A look into ITT Pilates: Part 8

This training is one of Margaret Tappan’s favorite ITT Pilates sessions, and she delivers it with enthusiasm! As a Pilates Master, Margaret gave us a little history of how Joseph Pilates created this Chair. Remarkably, you can do many Pilates exercises with this one piece of equipment, and it takes a minimal footprint compared to the Reformer, Cadillac, and Ladder Barrel. However, due to its small footprint, it requires more overall body strength to perform the exercises. This is why this module comes at the end of the training!

The weekend included 14 hours of information and exercise performance on the Chair and Ladder Barrel. We each had a Chair and arc to perform many of these exercises. One East Coast single paddle chair and 3 West Coast double paddle chairs were provided. In addition, we shared the Ladder Barrel. The good news was that we were in shape to perform the exercises. The difficulty was that this was the end of a grueling ITT Pilates Comprehensive certification training program. We have one more workshop- Assessment & Program Design- and then the Training part is over.

To be a great teacher versus a good teacher requires observation and assessment of many bodies to design exercise programs. I can see why observation of experienced ITT Pilates instructors is essential to good program design and flow. I recommend personal training with ITT Pilates graduates if you can afford it. Attendance of group classes for program design and flow is an additional cost. However, if you value your physical body, mind, and spirit and have access to the equipment as I do in my studio, it’s priceless!