Intro to the Advanced Repertoire with Osteoporosis Lab Study

Gain a comprehensive education in the Advanced, Level IV Classical Repertoire, enriched with variations from multi-lineage influences. This weekend workshop includes full-apparatus training across the Mat, Reformer, Tower, Trapeze Table, Wunda Chair, and Ladder Barrel. We will conclude with an anatomy study and movement lab focused on osteoporosis protocols—equipping you with practical tools to address one of the most common special conditions in the studio. Build confidence through in-depth training designed to help you safely up-level clients, refine modifications, and enhance the holistic benefits of your teaching.

Weekend Outline

Friday | 4 Hours

• Classical Level IV Mat + Reformer repertoire and sequencing

Saturday | 6 Hours

• Classical Level IV training across: Tower, Trapeze Table, Wunda Chair, and Ladder Barrel

• Round robin-style Level IV Mat Class with individual feedback to enhance imagery cues and skill progression, all in a supportive group environment.

Sunday | Integration + Special Populations Focus

• Level IV review + variations

• Osteoporosis anatomy study

• Reformer for Osteoporosis Movement Lab: hands-on practice with spotting, prop techniques, and safe exercise modifications

Objectives

1. Demonstrate proficiency in the Level IV Classical Mat and Reformer order, including advanced progression sequencing and a focus on transitions to increase tempo and flow.

2. Gain comprehensive education in the Level IV repertoire across the complete system: Mat, Reformer, Tower, Trapeze Table, Wunda Chair, and Ladder Barrel, and experience mindful co-teaching opportunities.

3. Identify common challenges in execution and apply effective corrections, cueing strategies, and progressions to support safer, stronger outcomes.

4. Integrate multi-lineage variations and somatic principles while preserving Classical integrity and adapting to real studio bodies.

5. Develop advanced programming skills to safely up-level clients using layered progressions and client-centered goals.

6. Apply essential osteoporosis anatomy and biomechanics principles to inform progression decisions and risk reduction.

7. Discuss osteoporosis protocols across all apparatus, including safe ranges of motion, contraindications, and functional strengthening priorities.

8. Practice hands-on teaching strategies in a Reformer Lab setting with real-time coaching, spotting techniques, prop applications, and individualized modifications.

9. Increase instructor confidence and tools through integrated Level IV review, teaching feedback, and client assessment skills that translate directly into sessions.

Join us for an immersive workshop focused on two essential teaching pillars: advancing clients safely into Level V Classical Pilates—and supporting them confidently through pregnancy and postpartum.

We’ll explore effective spotting and assisting techniques, along with a clear, foundational cueing language that helps clients “level up” with greater precision, confidence, and flow throughout the advanced repertoire.

In addition, we’ll cover prenatal and postnatal protocols for all levels. As a client’s body changes during pregnancy, it becomes vital to adapt the Pilates method to meet her evolving needs while maintaining strength, stability, breath, and alignment.

We’ll also discuss the fourth trimester and what a supportive postpartum practice can look like—including how instructors can aid recovery, rebuild core function, and help clients return to movement with safety and trust.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Workshop Outline

1) Levels & Layering

Goal: Build a clear pathway from foundational work to Level V—without losing safety, precision, or flow.

• Foundation first: Why a strong base is non-negotiable on the road to Level V.

• Where the work gets challenged: What changes as we advance levels (load, speed, range, coordination, and control), and how to recognize when a client is ready.

• Layering as a teaching strategy: How to “stack” skills—breath, alignment, articulation, strength, and tempo—so clients can progress with confidence.

• Family of Exercises: How to use exercise families (patterns and progressions) to:

  • spot missing prerequisites,

  • choose smart regressions/progressions,

  • and create continuity across apparatus and levels.

2) Prenatal & Postpartum Protocols

Goal: Teach Pilates as an evolving practice that meets the pregnant and postpartum body with safety, respect, and clarity.

• The changing body: How pregnancy adaptations influence breath, balance, rib cage mechanics, pelvic floor, and core strategy—and how Pilates should evolve with each phase.

• Trimester guidance (Dos & Don’ts):

  • key considerations by trimester,

  • common contraindications and red flags,

  • and practical modifications across levels (mat + apparatus).

• The fourth trimester: When to return to activity and how to progress:

  • early movement goals,

  • pacing and intensity,

  • signs you’re doing too much too soon.

• Diastasis recti:

  • how to check (screening basics),

  • what to avoid,

  • and safe strategies to support closure/tension management and functional core recovery.

• C-sections:

  • how to prepare clients prenatally (what helps, what doesn’t),

  • immediate postpartum considerations,

  • and a gradual return-to-movement progression after surgery.

Join us for a full-weekend immersion into an advanced review of mindful Level IV-V variations drawn from multi-lineage influences. You’ll move through a multi-apparatus repertoire, refining transitions for seamless flow while expanding your teaching lens with somatic-based cueing inspiration. The weekend concludes with an anatomy study and movement lab focused on scoliosis and other back condition protocols, offering practical, studio-ready tools to support healthy motor function and address common movement patterns associated with chronic pain. Leave inspired and equipped—with stronger progressions, greater clarity, and the confidence to safely guide a dynamic range of clientele toward advanced-level work.

Weekend Outline

Friday | 4 Hours

• Pilates principles and advanced multi-apparatus review (including small apparatus/Spine Corrector)

• Round-robin teaching lab focused on assisting, spotting, and prop technique to improve performance, endurance, and clarity of execution

Saturday | 6 Hours

• Mixed-level Reformer class protocols with introduction of Level IV skills

• Anatomy: osteoporosis, herniated discs, bulging discs, sciatica, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, and more.

• Reformer transition training for increased tempo, precision, and a more seamless flow

Sunday | 6 Hours

Special Populations Focus

• Advanced variations for common back conditions, integrating functional movement patterns, somatic cueing techniques, and multi-lineage repertoire.

• All-apparatus back conditions protocols movement lab: co-teaching demonstration emphasizing hands-on spotting, prop integration, and safe modifications for special populations.

Objectives:

1. Demonstrate and teach advanced multi-apparatus repertoire with attention to the Pilates principles.

2. Refine transitions for tempo, precision, and flow, especially within Reformer programming, to create more dynamic sessions and improve client endurance.

3. Apply effective assisting and spotting techniques to support the safe execution of advanced exercises and build instructor confidence, and integrate prop strategies intentionally to impart healthier movement patterns.

4. Learn to design mixed-level Reformer classes that introduce Level IV skills using progressions and clear prerequisites so clients can work safely within a group setting.

5. Identify key anatomical considerations for common spine-related conditions, including osteoporosis, herniated discs, bulging discs, sciatica, and scoliosis, and understand how these factors influence programming to the advanced level.

6. Implement advanced exercise variations for back conditions, including functional patterns and multi-lineage repertoire to support healthier mechanics, and practice real-time teaching applications through movement labs.

7. Leave with actionable tools and confidence to up-level diverse clientele while maintaining Classical inspiration, supporting safety, and improving long-term client outcomes.

Apex Teaching is the “how” behind advanced results. In this weekend intensive, we’ll focus on the craft of building lessons that progress clients intelligently—from lower-level building blocks to advanced Classical Pilates repertoire—without sacrificing clarity, safety, or flow.

Participants will move through Level III–Level V exercises across all apparatus, while learning to identify the stepping-stone skills that make advanced work accessible. Through layered teaching, smart progressions, and creative problem-solving, you’ll strengthen your ability to compose sessions that meet clients where they are—and guide them toward where they’re capable of going.

Weekend Focus

• Apex Teaching: Learn to build a lesson using the “building blocks” of lower-level skills to support advanced repertoire

• Creative Progression Strategies: Play with solutions for progressing clients—regressions, progressions, variations, and sequencing choices

• Repertoire Review: Review Level III–Level V Classical Pilates across all apparatus

• Skill-Building Through Experience: Deepen your understanding of progression through movement experiences that demonstrate how foundational programming evolves into intermediate and advanced work

Key Takeaways

By the end of the weekend, participants will be able to:

• Identify the prerequisite skills that unlock advanced exercises

• Build lessons using stepping stones that create success and confidence

• Apply a layering approach to cueing, sequencing, and transition flow

• Choose creative progressions that match the client’s needs while maintaining the integrity of the method