keep returning to throughout the mentorship.
SIX WEEKS. THREE SESSIONS EVERY WEEK.
Session 1
CONCEPT
Each week we'll introduce one focused principle or concept. The goal isn't to give you as much information as possible. It's to give you something useful enough to spend the rest of the week practicing.
Session 2
MOVEMENT LAB
This is where we get out of our chairs. We'll take the week's concepts and explore them through movement. We'll change variables. Manipulate tasks. Compare strategies.
Sesison 3
CASE REVIEW
Now we'll apply the week's work to real teaching problems. We'll work through cases together and discuss what we're observing. You'll also have opportunities to bring your own questions and cases into the group.
Each week we'll ask:
What are we observing?
What might be relevant?
What are some reasonable hypotheses?
What information would help us decide?
What could we manipulate?
What would we expect to happen?
What happened?
What should we do next?
You'll build something
A CASE-ANALYSIS AND PROGRAMMING PORTFOLIO
I don't want you to finish this mentorship with 18 pages of notes that you never look at again. Throughout the six weeks, you'll build a portfolio that documents how you reason through real teaching problems.
For each case, you'll work through:
By the end of six weeks, you'll have repeatedly practiced the process rather than simply learned about it.
The mentorship is not:
A protocol for every condition. A list of the “best” exercises. A collection of magic cues. A muscle activation system. Diagnostic training. A promise that there is one correct explanation for every movement.
Instead, this is practice.
Practice observing.
Practice reasoning.
Practice testing your ideas.
Practice changing your mind.
Practice making the next decision with the information you have.
Who this is for
This mentorship is for the Pilates instructor who has a foundation and wants to get better at applying what they know. You probably:
✓ Know the repertoire.
✓ Have studied anatomy.
✓ Have taken continuing education.
✓ Have experience teaching real people.
✓ Know that clients don't always behave like the textbook.
✓ Want to get better at making decisions when the answer isn't obvious.
Why only 15 people?
Because I want this to actually feel like a mentorship. I don't want 100 people silently watching me on Zoom. I want to hear what you're thinking. I want you to bring your questions. I want us to look at cases together. I want to give feedback. I want there to be room for discussion. And I want us to be able to spend time on the questions that don't have immediate answers.
That's why enrollment is capped at 15 participants.
What's included?
SIX WEEKS OF LIVE MENTORSHIP
18 LIVE SESSIONS Three sessions every week.
WEEKLY CONCEPT SESSIONS Focused education that we'll actually put into practice.
WEEKLY MOVEMENT LABS Explore, manipulate, compare, and observe movement.
WEEKLY CASE REVIEWS Apply the concepts to real teaching problems.
SMALL GROUP Maximum of 15 participants.
CASE-ANALYSIS AND PROGRAMMING PORTFOLIO Build something useful throughout the six weeks.
DISCUSSION AND FEEDBACK Bring your questions and reasoning into the room.
ivestment
$1650
payment plans available
6 weeks
18 live sessions
3 hours per week
Maximum 15 participants
starts september 14th
ONE LAST THING
I don't expect you to finish this mentorship knowing exactly why every person moves the way they do. I don't think anyone can. That's not the goal. The goal is to become more comfortable asking:
Given what I know right now, what is the most reasonable thing to investigate next?
And then: Trying something. Observing what happens. Updating your thinking. Making your next decision.
That's what I mean by moving:
FROM PRINCIPLES TO PRACTICE
You've learned the information. Now let's practice using it.
faq
Do I need to have purchased the ebook or workshop?
No. They provide a useful foundation, but they are not required. You'll receive the concepts and context you need to participate in the mentorship.
How much experience do I need?
This is best suited to instructors who already have experience teaching Pilates and a foundational understanding of anatomy and movement. Need a better foundation? Check out the AOP flagship courses
Why is enrollment limited?
The group is intentionally small so there is room for discussion, questions, case review, and feedback.
What if I can't attend every session?
You'll get the most out of the mentorship by attending live because discussion and participation are a significant part of the experience. However, weekly sessions will be uploaded to your learning portal and can be watched at your convenience
Will I be diagnosing clients?
No. This mentorship is not diagnostic training. We'll focus on observation, exercise reasoning, and making decisions within your scope of practice.
When does it begin?
The mentorship begins the week of September 14.
What kind of payment plans are available?
You can pay $1650 in one payment or split the payments into two payments of $825 at the beginning of the mentorship and at the end of the mentorship
Will there be homework?
There will be workbook items to work through between sessions. To get the most out of the mentorship it's best to engage with these activities!
How long will I have access to the recorded videos
You will have access to the learning portal until the start of the next quarter. Q1 January 1-March 31, Q2 April 1-June 30, Q3 July 1- September 30, Q4 October 1-December 31.