Stop Teaching Muscles. Start Teaching Movement.

One of the biggest shifts instructors make as they become more experienced isn't learning more anatomy.

It's changing how they think about movement.

Early in their careers, instructors often cue muscles.

"Squeeze your glutes."

"Switch your core on."

"Activate your lats."

While these cues aren't necessarily wrong, they often don't produce the movement quality we're actually looking for.

The body doesn't think in muscles.

It thinks in movement.

Muscles Never Work Alone

Every movement your client performs involves dozens of muscles working together.

Take something as simple as standing up from a chair.

Is it a glute exercise?

A quadriceps exercise?

A core exercise?

A calf exercise?

The answer is all of them.

Teaching clients to move better rather than chasing isolated activation usually produces better outcomes.

Internal vs External Cueing

Research consistently shows external cues often outperform internal cues for motor learning.

Instead of saying:

"Squeeze your glutes."

Try:

"Push the carriage away."

Instead of:

"Engage your core."

Try:

"Imagine your ribs floating over your pelvis."

These cues help clients organise movement rather than search for individual muscles.

Anatomy Still Matters

Understanding anatomy remains essential.

But anatomy should inform your reasoning, not become your cueing script.

Good instructors understand muscles.

Great instructors teach movement.

Professional Reflection

The best Pilates instructors don't simply know where muscles attach. They understand how the entire system produces efficient movement. That's a very different level of teaching.

Continue Your Education

Our Applied Anatomy & Biomechanics Certification bridges anatomy with real-world Pilates programming, cueing and movement analysis.