00:00:05.908 --> 00:00:11.688

What is the minimum effective dose of strengthening and what does that look

00:00:11.688 --> 00:00:15.108

like on a Pilates reformer? Heath Lander.

00:00:16.168 --> 00:00:19.948

Hey, Raph. And yeah, what does it look like on a reformer and what does it look

00:00:19.948 --> 00:00:21.508

like in your reformer class?

00:00:23.168 --> 00:00:27.128

Well, all right. So what is the minimum effective dose of strengthening and

00:00:27.128 --> 00:00:28.828

what does that look like in your reformer class?

00:00:29.008 --> 00:00:31.908

So firstly, what is the minimum

00:00:31.908 --> 00:00:34.748

effective dose of strengthening like

00:00:34.748 --> 00:00:37.488

how what do we need to what's the

00:00:37.488 --> 00:00:41.628

least we can do with a client and give

00:00:41.628 --> 00:00:44.388

them a you know be 90 confident we've given them

00:00:44.388 --> 00:00:48.368

a sufficient stimulus to get stronger yeah

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but i think we should just step

00:00:51.108 --> 00:00:54.128

back you know going back to my rant the other week about

00:00:54.128 --> 00:00:58.908

pilates education globally what

00:00:58.908 --> 00:01:02.568

coming back one step from that is what why would

00:01:02.568 --> 00:01:07.068

we want to make our clients stronger and then what are we you know what are

00:01:07.068 --> 00:01:11.208

we what are we basing that on like what's the minimum effective dose for our

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client type broadly and i i keep coming back to the exercise physical activity

00:01:16.708 --> 00:01:20.168

guidelines which we don't need to go into great detail about,

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we have before and we can again,

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but within that it says two to three strength training sessions per week,

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but hold on, what's a strength training session?

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All major muscle groups go to near fatigue.

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That's all it says. So if we want to help people reach that,

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threshold for the benefits of physical activity at a guideline level,

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you just need to do all major muscle groups to near fatigue two to three times per week,

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presumably with enough break in between for the strengthening effect.

00:01:53.628 --> 00:01:56.968

Okay, great. What does that look like and what's the upshot of it?

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And I think it's important for us to remember as Pilates instructors that there's,

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That, those physical activity guidelines, if we can help people meet them consistently,

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we reduce their chances of dying of anything in the next 10 years by 50%.

00:02:13.175 --> 00:02:15.995

So the way I like to think about that is if you say to your client,

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do you want to die miserable really soon?

00:02:18.815 --> 00:02:22.795

The answer is always going to be not really. Okay, great. So what can I do to

00:02:22.795 --> 00:02:26.475

help you live a longer, healthier, happier life? One of them is make you stronger.

00:02:27.115 --> 00:02:29.895

And if you're not already doing consistent things.

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You know consistent strength training

00:02:34.706 --> 00:02:38.166

then all i've got to do is all

00:02:38.166 --> 00:02:41.886

major muscle groups near fatigue effectively in

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the two sessions i get to see you each week and it only has

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to happen once for that in for that effect to occur which

00:02:47.806 --> 00:02:50.906

isn't to say it's going to make you a bodybuilder or an elite athlete

00:02:50.906 --> 00:02:53.726

but that starts to meet the threshold of making your life

00:02:53.726 --> 00:02:57.566

better and if we work from there and think

00:02:57.566 --> 00:03:00.466

that then we think about what it means to help people get

00:03:00.466 --> 00:03:03.346

stronger then we start having a recipe for giving

00:03:03.346 --> 00:03:06.386

people incredible results from a class they fucking love

00:03:06.386 --> 00:03:09.446

yeah because let's face it most of our clients

00:03:09.446 --> 00:03:12.466

come to pilates not yet

00:03:12.466 --> 00:03:18.186

with a deep love of lifting fucking heavy for multiple sets every week like

00:03:18.186 --> 00:03:23.186

it's just not the avatar right so people come to us because they enjoy the movement

00:03:23.186 --> 00:03:27.726

of the bed or they want to find something that's low impact and they're like

00:03:27.726 --> 00:03:30.826

exercising lying down. Okay, great. Let's work with our avatar.

00:03:31.606 --> 00:03:39.326

Yeah. So, I mean, just to really put that in context, after not smoking and

00:03:39.326 --> 00:03:44.086

getting vaccinated against things like polio and whooping cough and stuff.

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Strength training is probably the equal number three with cardiorespiratory training,

00:03:51.426 --> 00:04:03.706

is the biggest single thing you can do to have a longer lifespan and also a longer health span,

00:04:03.986 --> 00:04:11.046

the span of years where you're actually able to enjoy life rather than lying in bed feeling unwell.

00:04:12.651 --> 00:04:18.451

And, you know, it really, in terms of interventions that we,

00:04:18.611 --> 00:04:24.271

you know, humans can do to increase the well-being of ourselves or others,

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like strength training is quite possibly, you know.

00:04:31.091 --> 00:04:35.491

Within the top two or three activities that you could do on a per hour basis

00:04:35.491 --> 00:04:40.171

in terms of its positive impact on every aspect of human flourishing.

00:04:40.171 --> 00:04:44.891

From health to longevity to cancer risk to dementia risk to mental health and

00:04:44.891 --> 00:04:48.431

happiness to life satisfaction to functional ability to, you know,

00:04:48.531 --> 00:04:54.231

staying independent longer into old age, the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on.

00:04:55.411 --> 00:05:01.711

But just to catch that, Raph, to dear listener, remember, as I was framing before

00:05:01.711 --> 00:05:06.031

Raph has gone into the details a little, what we mean by strength training doesn't

00:05:06.031 --> 00:05:10.231

mean 10 to 15 working sets of all major muscle groups every week.

00:05:10.431 --> 00:05:16.611

It means what I, the guidelines is if people do something and their form starts to suck and,

00:05:17.377 --> 00:05:20.657

Right. Then that's, you know, and you push them for an extra couple of reps.

00:05:20.857 --> 00:05:22.157

That's what we're talking about.

00:05:22.377 --> 00:05:26.377

It's not, yeah, so strength training is as strength training does.

00:05:27.537 --> 00:05:31.597

Right. So, you know, if we, if we agree that we want to help people live longer,

00:05:31.677 --> 00:05:36.317

happier, healthier lives, then by far the most powerful thing we can do for those people,

00:05:37.677 --> 00:05:42.177

assuming we're not a brain surgeon, you know, is to, you know,

00:05:42.357 --> 00:05:43.757

is to help people get stronger.

00:05:45.857 --> 00:05:49.737

And the way to do that in pilates

00:05:49.737 --> 00:05:55.997

is very very simple it's not very time consuming and like like he said actually

00:05:55.997 --> 00:05:58.697

there's quite a bit of research has come out in the last few years on what the

00:05:58.697 --> 00:06:04.117

minimum effective dose of strength training is like you know strength training

00:06:04.117 --> 00:06:09.457

is one of those things where there is a dose response relationship what that means is,

00:06:09.957 --> 00:06:12.697

if you do a little bit you get a little bit stronger if you do a lot

00:06:12.697 --> 00:06:15.857

you get a lot stronger and you know the relationship's not

00:06:15.857 --> 00:06:18.537

100% linear like if you do twice as much you don't get twice as

00:06:18.537 --> 00:06:22.337

strong but you get more strong than if you did half as much but

00:06:22.337 --> 00:06:26.737

the minimum effective dose turns out to be almost hardly anything you don't

00:06:26.737 --> 00:06:32.577

have to do a lot to get you know a substantial benefit over not doing any and

00:06:32.577 --> 00:06:40.717

so the minimum effective dose for a an adult who is you know under kind of 55 or 60 years old,

00:06:40.957 --> 00:06:50.017

is going to be probably one to two sets per week to near failure per muscle group.

00:06:51.460 --> 00:06:56.180

So that's a set where you push to the point where you almost can't do another one.

00:06:57.060 --> 00:07:02.980

Not because it burns, but because you just literally can't do another push-up.

00:07:03.220 --> 00:07:06.360

You're just like, can I do a cup then we didn't have the power?

00:07:06.940 --> 00:07:09.140

That kind of, you know, just can't do it.

00:07:09.900 --> 00:07:16.240

So if you can get all of your major muscles to that point of near fatigue,

00:07:17.300 --> 00:07:20.220

not where you're shaking not where it burns but where

00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:23.160

you almost can't do another one

00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:27.520

and certainly not another one in good form if you

00:07:27.520 --> 00:07:30.320

do that you know probably let's say two times a

00:07:30.320 --> 00:07:33.200

week to be on the safe side for the

00:07:33.200 --> 00:07:36.260

average healthy adult who is 55 or younger

00:07:36.260 --> 00:07:41.240

and probably if you're over 55 like add another one or two sets because when

00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:44.020

you get a little bit older the response is a bit blunted so you need to do a

00:07:44.020 --> 00:07:48.800

little bit more to get the same benefit so if you have a mixed group and there

00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.160

are people up to 60 or 70 in your class if you did like three or four sets per week,

00:07:56.100 --> 00:07:59.120

where the majority of people get to a point where they're like holy crap this

00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:02.860

is really freaking hard i don't know if i can do another one you're going to

00:08:02.860 --> 00:08:04.420

get like 98 of those people,

00:08:05.960 --> 00:08:13.140

measurably stronger over time and that will accrue you know that will those

00:08:13.140 --> 00:08:17.360

benefits that I listed off before will accrue to all of them.

00:08:19.601 --> 00:08:26.521

So then we want to think that through and we're talking to the skill of delivering

00:08:26.521 --> 00:08:28.241

this within a reformer class.

00:08:28.541 --> 00:08:34.781

So all major muscle groups means we need to hit arms and legs and torso and

00:08:34.781 --> 00:08:39.721

push, pull, which gets the front and the back of the torso combined with the

00:08:39.721 --> 00:08:42.161

arms and the legs, everything from the hip down.

00:08:42.161 --> 00:08:47.881

And we need to get to this point of near fatigue that Raph's talking about two

00:08:47.881 --> 00:08:50.901

or three times a week for our clients to accrue those benefits.

00:08:51.121 --> 00:08:55.381

So if we can get clients coming for two or three classes per week and do this

00:08:55.381 --> 00:09:01.421

for each of them at least once in the session, then that's when the benefits

00:09:01.421 --> 00:09:04.301

start to accrue. We can give them the minimum effective dose.

00:09:04.481 --> 00:09:09.721

And what I've seen over the last eight to ten years is the strategies that I

00:09:09.721 --> 00:09:14.501

developed to do that as I learned what we're talking about from RAF and implemented it.

00:09:16.381 --> 00:09:21.981

I started to build a client base that didn't really even realize how strong

00:09:21.981 --> 00:09:24.641

they had become because all they did was show up to Pilates.

00:09:24.781 --> 00:09:28.321

They didn't do one RM tests. They didn't really measure their strength.

00:09:28.781 --> 00:09:33.541

But then they'd come back to me and say, look, I went on holiday and did a class in another studio.

00:09:33.801 --> 00:09:38.861

And all we did was just like 50 reps of side-lying legs and all this balance stuff and it would burn.

00:10:06.368 --> 00:10:13.568

To near fatigue and when i think about what those movements i use are and how

00:10:13.568 --> 00:10:18.208

they differ to the movements that i talk about with instructors when we're trying

00:10:18.208 --> 00:10:19.628

to clarify the difference or

00:10:19.628 --> 00:10:24.728

what the effectiveness is is there are some hallmarks of those movements,

00:10:26.108 --> 00:10:30.068

and there's a bit of a paradox here and i'm going to wax lyrical for a minute

00:10:30.068 --> 00:10:35.028

so if you think about the people who demonstrate the the greatest strength just

00:10:35.028 --> 00:10:38.068

to go to the extremes to illustrate the idea,

00:10:38.908 --> 00:10:43.868

powerlifters who lift and move more weight than anyone else on the planet as

00:10:43.868 --> 00:10:47.408

a sport or whatever, apart from maybe the strongmen who pull trucks with their

00:10:47.408 --> 00:10:51.648

teeth, they do back squat, deadlift, and bench press.

00:10:51.828 --> 00:10:57.788

And all of those movements are compound. So they use multiple joints at once.

00:10:58.268 --> 00:11:01.968

They do it from a stable place. The earth doesn't move underneath them.

00:11:01.968 --> 00:11:04.648

And once they start to move the weight, it's the same weight.

00:11:04.808 --> 00:11:07.908

So if they're picking up 200 kilos, it's 200 kilos from the ground.

00:11:07.908 --> 00:11:09.668

As they pick it up, it's the same when they put it down.

00:11:09.888 --> 00:11:13.388

Obviously, the distribution is different for the muscles, but the actual load doesn't change.

00:11:14.428 --> 00:11:20.788

When we try and apply those benchmarks or those parameters to the reformer,

00:11:20.988 --> 00:11:22.608

we notice, huh, it's kind of hard.

00:11:22.948 --> 00:11:25.288

The damn thing's always moving around underneath you.

00:11:26.488 --> 00:11:29.748

The load changes as you move, the springs increase, decrease,

00:11:30.028 --> 00:11:33.508

and that changes the load depending on how many springs and depends on the movement,

00:11:33.568 --> 00:11:36.448

all of those things we've talked about a lot and we'll continue to talk about.

00:11:37.368 --> 00:11:41.648

And if we're not careful, we're doing movements that are unfamiliar to people,

00:11:41.648 --> 00:11:46.768

so they can't concentrate on just creating force, which is what deadlifters get to do.

00:11:46.948 --> 00:11:50.788

Push their feet into the ground, hold the bar really tight, pick the fucking thing up, right?

00:11:51.128 --> 00:11:55.028

And they're the people who get this, they're demonstrating the best way to lift

00:11:55.028 --> 00:12:02.028

weight. So how do we replicate that in a Pilates class if our equipment breaks all of those rules?

00:12:02.348 --> 00:12:06.448

We need to find something that's stable, where the earth doesn't move around too much.

00:12:07.268 --> 00:12:11.488

The load is roughly predictable and the movement's familiar and compound.

00:12:11.808 --> 00:12:16.688

So we end up, and this is where my passion point is about how to implement this

00:12:16.688 --> 00:12:21.428

stuff at a minimum effective dose, is look for push-ups, look for things that

00:12:21.428 --> 00:12:24.588

use the shoulder, the lats, the pecs, the triceps, the biceps,

00:12:24.908 --> 00:12:29.188

where it's stable, predictable, and people understand the movement.

00:12:29.368 --> 00:12:35.728

So push-ups off the foot bar, tick, long stretch, gives you your lats on a light

00:12:35.728 --> 00:12:40.668

spring, tick, and lunges, where you're connected to the earth and you can really

00:12:40.668 --> 00:12:43.408

start to apply some load by reducing the spring tension.

00:12:43.628 --> 00:12:47.048

And so what I've found, this is a personal reflection, is

00:12:47.048 --> 00:12:50.028

if I can implement that in essentially every class

00:12:50.028 --> 00:12:53.088

i teach and repeat it a few times so

00:12:53.088 --> 00:12:56.128

that if strong people are doing it i can tell them to lift their knees in the

00:12:56.128 --> 00:13:01.128

second cycle and that's the layering idea we talk about if i implement that

00:13:01.128 --> 00:13:06.528

in every class it only takes three to five minutes of the entire program so

00:13:06.528 --> 00:13:12.408

that gives me another 40 or 35 minutes where i can do all the fun stuff and i love the fun stuff.

00:13:13.741 --> 00:13:17.741

I hope that makes some sort of sense. Yeah. I want to just double click on the

00:13:17.741 --> 00:13:21.021

sort of long stretch and pushups thing because superficially,

00:13:21.261 --> 00:13:23.381

so there's two questions that I want to talk about there for a sec.

00:13:24.601 --> 00:13:27.381

Superficially, both of those kind of look like the same position, right?

00:13:27.481 --> 00:13:31.261

So hands on the bar, feet on the shoulder blocks, you know, using your arms

00:13:31.261 --> 00:13:33.041

to support your body weight, you know, basically.

00:13:33.221 --> 00:13:37.381

And I put the knees on the bed so it's more stable and I reduce the spring tension. Yeah.

00:13:38.361 --> 00:13:42.321

So essentially the same position, right? And so, you know, superficially they

00:13:42.321 --> 00:13:45.161

look like they work the same muscles, but actually in reality,

00:13:45.401 --> 00:13:48.341

depending on the spring setting, one's a push and one's a pull.

00:13:48.461 --> 00:13:50.021

And so I want to unpack that for a second.

00:13:50.421 --> 00:13:55.521

And then the second thing is kind of like, maybe we should discuss it first,

00:13:55.641 --> 00:13:58.061

which is like, okay, well, how can only three exercises,

00:13:58.341 --> 00:14:01.541

you know, work all of the main muscles and why not do, you know,

00:14:01.601 --> 00:14:03.801

isolation exercises, one for the biceps, one for the triceps,

00:14:03.941 --> 00:14:06.681

one for the lats, one for the pecs, one for the delts, one for the, you know,

00:14:07.201 --> 00:14:10.121

glute major, medius, glute minimus,

00:14:10.841 --> 00:14:12.481

quadratus femoris, etc.

00:14:13.141 --> 00:14:19.721

So firstly, to the second point, well, dear listener, pop quiz,

00:14:20.161 --> 00:14:22.861

how many muscles are there in the human body?

00:14:25.562 --> 00:14:29.462

How many muscles in the human body? And the answer is approximately 620.

00:14:29.922 --> 00:14:33.362

And I say approximately because the number of muscles varies slightly between

00:14:33.362 --> 00:14:36.582

people. There are some muscles that are present in some people,

00:14:36.662 --> 00:14:37.862

but not present in other people.

00:14:39.242 --> 00:14:42.262

Sternalis is one of those. Some people have it, some people don't have it.

00:14:42.582 --> 00:14:43.802

There are a couple of other examples.

00:14:44.282 --> 00:14:47.202

So anyway, about 620 muscles in the human body.

00:14:47.382 --> 00:14:51.122

Now, if we were to take it to the extreme and isolate each of those muscles,

00:14:51.402 --> 00:14:55.182

how many exercises would we need to do to get a complete whole body workout?

00:14:55.322 --> 00:14:57.802

We'd need to do about 620 exercises.

00:14:59.542 --> 00:15:03.662

Not very practical in a 45-minute to 60-minute Pilates session.

00:15:05.582 --> 00:15:08.882

In fact, if we think about 620 muscles, you know, we'd have to do like,

00:15:08.962 --> 00:15:12.422

you know, the left side of the, you know, flexor hallucis longus,

00:15:12.542 --> 00:15:14.722

and then the right side of the flexor hallucis longus, et cetera.

00:15:15.682 --> 00:15:19.102

So instead, what we do is, like I said, compound movements that involve multiple

00:15:19.102 --> 00:15:26.202

joints, and we can choose movements that work a maximum number of muscles in

00:15:26.202 --> 00:15:28.282

a very loaded situation.

00:15:28.702 --> 00:15:32.302

And so it turns out that if you do basically some kind of push with your upper

00:15:32.302 --> 00:15:36.962

body and some kind of pull with your upper body,

00:15:37.102 --> 00:15:43.282

that's going to pretty much work 80 to 90% of all of your upper body muscles

00:15:43.282 --> 00:15:48.922

to a useful degree where they'll actually experience enough stimulus to get stronger.

00:15:49.682 --> 00:15:51.862

So that's the first thing, is if we actually...

00:15:53.910 --> 00:15:59.870

Do an upper body push and an upper body pull, we work pretty much all the upper body muscles.

00:16:00.890 --> 00:16:04.850

And then if we do a lower body, some kind of squat or lunge,

00:16:04.990 --> 00:16:07.290

we pretty much work all of the lower body muscles.

00:16:07.430 --> 00:16:12.930

Now, is it possible to, you know, add a bit more work to certain muscles by

00:16:12.930 --> 00:16:14.770

doing isolation movements? Absolutely.

00:16:15.330 --> 00:16:21.350

But in terms of the 80-20 of strengthening people with the least amount of effort

00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:24.250

for the most amount of bang for your buck for every moment you spend strengthening,

00:16:24.570 --> 00:16:30.710

a push, a pull, and some kind of squat or lunge is the point of, you know, maximum,

00:16:31.890 --> 00:16:35.250

strengthening per minute of your workout.

00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:39.170

And you will spend like three minutes and get a whole body workout.

00:16:39.470 --> 00:16:42.810

So it's like, it doesn't get much more efficient than that. Now,

00:16:42.990 --> 00:16:45.270

could you spend three hours and get a better workout? Sure.

00:16:45.870 --> 00:16:49.510

But it's not going to be like a hundred times better. It might be like four

00:16:49.510 --> 00:16:53.710

times better in terms of like speed of progression.

00:16:54.030 --> 00:16:56.610

So that's the first thing. If you pick those three, you know,

00:16:56.730 --> 00:16:59.650

some version of those three big compound movements, some upper body push,

00:16:59.870 --> 00:17:04.450

an upper body pull, and a lower body lunge or squat, you're going to pretty

00:17:04.450 --> 00:17:06.950

much hit almost every major muscle.

00:17:07.630 --> 00:17:12.790

And then the second point is about long stretch and push-up.

00:17:13.550 --> 00:17:17.690

So a push-up, obviously, is a push movement. Yeah.

00:17:19.130 --> 00:17:22.830

And so as such, it's going to work, you know, those muscles on the front part

00:17:22.830 --> 00:17:26.990

of the shoulder girdle, your pecs, your anterior deltoids, it's going to work

00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:31.630

the triceps as well, serratus anterior, you know, a bunch of those other sort

00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:33.890

of shoulder girdle muscles.

00:17:34.730 --> 00:17:37.870

But a long stretch on a light spring is,

00:17:39.173 --> 00:17:44.853

Okay, so a light spring is defined as a spring where it's easier to push the

00:17:44.853 --> 00:17:47.513

carriage out than it is to bring it in.

00:17:47.593 --> 00:17:50.893

And what that specific spring is, is going to depend on your body weight.

00:17:51.413 --> 00:17:58.693

If you're heavier, then, you know, one full spring might be still a light spring for you.

00:17:58.773 --> 00:18:02.973

Whereas if you're lighter, maybe one full spring will be heavy for you.

00:18:03.073 --> 00:18:04.773

It'd be harder to push it out than it is to bring it back in.

00:18:05.513 --> 00:18:09.633

Sorry, harder to, yeah, push it out than it is to bring it back in. but if

00:18:09.633 --> 00:18:12.673

the spring is light enough that the

00:18:12.673 --> 00:18:15.473

spring resistance is less than your body weight or in other words it's easier

00:18:15.473 --> 00:18:19.033

to push it out than just to pull it back in that's what

00:18:19.033 --> 00:18:21.833

we mean by a light spring here and if it's a light enough

00:18:21.833 --> 00:18:26.773

spring then you're working not to put the carriage out so it's not a push you're

00:18:26.773 --> 00:18:32.493

working to pull the carriage back in it's a pull and so you're using your lats

00:18:32.493 --> 00:18:39.493

and then very likely things like your lower and middle trapezius.

00:18:40.393 --> 00:18:42.713

Your rhomboids, you know, et cetera.

00:18:43.213 --> 00:18:46.013

You know, probably a bit of pec minor and stuff as well in there as well,

00:18:46.113 --> 00:18:47.293

ceratis anterior as well.

00:18:47.833 --> 00:18:52.933

But there's nothing wrong with working those twice as hard. So when you do long

00:18:52.933 --> 00:18:57.373

stretch on a light enough spring, it becomes a pull movement.

00:18:57.713 --> 00:19:02.613

And hence, if you combine it with a push-up, works all of or you know let's

00:19:02.613 --> 00:19:07.513

say 90 percent of the shoulder girdle muscles in a useful way so there's your

00:19:07.513 --> 00:19:11.633

workout one set of push-ups one set of long stretch in a light spring,

00:19:12.333 --> 00:19:16.613

one set of lunges on each leg get that to the point where you're like oh that's

00:19:16.613 --> 00:19:22.013

really freaking hard i don't think i'm gonna do another one bam 50 minute class

00:19:22.013 --> 00:19:23.213

you've got 47 minutes left,

00:19:24.133 --> 00:19:25.593

what do we do for the rest of the class,

00:19:27.030 --> 00:19:27.910

Job done.

00:19:31.290 --> 00:19:39.170

And if we think about that, so I use that sequence of a push-up with a long

00:19:39.170 --> 00:19:43.870

stretch, you know, year in, year out, and I've had the results I was talking about before.

00:19:46.970 --> 00:19:50.850

And because we're facing the footbar and we've got the hands on the footbar,

00:19:51.330 --> 00:19:54.390

there are all the elements of wrists, et cetera, blah, blah, blah.

00:19:54.570 --> 00:19:57.430

So how long do you want to be there? but you can step

00:19:57.430 --> 00:20:00.310

off and do lunges and so in terms of how we think about

00:20:00.310 --> 00:20:03.530

clusters and programming generally what what happens

00:20:03.530 --> 00:20:06.350

here is you can do lunges and i know we've talked about this before

00:20:06.350 --> 00:20:11.150

but it continues to be something people ask me about so do lunges on one side

00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:16.350

come and do long stretch what long stretch do you do start with a version you're

00:20:16.350 --> 00:20:19.390

confident everyone can do a bunch of so you establish the movement you make

00:20:19.390 --> 00:20:23.530

it familiar so let's say you start one red i always use a low foot bar because

00:20:23.530 --> 00:20:25.170

tall people bang into the pulley arms.

00:20:25.290 --> 00:20:28.030

So you do your first cycle and you add your push-ups.

00:20:29.010 --> 00:20:32.730

And do you need to get everyone to near fatigue inside those 20 reps that time?

00:20:32.870 --> 00:20:35.090

No, because you've got plenty of time to come back again.

00:20:35.370 --> 00:20:39.730

So maybe you also include some knee stretches or, you know, something a bit more fun.

00:20:39.850 --> 00:20:42.890

Once you've established that people understand the long stretch and the push-up

00:20:42.890 --> 00:20:45.350

movement, then step off lunges on the other side.

00:20:45.810 --> 00:20:48.890

Once people have refreshed, both in terms of their wrist endurance,

00:20:49.090 --> 00:20:53.390

but also their muscular capacity for the pushing movement and the pulling movement,

00:20:53.530 --> 00:20:55.310

as Raf explained it, you come back.

00:20:55.310 --> 00:21:00.330

And at the second pass is where you would start to use spring tension or leg

00:21:00.330 --> 00:21:02.810

lifts like to a straight leg to increase the load.

00:21:02.970 --> 00:21:06.970

So if I've got Raf in my class and I can see he's got push-ups that much more

00:21:06.970 --> 00:21:10.610

push-up can pull capacity in that movement than someone else,

00:21:10.850 --> 00:21:14.810

I'll slide over to Raf and reduce his spring tension or maybe the whole group

00:21:14.810 --> 00:21:18.450

goes to a half spring and I might also ask him to lift his knees and make the

00:21:18.450 --> 00:21:20.210

push-up harder and the long stretch harder.

00:21:20.610 --> 00:21:24.750

That's two jumps at the same time, but it's two layers that I can use.

00:21:24.950 --> 00:21:29.150

And I'm just going to work that through the room. And then once we get some

00:21:29.150 --> 00:21:31.870

degree of challenge, is it in the optimal range?

00:21:32.070 --> 00:21:35.250

I'm not sure. We don't know. Yes, for some people, maybe not for others.

00:21:35.590 --> 00:21:38.830

Step off and do some other lunges. And then we come back and do it again.

00:21:39.530 --> 00:21:45.390

And it might sound like repetition, and it is, but little variations change the load input.

00:21:45.530 --> 00:21:48.470

As Raf and I have talked about, as the load increases, people's

00:21:48.470 --> 00:21:51.210

flow state increases as well people won't say

00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:53.930

we're doing it again they'll be like oh we're doing it again but they're in

00:21:53.930 --> 00:21:58.750

their flow state and it's easy to mix it up so then once we've done those two

00:21:58.750 --> 00:22:03.570

or three passes you could turn 90 degrees and do some woodchoppers or you could

00:22:03.570 --> 00:22:07.110

do the woodchoppers and give you people's push movement even more break and

00:22:07.110 --> 00:22:12.770

turn back to the foot bar so once you've understood or we've understood or i understood you,

00:22:13.301 --> 00:22:17.001

that I could hit those major muscle groups really effectively and go back and

00:22:17.001 --> 00:22:20.781

forth and affect them differently through body position and spring tension,

00:22:21.081 --> 00:22:23.981

then I could practice using them within programming.

00:22:24.481 --> 00:22:30.321

And this circles us back to if I repeat my programming, I get better at it.

00:22:30.501 --> 00:22:36.201

I can give a wider variety of clients more challenge, more effectively and efficiently.

00:22:37.281 --> 00:22:42.121

And the clients repeat it more often so they get more familiar with it.

00:22:42.121 --> 00:22:46.821

And dear listener, familiarity in the movement doesn't breed boredom.

00:22:46.921 --> 00:22:51.361

It breeds efficiency and the ability to work harder into the movement and to

00:22:51.361 --> 00:22:53.661

notice your gains, your progress.

00:22:54.101 --> 00:23:00.721

I think there's something kind of fundamental there that we need to continue

00:23:00.721 --> 00:23:04.661

to reframe, which is that the repetition in the movement doesn't breed boredom.

00:23:04.741 --> 00:23:06.721

You know, it's like, well, we can't let our coins get bored.

00:23:07.401 --> 00:23:11.661

Well if you conceive of pilates as entertainment you

00:23:11.661 --> 00:23:14.761

know like you maybe you do need to keep changing

00:23:14.761 --> 00:23:18.001

it all the time because if you went to see the same broadway show

00:23:18.001 --> 00:23:21.881

you know 365 nights a year probably at some point you probably would get bored

00:23:21.881 --> 00:23:27.861

um because that's passive entertainment but if you want to become a master at

00:23:27.861 --> 00:23:33.501

playing the piano guess what you have to fucking practice the same shit again

00:23:33.501 --> 00:23:36.301

and again and again and again and again and again.

00:23:36.481 --> 00:23:40.981

You know, a master is someone who's just done such a ridiculous number of reps

00:23:40.981 --> 00:23:45.361

that it's just impossible to not be a master at that point, you know? And so...

00:23:46.439 --> 00:23:53.679

And do master, do virtuoso pianists get bored when they're practicing?

00:23:53.679 --> 00:23:57.599

I don't think so because I think what happens is they become absorbed in the

00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:02.339

activity and they derive an intrinsic reward from doing the activity.

00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:05.639

It just is enjoyable to do it because they've mastered it.

00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:09.339

They're fucking awesome at it and it feels good to do something that you're

00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:12.619

fucking awesome at that's really difficult and it's right at the edge of your skill level.

00:24:12.619 --> 00:24:16.439

And so that is inherently intrinsically rewarding

00:24:16.439 --> 00:24:19.379

like it's it's rewarding for its own sake

00:24:19.379 --> 00:24:23.059

you know the activity is the reward and

00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:26.219

so it the exact opposite of the mindset of

00:24:26.219 --> 00:24:29.019

like we have to keep our clients entertained by you know being a dancing

00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:33.219

singing bear is we we

00:24:33.219 --> 00:24:40.199

can keep them rewarded and entertained by actually repeating the same things

00:24:40.199 --> 00:24:45.059

again and again and again as long as we make it harder and harder over time

00:24:45.059 --> 00:24:50.359

because they will get better at it and that is intrinsically rewarding.

00:24:54.523 --> 00:24:57.043

So take that variety, people.

00:25:00.523 --> 00:25:04.083

Well, dear listener, dear listener, I mean, case in point, you, right?

00:25:04.183 --> 00:25:07.443

I mean, if you're still listening to this and you haven't turned it off in disgust

00:25:07.443 --> 00:25:13.103

because we're talking about biomechanics and teaching Pilates yet again, it's like, well,

00:25:13.363 --> 00:25:16.483

how many times are we going to talk about biomechanics and teaching Pilates

00:25:16.483 --> 00:25:20.263

before you get bored of it? Probably like infinite.

00:25:21.623 --> 00:25:25.163

If you're like if i mean if you're still listening to this it must be infinite

00:25:25.163 --> 00:25:30.023

because we're up to episode 340 or something and you're still here so obviously

00:25:30.023 --> 00:25:33.823

you didn't get bored right and yet how many times have we talked about fucking

00:25:33.823 --> 00:25:34.823

long stretch on this show

00:25:35.223 --> 00:25:39.783

you know probably not quite as many times as we've talked about shoulder bridge,

00:25:40.343 --> 00:25:46.883

but but right up there right and it's like it's not boring when you find it fucking fascinating,

00:25:47.603 --> 00:25:53.543

you know like we could talk about this shit forever it's not boring that's the thing,

00:25:57.476 --> 00:25:58.216

Yeah.

00:26:07.916 --> 00:26:12.056

There's one client that comes to mind when we have this conversation,

00:26:12.056 --> 00:26:15.096

and obviously she'll remain nameless to protect the innocent,

00:26:15.276 --> 00:26:20.416

but she first started working with me as a client over a decade ago. What shall we call her?

00:26:21.596 --> 00:26:25.216

Client X, shall we? No, give her a name. Give her a name. Okay.

00:26:25.416 --> 00:26:28.376

Let's call her Barbara. Which is not her name.

00:26:29.396 --> 00:26:33.456

And so, yeah, Barbara began with me as a client over a decade ago.

00:26:33.796 --> 00:26:39.536

And until I left Australia 12 months ago, she was still regularly attending my class.

00:26:40.796 --> 00:26:45.596

Often to like almost every day I taught, she would be in my class and we had

00:26:45.596 --> 00:26:46.476

no personal friendship.

00:26:46.776 --> 00:26:50.876

I knew very little about her personal life or her life outside of the studio.

00:26:51.176 --> 00:26:54.276

In fact, once or twice I would bump into her in the street, not recognize her

00:26:54.276 --> 00:26:57.376

because she wasn't wearing active wear. I didn't recognize you with your clothes on, Barbara.

00:26:59.016 --> 00:27:03.376

Yeah right when your hair's down i don't know who you are because it's usually up when you work out,

00:27:04.816 --> 00:27:08.236

and you know i used to frequently think any

00:27:08.236 --> 00:27:12.736

day now she's going to get bored of my classes like any day now it's you know

00:27:12.736 --> 00:27:18.896

and she's she's also a client i've referred to when you know i've said make

00:27:18.896 --> 00:27:22.836

i make small changes to the session and she'd say oh we never did that exercise

00:27:22.836 --> 00:27:25.416

before and be like we totally did that exercise like last week,

00:27:26.716 --> 00:27:30.376

and the countdown in the lunge was different or the foot position was different.

00:27:32.378 --> 00:27:38.098

What comes to mind when we talk about this is the way she would approach the class.

00:27:38.398 --> 00:27:43.258

So as the years went on and my teaching evolved and I got better at this stuff

00:27:43.258 --> 00:27:47.938

and giving people strength and variability within the class of what Raf has

00:27:47.938 --> 00:27:51.938

just said is, you know, once you've done that bit of the minimum effective dose,

00:27:51.958 --> 00:27:52.898

you've got all this time.

00:27:52.898 --> 00:27:58.598

And I do movements that are not just focused on compound stable strength outputs.

00:27:58.598 --> 00:28:04.178

I do lots of more Pilates type stuff or higher range of motion or higher instability movements.

00:28:05.998 --> 00:28:13.078

What? It's not just long stretch for 50 minutes? No, not at all. Not at all.

00:28:15.298 --> 00:28:19.218

And in fact, as a sidebar, I think one of the things that have,

00:28:19.978 --> 00:28:26.778

the one risk of the focus that we have on building strength into our programming effectively is that we,

00:28:27.318 --> 00:28:33.098

you, dear listener, if you haven't done our classes, might lose sight of,

00:28:33.258 --> 00:28:40.138

I'm very, very passionate, I'm highly passionate about the reformer being used as a piece of,

00:28:40.738 --> 00:28:44.898

exercise equipment in a way that it's well suited to.

00:28:45.298 --> 00:28:50.598

So it's an unstable surface that does, there are things you can do on the reformer,

00:28:50.678 --> 00:28:54.878

for example, pancake splits or front splits, depending on the setup,

00:28:55.118 --> 00:28:58.218

which I think is worth the cost of the reformer.

00:28:58.358 --> 00:29:00.578

Like I think it's more valuable in some ways.

00:29:00.738 --> 00:29:03.978

Just the front splits. For certain movements. It's a fantastic front.

00:29:03.978 --> 00:29:07.098

There's no other front splits machine that I've ever found on the market that's

00:29:07.098 --> 00:29:09.338

like even a 10th as good as a reformer.

00:29:10.758 --> 00:29:15.638

Right. There are things like a squat rack is arguably a better investment if

00:29:15.638 --> 00:29:18.678

you're serious about strength training, but the reformer does things with a

00:29:18.678 --> 00:29:19.938

squat rack will never do.

00:29:20.078 --> 00:29:22.378

A reformer is one of those. We should use the equipment to use the equipment.

00:29:23.826 --> 00:29:28.586

Right. So using the equipment where its strengths lie, I'm a massive advocate

00:29:28.586 --> 00:29:33.266

of, you know, I sort of fall outside some of the conversations about treating

00:29:33.266 --> 00:29:35.046

the reformer as a strength training tool.

00:29:35.166 --> 00:29:38.006

It's like, well, if you're serious about strength training, like serious,

00:29:38.166 --> 00:29:41.786

like RAF is, you're not using a reformer, which is not to say.

00:29:41.786 --> 00:29:44.446

Hold on hold on i'm just you know and we do want to get back to

00:29:44.446 --> 00:29:47.566

barbara because i want to understand i want to hear the punchline on that but but

00:29:47.566 --> 00:29:52.266

i think okay the reform is the reformer series strength training tool like okay

00:29:52.266 --> 00:29:59.346

if you can bench press 140 kilos you know his arms in straps gonna make you

00:29:59.346 --> 00:30:06.346

stronger no probably not right but if you are like the average pilates client.

00:30:07.246 --> 00:30:11.126

Can you get stronger on a reformer fuck yes you

00:30:11.126 --> 00:30:14.266

fucking can big time and so for those

00:30:14.266 --> 00:30:17.426

people starting from a relatively low base getting up

00:30:17.426 --> 00:30:20.766

to well above average strength a reformer

00:30:20.766 --> 00:30:23.906

is a fan fucking tastic strength training

00:30:23.906 --> 00:30:26.746

tool but what where it reaches its limit

00:30:26.746 --> 00:30:29.766

is when you get sort of beyond sort of the above average

00:30:29.766 --> 00:30:32.746

level you just run out of springs you know

00:30:32.746 --> 00:30:35.706

you run out of resistance in most of the movements and so if you

00:30:35.706 --> 00:30:38.506

want to continue on to like truly elite levels of

00:30:38.506 --> 00:30:41.806

strength yeah okay the reformer kind of reaches its limitations

00:30:41.806 --> 00:30:49.386

there but to go from like couch potato to fucking kick ass like 45 year old

00:30:49.386 --> 00:30:56.026

adult you know like better than you know 75 percent of the people out there

00:30:56.026 --> 00:31:00.226

reform is fucking your thing it's awesome great great piece of equipment,

00:31:00.966 --> 00:31:05.466

And I couldn't be more aligned with what you just said.

00:31:07.306 --> 00:31:12.386

And the other dimension to that is, and this is where it brings us back to Barbara, is,

00:31:13.627 --> 00:31:16.227

The best workout is the workout you do.

00:31:18.487 --> 00:31:23.067

And so, you know, if someone, as Raf said more clearly than I did,

00:31:23.187 --> 00:31:30.007

there is a point of diminishing returns using the Reformer as a serious strength training tool,

00:31:30.927 --> 00:31:33.787

partly because it's an unstable surface, blah, blah, blah, the stuff we've already

00:31:33.787 --> 00:31:37.327

talked about, and partly because at a certain point, which is well above average

00:31:37.327 --> 00:31:41.507

of strength in the general population, you kind of run out of load,

00:31:41.507 --> 00:31:44.247

as it were. You kind of need more stuff to put on.

00:31:44.407 --> 00:31:46.607

You run out of weight plates in a sense.

00:31:47.547 --> 00:31:50.927

But until you reach that point, it's fantastic.

00:31:50.947 --> 00:31:54.987

And especially if you implement, you know, just these basic sort of constraints

00:31:54.987 --> 00:31:59.007

on the movements you choose to push into really hard, then you're getting,

00:31:59.227 --> 00:32:01.867

you know, it's fantastic as a strength training thing.

00:32:02.167 --> 00:32:05.747

And it also has these other dimensions. There are these other things,

00:32:06.207 --> 00:32:09.787

you know, the flexibility, the instability. And when you harness them,

00:32:10.007 --> 00:32:13.907

you can do stuff that you simply can't do on other pieces of fitness equipment.

00:32:14.067 --> 00:32:16.207

So we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

00:32:17.287 --> 00:32:22.087

And that's where, so the thing that, what I observed in Barbara was as she got

00:32:22.087 --> 00:32:25.787

stronger, she was able to do harder stuff.

00:32:26.447 --> 00:32:31.867

And as she, as the, as the years went on, what I noticed was the repetition of.

00:32:33.260 --> 00:32:37.040

And the things that we worked on that were repetitive became,

00:32:37.420 --> 00:32:44.260

at the risk of overstating it, like Raf's example of the musician.

00:32:44.600 --> 00:32:51.400

So she took her Pilates classes with me as seriously as someone practicing a musical instrument.

00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:56.520

She came in, she settled in, she was always a bit early, she was always on the same reformer.

00:32:56.580 --> 00:32:58.800

If someone else got the reformer, she'd kill them with her own shoe,

00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:00.680

pull their dead body off and climb on.

00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:04.180

You know she she had her routine and she

00:33:04.180 --> 00:33:07.580

took the movement very very seriously in

00:33:07.580 --> 00:33:10.620

her own sort of self-advocacy I was just a conduit

00:33:10.620 --> 00:33:14.460

I wasn't you know so it was it was it was an amazing thing to watch and it was

00:33:14.460 --> 00:33:21.440

it emerged from the repetition I teach essentially the same thing over and over

00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:25.740

and over and over again and incrementally getting stronger and discovering the

00:33:25.740 --> 00:33:28.860

strength allowed her to do bigger, more complicated stuff.

00:33:29.060 --> 00:33:33.120

And there was a kind of a symbiosis where my teaching got better watching clients

00:33:33.120 --> 00:33:37.100

like her because I think, oh, you can do that. Or maybe we could do this.

00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:40.180

And then, you know, that's where the reformer pack stuff emerged because I actually

00:33:40.180 --> 00:33:45.020

had to find something hard enough for those people because they'd actually moved

00:33:45.020 --> 00:33:46.960

to a point where their capabilities.

00:33:47.300 --> 00:33:52.760

Their capacities were greater than I could expect from any general class,

00:33:52.800 --> 00:33:54.640

which is a nice problem to have.

00:33:54.640 --> 00:34:01.660

And the Reformer Pack is a course of classes that you do for people who've already

00:34:01.660 --> 00:34:07.100

got a reasonably strong Pilates practice, who aren't necessarily contortionists or anything,

00:34:07.320 --> 00:34:12.080

but you get them to that point over weeks, months, and years in some instances

00:34:12.080 --> 00:34:15.740

where they do hit their first high bridge, their first full split,

00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:20.120

their first horseback, their first whatever it might be, teaser on the long

00:34:20.120 --> 00:34:21.700

box, grasshopper, blah, blah, blah.

00:34:21.700 --> 00:34:27.460

All of those super difficult, you know, old school contrology moves.

00:34:30.029 --> 00:34:33.969

Yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah. Do we want to talk about the Reformer Pack for a minute?

00:34:34.489 --> 00:34:39.429

No, but I do want to talk about the Online Pilates Studio.

00:34:40.529 --> 00:34:43.389

Yeah, great. Yeah. So, dear listener,

00:34:44.229 --> 00:34:49.629

you know, podcast is, it's a great medium in many ways. I love it.

00:34:49.909 --> 00:34:55.849

It's my preferred medium of communicating with you, dear listener.

00:34:56.369 --> 00:35:00.089

You know i mean i like instagram and everything but it's just way more work

00:35:00.089 --> 00:35:04.309

i mean i'd much rather come on here and have a chat with heath than sit at my

00:35:04.309 --> 00:35:07.909

computer trying to you know crank out a,

00:35:08.369 --> 00:35:15.709

carousel or a reel or something um but anyway the the the main drawback of podcasts

00:35:15.709 --> 00:35:20.629

is they're not interactive you know we can't see you we can't hear you we can't

00:35:20.629 --> 00:35:26.669

interact with you and in the online Pilates studio, we've solved that.

00:35:27.189 --> 00:35:31.369

And I mean, I guess this is kind of an ad, but it's like, dear listener,

00:35:31.429 --> 00:35:32.869

I want to put this in context for you.

00:35:33.569 --> 00:35:37.689

Our business does about 220,000 US dollars a month at this point in revenue.

00:35:38.309 --> 00:35:43.429

And so this online Pilates studio, I would say it would be less than half of 1% of that.

00:35:43.689 --> 00:35:47.849

You know, like this is not our core business. So it's kind of just a fashion project.

00:35:49.069 --> 00:35:56.909

But yeah, so tell us what the Online Pilates Studio is and why we do it and what it's for.

00:35:58.809 --> 00:36:06.789

The Online Pilates Studio is, as it sounds, an online studio where all of the

00:36:06.789 --> 00:36:13.729

training team, all six or seven of us, teach classes every week. And we teach...

00:36:16.706 --> 00:36:22.366

From the frameworks that we build our courses out of, what I want to say is

00:36:22.366 --> 00:36:24.646

that we teach the clusters that we teach in the programs.

00:36:24.806 --> 00:36:31.006

We do, but they vary because we're human and the people we teach are human, so it's not exactly.

00:36:31.506 --> 00:36:37.486

And we teach Matt and we teach Reforma and we also provide workshops on a cycle

00:36:37.486 --> 00:36:39.846

which explore concepts.

00:36:40.166 --> 00:36:43.746

And we've been running it for a few months now and in the new year.

00:36:43.746 --> 00:36:47.506

So if you're listening, you know, at some point in the time-space continuum,

00:36:47.766 --> 00:36:49.766

folks, currently it's late 2025.

00:36:50.326 --> 00:36:55.726

In early 2026, we'll continue to develop what we do in the studio. And...

00:36:58.251 --> 00:37:01.231

It's a it's a way for us to show people anyone who's

00:37:01.231 --> 00:37:06.731

interested what we're talking about on this podcast essentially it's it's it's

00:37:06.731 --> 00:37:13.911

it's our teaching practice made available online um i've been doing it i was

00:37:13.911 --> 00:37:18.711

doing it in contrology collective for the last few years and um,

00:37:20.231 --> 00:37:24.411

it's a what i've loved about it is the community the people show up they get

00:37:24.411 --> 00:37:28.611

the all the benefits that we're talking about in a podcast about in studio teaching,

00:37:29.391 --> 00:37:33.331

the same things accrue via an online session and you could be anywhere on the planet.

00:37:33.791 --> 00:37:37.991

Yeah. And like the key distinction, or one of the many, but I think probably

00:37:37.991 --> 00:37:41.571

the first key distinction about this is it's, this isn't like a parties anytime

00:37:41.571 --> 00:37:42.951

where it's all like pre-recorded.

00:37:43.051 --> 00:37:45.771

This is live reformer and mat classes.

00:37:45.951 --> 00:37:48.871

So hop on your reformer in your lounge room, hop on your mat in your lounge

00:37:48.871 --> 00:37:52.811

room, join Heath, join Tegan, join Hayley, join one of our team.

00:37:53.771 --> 00:37:58.611

And we will teach you through a class where we will give you corrections in

00:37:58.611 --> 00:38:03.471

real time and actually adjust things to your ability in real time.

00:38:03.551 --> 00:38:09.631

So this is a live interactive Pilates class, just like an in-person one, but it's just on Zoom.

00:38:11.671 --> 00:38:16.431

And it's one of the pieces of feedback I've had from people coming in recently,

00:38:17.631 --> 00:38:20.151

is it's been an opportunity for,

00:38:21.477 --> 00:38:28.177

to, to, to, for them as the client to be taught in the way that Raph and I keep talking about. Yeah.

00:38:28.357 --> 00:38:32.217

So all of this stuff we keep going on about, you know, that's what you're going

00:38:32.217 --> 00:38:35.237

to get in, you know, in, in the online studio.

00:38:36.157 --> 00:38:40.257

Yeah. And the, the one I'm thinking of was, you know, the Raph and I had a conversation

00:38:40.257 --> 00:38:43.317

sometime, not too far back sometime this year.

00:38:44.317 --> 00:38:47.817

And we were talking about, um, you know, refinements.

00:38:47.977 --> 00:38:51.697

And I I was talking about the feedback I'd had earlier about someone saying,

00:38:51.777 --> 00:38:53.917

I love your class, but I don't know why you don't give refinement.

00:38:54.337 --> 00:38:56.417

And I was thinking, pretty sure I do.

00:38:56.977 --> 00:39:00.537

And so more recently, I had some feedback from someone who'd heard that and

00:39:00.537 --> 00:39:01.717

they were like, now I get it.

00:39:01.897 --> 00:39:06.457

Now I get how you're saying two or three simple cues with as much as possible on the end.

00:39:06.657 --> 00:39:10.457

And all of a sudden, everything locks into place and I'm making the shape that

00:39:10.457 --> 00:39:12.977

I would have once expected 15, 20 cues to achieve.

00:39:13.777 --> 00:39:18.737

So it's, it's a, it's an opportunity to see, you know, the further into this

00:39:18.737 --> 00:39:23.097

journey we go, Raph, the more clear I am is that what we're doing is fundamentally

00:39:23.097 --> 00:39:25.277

different to what the rest of the Pilates industry is doing.

00:39:25.457 --> 00:39:30.417

You know, you know, we talk about where I grew up and all of that with you and

00:39:30.417 --> 00:39:33.957

how I didn't know where I, I didn't come in with luggage.

00:39:34.177 --> 00:39:37.437

And as a result, we'd come up with between us. You were like baby Yoda.

00:39:39.317 --> 00:39:45.597

You can tell by the ears. and the bald head and the wrinkles and.

00:39:47.548 --> 00:39:52.308

So the clearer I, the more I become clear that we are doing something that is measurably,

00:39:53.628 --> 00:39:56.668

different, you know, the Pilates, the online studio is an opportunity to see

00:39:56.668 --> 00:40:00.268

that in action with people who have had time to practice these,

00:40:00.428 --> 00:40:03.628

these, these, whatever we call them, concepts, frameworks.

00:40:03.928 --> 00:40:07.088

Come to a class with Heath. I recommend his Stretch Reformer.

00:40:07.288 --> 00:40:11.708

It's Thursday nights at 9pm till 10pm. It's just a little bit too late for me.

00:40:11.828 --> 00:40:15.768

Like I didn't come this week because it's, you know, it's just,

00:40:15.908 --> 00:40:18.928

that's way, that's like two and a half hours past my bedtime already.

00:40:19.168 --> 00:40:22.648

Yeah, I think we can make that one earlier. I don't think it needs to be that late in my morning.

00:40:23.668 --> 00:40:28.008

Oh, that'd be awesome. That'd be so awesome because I had to do a recording this week.

00:40:29.748 --> 00:40:33.528

But I have to admit the recording wasn't as good because I skipped through the

00:40:33.528 --> 00:40:37.168

back, which is the part I hate the most but kind of love the most at the same time.

00:40:39.148 --> 00:40:43.228

But without you there watching me, I felt like, oh yeah, I'll just take a little

00:40:43.228 --> 00:40:46.008

bitty break here. That felt like a minute.

00:40:47.368 --> 00:40:52.068

Uh 1.5 times speed um,

00:40:53.400 --> 00:40:58.120

Yeah, so I think, dear listener, I guess it is kind of a plug for the online

00:40:58.120 --> 00:41:01.960

studio, but not because we make money out of it. Far from it.

00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:08.540

But it's, what is it at the moment? It's like 59 US dollars a month for as many classes as you want.

00:41:09.380 --> 00:41:13.140

And you do get recordings. And you get recordings as well. All of them are taught

00:41:13.140 --> 00:41:16.520

live. Like we teach like a dozen classes a week at the moment live.

00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:22.900

And then we keep the last 10-ish recordings for each, you know, class.

00:41:23.420 --> 00:41:27.940

Um, but yeah, and there's monthly, there's monthly workshops and stuff as well.

00:41:28.020 --> 00:41:30.360

But I think the main thing that I really want to talk about and,

00:41:30.560 --> 00:41:33.820

you know, here we already talked about, which is basically everything that we

00:41:33.820 --> 00:41:37.360

discuss on this podcast about how to teach, like that's what you get.

00:41:37.520 --> 00:41:40.100

You know, if you want to actually come and experience this and discover like,

00:41:40.180 --> 00:41:41.800

okay, what is this actually like?

00:41:42.220 --> 00:41:45.560

It's come along to, come along to class and you don't have to come to Heath

00:41:45.560 --> 00:41:47.220

class. Like they're all as good.

00:41:47.580 --> 00:41:52.520

You know, they're all the same, not identical, but they're all the same principles

00:41:52.520 --> 00:42:00.000

or all the same frameworks, all the same clusters, all the same process of simple,

00:42:00.380 --> 00:42:02.980

direct cues, you know?

00:42:03.400 --> 00:42:08.460

And that's something that I think, you know, you really helped me perfect.

00:42:08.580 --> 00:42:12.900

I think maybe we kind of, you know, developed in parallel on this, but it's just really.

00:42:15.040 --> 00:42:19.060

Simplifying the, not just, I think the cues were the kind of like the trailing

00:42:19.060 --> 00:42:22.600

indicator, But like when I was growing up in Pilates, I would have,

00:42:22.640 --> 00:42:25.580

I was taught that like, you know, what's a cue for, you know, lift your leg.

00:42:25.680 --> 00:42:30.220

It would be like, okay, so engage your psoas and suck the hip into the socket

00:42:30.220 --> 00:42:33.500

and lengthen through the, you know, lower torso and elevate your ribs up out

00:42:33.500 --> 00:42:37.400

of your pelvis and reach the leg out of the hip socket, you know,

00:42:37.640 --> 00:42:40.280

towards the ceiling and imagine lengthening through the kneecap.

00:42:40.440 --> 00:42:43.400

It's like, what about just fucking lift your leg?

00:42:46.612 --> 00:42:50.552

Much better cue does all of the above and if

00:42:50.552 --> 00:42:54.112

someone was to think well yes but well i want the leg to be straight don't

00:42:54.112 --> 00:42:56.732

i need to tell people to lock their knee or whatever it is that you might want

00:42:56.732 --> 00:43:04.372

it's like yep sure but what if what if you're uh the way you thought about your

00:43:04.372 --> 00:43:07.712

cues was what's one thing i can ask you to do that makes you do multiple things

00:43:07.712 --> 00:43:11.472

so if you just lift your leg and try and touch the ceiling if people take that

00:43:11.472 --> 00:43:13.872

cue seriously their leg will end up straight.

00:43:14.852 --> 00:43:18.232

And so that's a, that, that's a way to think about your cues.

00:43:18.412 --> 00:43:20.752

Is there something I can say that makes you do multiple things?

00:43:21.232 --> 00:43:25.532

That's a better cue than one thing, something that makes you do just the one tiny thing.

00:43:25.712 --> 00:43:29.052

Right. It's kind of the, um, count the legs and divide by four thing,

00:43:29.132 --> 00:43:33.572

you know, like the, the, the old joke goes, you know, to, to farmers are walking

00:43:33.572 --> 00:43:36.552

past a field of sheep and one farmer says, yeah, I wonder how many sheep are in the field.

00:43:36.652 --> 00:43:39.572

And the other farmer goes, yeah, almost instantly says 187.

00:43:40.372 --> 00:43:43.032

And the first farmer says, well, how did you know so quickly it's like oh easy i

00:43:43.032 --> 00:43:45.772

just counted the legs and divided by four you know

00:43:45.772 --> 00:43:48.552

and the joke is dear listener he did

00:43:48.552 --> 00:43:51.232

it the hard way right just count their heads would be

00:43:51.232 --> 00:43:53.972

easier and so i think that we

00:43:53.972 --> 00:43:57.072

do that a lot in pilates we count the legs and divide by four it's like instead

00:43:57.072 --> 00:44:02.032

of giving one simple cue we give you know four complicated cues you know instead

00:44:02.032 --> 00:44:06.112

of just doing one exercise that works four muscles we do four exercises you

00:44:06.112 --> 00:44:09.792

know to work they work one muscle so we count the legs and divide by four an

00:44:09.792 --> 00:44:11.632

awful lot in Pilates, I think.

00:44:11.872 --> 00:44:16.492

And one of the things that Heath does really, really well is he just counts the heads.

00:44:21.592 --> 00:44:23.772

Sounds like, that feels like kind of the end of the conversation.

00:44:24.812 --> 00:44:28.492

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. See you next time. Yeah, good talk.