Pilates Workout Blog

Pilates Certified?

By Laurette Ryan

www.balancepointpilates.com

Having been actively teaching in the movement,dance, fitness, mind-body world since I was 15 years old in 1977, my opinions on certifications have been changing & evolving for over 30 years. Yikes, that’s a little scary to admit and yet I feel that my longevity in the field should lend some support to my conclusions. The first time I heard of certification was in 1984, while teaching fitness classes for a small chain of womens’ fitness studios. They held their own “ certification” course, which actually wasn’t half bad. It took two full-time weeks (9-5 Daily) to complete and it did teach basic anatomy, nutrition and exercise theory.

Shortly after, I learned about “ National Certification”. My first one was with NDEITA. It was a weekend deal, kind of easy- I didn’t learn anymore than my first “ certification” but they claimed to have a “national” recognition. Next came AFAA and IDEA ( before ACE). I went with AFAA in 1985 and soon earned all of their “certifications”. In 1989 I took ACE -American Council on Exercise, Personal Trainer Certification. In the 90’s I did several AAAI certifications. In 1999 I took Physicalmind Certification. These are just my movement certifications.

Here’s what my experience has taught me, I learned something from every one of these. There was none I had wished I hadn’t taken. But with the exception of ACE, these programs,tests and exams may not have been actual “certifications”. ACE was granted accreditation by National Commission for Certifying Agencies in 2003. Now what I’ve learned over the years about a lot of other programs out there is this, some are educational, some are Certifications and some are Continuing Education.

Educational Programs teach you the foundational skills required. Certifications measure your knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge in the field. Continuing Education keeps the professional updated and improving their skills.

In our Pilates world the designation of certification has been incorrectly used to describe courses and programs more clearly belonging in the foundational or continuing educational categories. These courses and programs are still extremely valuable. Without these courses the teacher would not be able to pass the certification. Think of it like this, when you go to take your test to get a drivers license- it’s like your certification to be a driver… but taking a drivers ed course alone doesn’t allow you to legally drive. Even though you passed the Drivers Ed test- you still need to take your legal driving test. Additionally some drivers ed courses may be more thorough or better designed and turn out better drivers, and sometimes people are just better drivers no matter which courses they take, if any!

What about Pilates Certification? I, myself have provided a training course since 1999. I had been a Continuing Education Provider for Fitness Professionals since 1985 and found the choices of Pilates training programs, not to suit my area or taste in Pilates work . At one time we did call our training a certification. Having become more educated over the years, we opted last year to call our programs, Teacher Training and offer a Certificate of Completion or Achievement for our many programs.

We have watched the organization of The Pilates Method Alliance grow. We have watched as they developed an International Examination which measures Pilates knowledge. I believe this examination should be the standard. Then the public has a baseline at least to go by when choosing teachers. Honestly the public, the masses out there unfortunately do not know Mary Bowen from Mary Tyler Moore, which is sad for them.

We love our 1^st generation, we can still be trained in their lineages. We certainly never want the government to step in and require licensure. So we must police ourselves in an effective manner. The PMA requires those sitting for the examination to have certain requirements of training in the field. Joe Shmoe (sorry Joe) personal trainer cannot sit for this examination. I’m pleased in the direction the PMA has taken in these matters. My hope is that NCCA accreditation is next for the PMA exam. We are currently encouraging all our teachers to strive to pass this International Examination.

The PMA is holding an open meeting of all Teacher Training groups, small and large to discuss these matters in November 2009 , Dallas see the PMA website and get involved www.pilatesmethodalliance.org maybe I’ll see & meet you there !

Fondly, Laurette