Pilates mat work is meant to be practiced at home. That was Joe Pilates´ plan and intention. However, a great deal of what makes pilates special is the precision with which you do it and some people worry about practicing on their own at home in case they get it “wrong”.

Why Shouldn´t You Do Pilates At Home?

If you only ever learn from a book or DVD then there is a real danger that you simply go through the motions, perhaps not even correctly, and this, it is true, is not particularly useful. The movements are the shell that you put the “pilates” inside. Just done on their own they won´t change a body.

The other “risk” is that you won´t work as hard as you will in class, though of course getting 75% of the results is better than getting none.

Why Should You Do Pilates At Home?

One of the benefits of doing Pilates at home is that if you do “homework” then you will progress faster and get stronger.

However, and more importantly, if you do pilates as home then you will become independent and have something that you can use to keep your body in shape long term. Of course continuing to go to a teacher is important, but you may not always have access to one. By practicing at home, even if only for 15 minutes twice a week you will absorb the exercises more deeply. 

In Classical Pilates we have an order of exercises which we follow week after week, which generally changes only as we add new exercises. There are a number of advantages to this and one main disadvantage.

A Set Order of Pilates Mat Exercises Helps Your Progress

There are several advantages of following a set order of exercises. It helps with memorization if the same exercises always follow each other and this subconscious learning of the order enables your body to absorb the exercises without your brain having to think too much about what happens next.

This enables you to add in layers of depth and sophistication as you progress through the intermediate level, and by the time you are advanced you can surrender to the practice in a way which can create a very special state of mind – the “movement as meditation” which is typical of advanced pilates practitioners.

Some teachers work hard to entertain their students with new exercises. We don’t think this is necessary. After all, never making progress because you never stop working on new “choreography” and never feeling or seeing changes in your body is much more boring than doing the same exercises all the time.

A Set Order of Pilates Mat Exercises Gives You a Balanced Workout

The sequence that we use is balanced and progressive, containing its own warm up within the workout itself and building over time as you add in exercises to progress from basic to intermediate and intermediate to advanced.

This means that every part of the body is worked and you don’t only do the things you like and do well, and ignore the things which you need to do, but dislike.

A set order gives you a structure to work inside, meaning that even if you are feeling uninspired then you have something that will give you the discipline to have a productive and transformative time on the mat.

Disadvantages of a Set Order of Pilates Mat Exercises

Surprisingly, after years of practicing the same order of exercises I do not find boredom an issue. The deep connection between mind and body that is possible when you follow a “ritual” order is far more interesting than the superficial stimulus of changing the exercises all the time.

There are, in fact, many ways of finding variety in the exercises: different tempo, different focus (e.g. breath, working the wings, lower stomach, stretch, strength, flow, concentration etc.), different forms of the same exercise and the use of the magic circle means that the mat work can be done in many different ways.

The mat can also be done with different endings (e.g. the wall, standing arm weights, rowings on the mat, magic circle and other standing exercises).

The main disadvantage with simply doing the mat exercises all the time is that there are fewer resources for dealing with any particular day’s issues and needs. It is, of course, possible to omit or modify exercises if they are going to create problems for your body on a particular day, but the mat is not the whole system, it is a part of it.

As important as the mat work is, it really helps the body to use the springs and have the different focus of the apparatus.

Here is a great video of the full advanced classical matwork that we teach. Normally the exercises have more repetitions, but here there is just one to demonstrate. James trained in the same studio as Jean Claude. 

Joe Pilates didn’t teach levels, he taught people. The division of the method into basic, intermediate and advanced levels is more recent and slightly artificial, but that’s not to say that it isn’t useful. 

The levels are a template or guide, not a competition. They are made up of developmental goals and a way of moving rather than exactly what exercises you do. 

The levels are most obvious in a mat class as in private sessions the work is customized to you. 

Basic Beginners, no matter how fit, need to attend Basic Mat classes. These classes teach you the basics of the method through a series of simple, challenging exercises. The goal for this level is to find your “power house”, to begin to find “lift” in the body and to even out the alignment of the torso. You will start to feel the benefits of Pilates.

Intermediate When your body has absorbed the basics of Pilates you are ready to take intermediate level sessions. The aim of this level is to strengthen and deepen the power house. Some new movement patterns are introduced for the first time (e.g. back bends), and other patterns already present in the basic level are deepened

What makes you intermediate is not how long you have studied, but how much your body has absorbed. 

Advanced At the advanced level the focus is on increasing the stamina of the power house. More upper body exercises are introduced with the aim of working the upper back and connecting it more deeply with the rest of the power house. The advanced level is where complete flow and synchronization with the breath take place.

There is nothing to be gained by trying to rush ahead in your progress. Impatience means that you will simply not get as much from your classes as you could. If you have an injury or illness it is advisable to have private sessions first before you join a mat class to ensure your needs are properly addressed.