Burnt Out From Teaching Pilates?

You once dreamed of teaching Pilates full time, and here you are. Unfortunately, the job is starting to feel like a chore and you may even feel burnt out from teaching Pilates every day. There is the teaching (which you love), but also planning classes ahead of time, creating playlists, and promoting your classes. These things add up and can leave you exhausted and maybe even doubting your choice. The good news? Embracing the system of Classical Pilates takes a lot of that pressure off. 

The Reason You’re Feeling Overwhelmed

Pilates today has seen a huge surge in popularity. Things have been added and removed from the original system over time. And, much like a game of telephone, what you’re seeing today may be very far from what Joseph Pilates intended when he created this system of movement. It’s reached a point where there are large Pilates chains that train their own teachers; it’s just not “true Pilates”. Instead of there being a set order of exercises to follow, teachers are able to design their own classes or exercise flows. This takes a lot of prep work! I’ve even seen people selling pre-designed flows to save other instructors time. It doesn’t need to be this difficult. 

So, How Do Teachers Avoid Burnout?

If you’re burnt out from teaching Pilates after only a few years, you may wonder how some teachers have been doing it for decades. The biggest reason is no secret; through extensive and continued training, they’ve come to understand the system of Pilates as a whole. It’s not just reformers. It’s not choosing which exercises to do next. It is a carefully planned set of exercises done in a certain order, which you can manipulate by adding or taking away to teach the client in front of you. There is no guesswork! And once you understand how the different apparatuses complement these exercises, you can lean on your knowledge to teach a class that suits those in it. 

From my perspective as a classically trained teacher with 1000’s of hours of training, self practice, teaching, doing workshops, etc., I feel so grateful to have fallen onto the path of classical training. I have done contemporary workshops and classes, but the classical work just makes sense for me. What I love is that even though there is a framework to follow, I still have options. There are pre-Pilates and finisher exercises I can incorporate. I can be creative by focusing on one aspect of Pilates during a class, such as flexion, extension, or transitions. We can explore how exercises on the apparatuses relate to the mat work. 

I also love how you can change your plan in the moment. For example, a client may ask to work on a specific exercise or tell me they have tight calves that day. I can use that information to design the class on the fly. We still stick with the system, but I may incorporate different aspects to suit the client. For example, if someone complains of tight calves, I might add in the toe gizmo or foot corrector that day. There is always flexibility within the classical Pilates system.

Stop Struggling  

You don’t need to exhaust yourself designing new, interesting Pilates classes. Classical Pilates will save you! I’m excited to soon be offering a new Classical Pilates Program to help comprehensively-trained teachers to expand their knowledge of the method and to really understand the system inside out. The program will start in October 2026. More news coming soon!