Pilates Technique FAQ
It’s simple. Authenticity. When you’re investing in your future, you should demand the real deal.
Pilates Technique Certification (PTC) Program Director, Jill Cassady was personally educated in the Joseph Pilates method by Romana Kryzanowska. Who is Romana Kryzanowska you ask? Romana was an American Pilates instructor who started as a student of Joseph Pilates and his wife Clara at their studio in New York. During their time together, Jill was subsequently hired by Romana and worked at Drago’s Gym, often taking over Romana’s clients during her summer breaks.
Important Note: A court decision in 2000 eliminated the possibility of trademarking the “Pilates” name. This resulted in many exercise companies and individuals claims of teaching the true Pilates method, but in fact are poor imitations. When you choose a certification program, make sure to research who’s behind the program to ensure you are getting the authentic Joseph Pilates method.
All lectures, labs and tests are conducted at Classic Pilates Body in Santa Monica, CA. For the convenience of our trainees, we additionally utilize affiliate studios in Los Angeles to support required trainee observation, practice instruction, self-workout, and studio management hours.
The PTC certification program is eight months in duration. This is an intensive curriculum where trainees learn how to master all of the Pilates exercise equipment through Five Levels of instruction – exactly how Joseph Pilates designed it. Every Level, which is about five weeks in length, includes the following:
- Weekend Lecture (Sat & Sun)
- Three supervised weekday lab sessions (Monday evenings)
- Required observation and studio hours
- Practice teaching and self-workout opportunities
To further enhance our program, we include anatomy and physiology education, modifications for injuries and pregnancy, as well as business marketing to fully prepare our participants for a career in Pilates instruction. These pieces won’t be found in a weekend or other shorter-duration program.
PTC has been proudly certifying Pilates instructors for over 20 years, since 1995.
We hold our certification programs to about 10-15 trainees. We believe keeping a smaller group provides for more individualized instruction.
We don’t recommend you missing any weekend lectures, as this portion is central to the certification process. However, in the event a trainee should miss one, they are all available on video for purchase. Lab sessions per se cannot be made up but trainees may schedule a private session with an instructor for an additional fee. All tests can be rescheduled for an additional fee as well.
You can schedule these hours to fit in with your availability. Working with our home studio as well as our affiliate studios, most trainees can schedule their hours during the program without any difficulty.
No, studio time to complete all hours is included in your program fee.
You would need to reschedule the Final Exam. You may reschedule taking your Final Exam with in one year of your Program's Final Exam date. The rescheduling Fee is $200.
Though not a prerequisite, we find most trainees with at least 20 hours of Pilates sessions experience have a much better understanding of the Pilates method and consequently facilitates a better comprehension of the program material.
Yes! Just inform us of the details of your injury so that we can provide specific modifications for your individual situation.
Once we have your registration forms completed and approved and you have remitted your deposit, you are eligible to begin working on your observation hours.
We work with studios that have Apprentice Teaching programs. This means after successfully completing Level II, including your required studio hours and both Level tests, you will be eligible to begin teaching paying clients. Clients taught by student instructors pay a discounted rate. Instructors earn valuable experience while progressing through the certification program. It’s a win, win scenario.
In addition, many of the corporate gyms that offer Pilates will hire Pilates Technique Certified Instructors upon completion of Level III.
No, the PMA is an organizing body founded in 2001. If you want to become PMA certified, completing our program will more than qualify you for their test although is not a requirement to work as a Pilates instructor.