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.

Similarities Between Pilates and Yoga

Pilates and yoga are often confused by those who do not know either of them, and this is understandable as they have a number of exercises which look similar due to Pilates and yoga´s common origins. Both are best known primarily through their mat work.

Both emphasise the mind-body connection and create awareness, and the classical pilates principles (centre, control, concentration, precision, breath and flow) could be talking about either of the two (at least without explanation of exactly what was meant).

Both Pilates and yoga build strength and flexibility, but in different ways and with different emphases. 

Differences Between Pilates and Yoga: The Pilates Teaser vs The Yoga Lotus

The differences between Pilates and yoga can be seen by comparing the two exercises which are emblematic of the two disciplines – Pilates´ teaser and yoga’s Lotus pose. 

The Teaser: Flowing Movement from a Strong Centre

The teaser is movement from the centre of the body to reach point of balance where you stay for an instant then roll down. The teaser is primarily movement and you find the stillness and balance inside. We do only a few repetitions, then move on to the next exercise – there are no long holds. There are many different versions of the teaser (I can immediately think of 18) which is regularly done on the reformer, Cadillac, spine corrector, wunda chair and the mat. The Mat teaser is the hardest and all the other versions prepare the body for the version without equipment. 

The goal is physical fitness and control of the body with the mind, which enables you to have an active, full life and achieve happiness.

The Lotus: Physical Stillness Leading to Meditation 

The lotus is a static posture where there is no visible movement of the body, only internal movement to keep alignment. It is meant to be held for a long time. The flexibility needed for it is much greater than needed for almost all pilates, which does not take the legs out of the joint. The preparation for it is not with equipment, though some types of Yoga use a block or folded blanket to make it easier. 

The goal is meditation and union of the mind and body.





Pilates is absolutely not a "type of yoga" any more than yoga is a type of pilates. They developed quite separately until the last few decades, when their popularity in the west has led to a number of hybrids. However, the traditional forms of both work towards quite different goals. 

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.

Not all cars are the same and not all pilates is the same. At Kinetic Pilates we teach classical pilates, as passed down by Romana Kryzanowska, but what is classical Pilates?

Classical Pilates is a Method

Classical pilates, or simply Pilates, is a method for training the body. We have specific goals of body development in Pilates that we are working towards and use the exercises to bring your body towards balance.

This means that we have to use different exercises with different people: a very flexible female dancer with weak wrists cannot do the same training as a very stiff male office worker with a bad back if they are both to get the best results. 

Classical pilates is a sophisticated method of physical training, not a series of floor exercises that you learn to teach in a month.

Classical Pilates is a System

Classical pilates is not just mat exercises, it is an entire system of exercise, using many different apparatuses. 

Because every body is different, everybody needs different treatment and to work with different apparatus. Some people mostly need stretching, others mostly need strengthening. 

A full classical pilates studio has a wide range of options for working with everyone who walks through the door.

Classical Pilates is Alive

Although classical Pilates is in direct continuity with the work of Joe Pilates, trying to maintain the rich and varied system that he developed, we are not so concerned with the past that we become rigid.

Pilates is about movement, it is dynamic and vigorous and it changes bodies.  

The marketing of some pilates groups claims that classical pilates is too difficult for normal people. Here is a typical example:

“The ´classical´ Pilates exercises that he [Joe Pilates] developed may take many years to perfect and may well be beyond the capability of the average person”. 

It is certainly true that the exercises DO take many years to perfect: if you could do them perfectly in a month there would be little point in doing them at all and little motivation to continue. But is it true that the system that Joseph Pilates developed (“Pilates”) is beyond the average person’s ability and that most people can do no more than “base” their training on his work? 

I’ve seen classical pilates taught usefully to a 76 year old with a recent knee surgery, a client with Multiple Sclerosis, and another who had broken their spine. All competent teachers modify the exercises to work with injured people. This is part of the “classical” system, not a contemporary improvement. 

Classical pilates starts where you are and gives you progressively more demanding exercises as your body strengthens. We don’t throw you in at the deep end and hope that you somehow manage to float rather than drown, but we do make you work hard. Pilates should never be 'easy': your body won’t improve while you are still in your comfort zone. 

In fact, as you improve Pilates keeps getting harder and harder because you are able to work deeper and deeper. You will always feel that you are getting a workout no matter what your ability or limitations are. This means that classical Pilates holds the attention and continues to challenge year after year, giving even the most experienced person a challenging workout. 

Joe Pilates worked with “average” bodies. Not everyone will be doing advanced training and we won´t be standing on anyone´s stomach, but the idea that only certain people have the potential to do the classical work is a sales pitch which sells you short. 

Pilates is about exercises as much as literature is about words. Pilates is a way of moving and living in the body: it’s not about leg kicks.

 Joseph Pilates´ method of training is a set of principles of how to use the body in a way which creates health and happiness. The exercises and the different studio apparatus are tools which are there to help you reach particular goals.

Like all tools, the exercises need to be used correctly for them to do you any good. Just think of the difference between a kitchen knife in the hands of a trained chef and in the hands of a 4 year old who has had too much sugar.

Everything you find inside the studio is a tool to help you live better outside the studio, so that when you finish your session you can return to life stronger and more able to cope with what it throws at you.