Do You Need to Know the Order of Pilates Exercises?

If you haven’t noticed yet, there is a set order of Pilates exercises on both the mat and the reformer. Your body warms up as you move through them, with each exercise building upon the one before it. If you attend classes in person, you can rely on the instructor to tell you what to do next, which is a big help when you are a beginner. Still, there are benefits to knowing the order of Pilates exercises no matter what stage you’re at in your practice. 

Benefits of Knowing the Order of Pilates Exercises

When you know the order of the movements in Pilates, it will be “easier” because you aren’t thinking about what comes next. But the benefits go far beyond the actual movements, and can help you create a more nuanced practice. 

Find Your Flow

There are a lot of things you need to learn when you first start Pilates, and it feels like knowing the order of the movements is the least of your worries (which it is!). There’s a new environment to get used to, filled with unfamiliar equipment, people, and instructors. Then comes the exercising part: breathe in this way, and out that way. Lengthen this and connect that. Stretch. Bend. Speed up with control, then slow down with control. Let’s not forget learning how to adjust the apparatuses, as well! It can be a lot. 

Once you feel more at ease in the studio and how to use the equipment though, learning the order of Pilates exercises will help you find your flow. You’ll move from position to position more easily, and rather than thinking about where your feet go, you can think about how to get the most out of each exercise. It’s a great feeling. 

Get a Better Workout

It’s definitely okay to let your instructor guide you through each of the exercises, but I found that once I learned the order of them I got a better workout. Part of this was finding my flow, as moving seamlessly through the exercises will get your heartrate up. My progress also increased once I knew the order, because the instructor no longer had to tell me what to do next. Instead, they could use tactile or verbal cues to help me feel more and find new connections. This is where Pilates really becomes a practice. 

Deepen Your Practice

Once you know the order of Pilates exercises, your relationship with Pilates will deepen. You can take your knowledge to all of the other apparatuses, and start comparing exercises. You’ll find a deeper awareness of how you position your body in each exercise, and find that the movements become more challenging, and require more balance and control. Over time, you’ll just know the names and positions of each exercise, and can focus instead on technique and getting the most out of your practice. 

How to Learn the Order of Pilates Exercises

If you want to take your Pilates practice further, learning the order of the movements will be a great help. But don’t worry, there are no tests or quizzes, and you’ll have your instructor there to guide you when you need it. These tips will help you become more comfortable with the order of the exercises:

1. Buy or borrow Joseph Pilates’ book, Return to Life Through Contrology. This has pictures and instructions for the mat exercises, in the order he designed them to go in. There are even study guides that Pilates instructors learn from. 
2. When I first started teaching, I made use of cards that listed the exercises in order, and they’re still helpful when I do my own workouts. (Similar to these.) It’s on my to-do list to get something similar in poster size for the studio for clients to refer to. 
3. By practicing Pilates consistently, you’ll start to pick up the order naturally, no study required! Like anything you do often, it will eventually become second nature. 
4. There are mini workshops you can attend, including those pursuing teacher training. It will give you a different perspective on the exercises and definitely challenge you.

Despite all of the benefits of learning the order of Pilates exercise, I want to encourage you to honour your own practice. We all learn at a different pace, and in different ways. You may love to study and memorize things, while others may learn best by doing and watching. And as always, I am here to support and help you. Whether it’s your first time in the studio or your hundredth, there’s always something new to learn.