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Beyond the Reformer

Harder Isn’t Always Better: The Smarter Way to Build Strength

July 20 · 42 min · 30.6 MB
0:00-42:28

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"I've been lied to my whole life. This just feels relaxing, and yet my body is starting to change."

In this episode, Nic flies solo to unpack a question she gets asked constantly on her teacher trainings: why isn't harder always better?

She explores what conditioned so many of us, especially in the fitness world, to believe that pushing more, harder, and faster is always the goal, and shares her own burnout story from the corporate world that led her to Pilates in the first place.

Nic unpacks the difference between a Pilates instructor and a Pilates teacher, why the classical repertoire is built on mastering the fundamentals with ease before adding intensity, and why some of the most common cueing in Pilates today (think "engage your core," "zip up and hollow") doesn't actually hold up to what we now know about the body.

She also reflects on lessons picked up across a year of guests on the podcast, and makes the case for why efficiency, not effort, is the real skill Pilates teaches - both on the mat and in life.

Timestamps

00:06 Intro: why harder isn't always better

08:44 Nic's own burnout story and how Pilates changed her life

12:45 Getting "practiced" at being busy, and the cost of always pushing

17:32 Pilates instructor vs. Pilates teacher

27:04 Adrenaline, burnout, and "I came for my bad back and stayed for my mental health"

33:31 Why we shouldn't be cueing "engage your core" (and the "zip up and hollow" story)

40:24 Why the end of class matters as much as the start, and closing thoughts

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