Article by Gill Cummings-Bell BA (Hon’s) M.Sc. MBA. PGCE. AMCSP.

Many of you will know me from my long-standing career in the fitness, health and wellness sector.  For those of you who don’t know me I have laid out my credibility to write this article in a short highlight bio section at the end.  I write this article with my hand on a very heavy heart having watched an unhealthy environment building within the Pilates teaching community. It appears to be an environment fuelled by a lot of noise. Some highlights of which are sensationalised by journalist articles that lack facts, and social media posts. The noise is built with passion from avid traditional/classical Pilates teachers with passionate desires to prevent poor practice and organisations making claims of representing the Pilates sector as a whole. The positive outcome of this noise has culminated in a call for better regulation of the Pilates sector. Is it time to unpick some of the noise and ask that serious question, ‘What do the 40-60k practising Pilates teachers in the UK want their occupation to look and feel like?’ Teachers and their participants are the underpinning lifeblood of the Pilates sector. Their view counts the most! All the rest is business!

If this topic is of interest to you, do read more. It won’t make for comfortable reading and in the interest of talking above the noise I will, and do, call out protagonists of the noise, including individuals and organisations who publicly give credence to the noise.

The first question is Why pen to paper?

There is much discussion amongst Pilates teachers and organisations about what is Pilates and what is not. This is not news.  This on occasions reaches a peak and often dies down after a few days, raising its head again often fuelled by some crazy instagram pictures of poor practice. It is not the first time and it won’t be the last time that this discussion spreads across social media or national press, however in this present day it seems to have developed a more deleterious feel than usual particularly in the social media forums and the national press. The noise is often limited to a few protagonists, often with views that when stripped back have merit but as they are delivered with immense passion and belief, can land with others as destructive. This causes ill feeling and only further damages the sector as a whole. Whilst I am a firm believer in everyone expressing an opinion, me included, I believe that opinions benefit from being kind, respectful, supportive, open and inclusive and they must add value to the discussion. This is most important when referring to teachers who are colleagues and friends and who respectfully have invested years of time, money and life in their training and career paths. Not all journeys and paths are the same and we must respect all.  There is often an element of truth drawn out in a lot of the noise which can be lost because the noise doesn’t often present facts from all sides. This can result in toxic and inflammatory noise with no added value to the discussion. This noise has currently culminated in a request for regulation. 

Is Regulation the answer? Let’s explore some more so we can inform the discussion.

The Big Question – Regulation?

When we discuss regulation, the big question is Why. Why is there a call for regulation? Is it so the sector can restrict practice, or do we call for regulation so that we can widen practice and improve the quality of the practice? To answer this question we have to understand which of these two approaches keeps the teachers and public safe?  This is the big question. This question must be answered first. When we unpick the noise there is a mix. There are individuals and organisations who want regulation because they want to restrict practice and shut things down, keep it exclusive in order to limit individual variations of that practice. In balance to this, there are individuals and organisations who want to evolve and widen the Pilates practice. Which ever side of the coin you land, there is common agreement across all practice and that is the desire to ensure that all practice is safe, well taught with well trained teachers. This will enable the public to know what they are getting when they go to a Pilates class or session. This keeps the public safe from harm and injury.

Definition of regulation

A rule or directive made and maintained by an authority. The action or process of regulating (controlling) or being regulated by rules and regulations.

The definition is very clear but an enormous ask. Until the first question is answered around the practice,  you can’t work on the second. If the answer to the first question is that there is a desire to shut down any variation of practice, limit it and make it exclusive (which would make Joseph Pilates turn in his grave) then the process is more straight forward. If the answer to the first question is to widen the practice, but improve the quality of the training and practice there is much work to be done first in order to move forward with the second part of the work.

In answering the regulation question the sector organisations will need to work together as regulation is based on authority and currently no one organisation has, or could have, the authority across all the variations of Pilates in it’s current practice. I have detailed the organisations currently responsible below. In my experience, no single organisation has the infrastructure, knowledge, skill, expertise or sector reach to take on this task as one authority. To state so, shows a lack of understanding of the sector and what is needed to evolve.

Inclusive Practice

For Pilates practice to be considered inclusive practice it must be led by a sector that values diversity and ensures equitable access, participation, and opportunities for all individuals, particularly in educating teachers and the public. The sector must be built on teaching underpinned by scopes of practice. A leading authority Pilates organisation must actively remove barriers, create lasting adapting environments, and tailor support to meet all scopes of Pilates practice. The sector needs to be led by an active body that can design a landscape that is structured to value diversity, recognises individual elements of Pilates and removes barriers to entry by celebrating variation. Once this is in place regulation can reflect the diversity of the landscape and raise quality of provision, educate teachers and the public and keep the practice safe.

Current Sector Organisations Who Could Support Regulation!

Currently there are 4 main organisations (there are others but these are in my view the main ones)  that have varied remits or responsibilities that affect the Pilates teaching sector and could support a move towards regulation. The very brief outline below is not all encompassing and does not represent the missions of any of the organisations named. It is intended to open discussion and debate and is based on experience of working with these organisations over long periods of time at a leadership level. These organisations are CIMSPA (Chartered Institute for Management in Sport and Physical Activity). The PTA, (Pilates Teachers Association). SPM (The Society for the Pilates Method) and EMD UK (Exercise Movement and Dance (National Governing Body for Group Exercise). At this point in time these organisations do not offer any joined up thinking, do not work together on the problems facing the sector and individually do not represent the whole variance of the UK Pilates teaching sector. They are either built on exclusivity that is shut down to 80% of teachers joining or they lack knowledge and expertise to support all of the Pilates sectors current offering and need. Let me build some facts around this view and share my thoughts. Hopefully I have identified one from the other.

The PTA and the SPM both represent the Pilates sector.  Both of these organisations are exclusive in their membership which is restricted to a limited range of qualified teachers. The PTA represent fully comprehensive Pilates teachers (by their own statement) which are a limited number of Pilates teachers in the UK. Their membership is small by comparison to the other organisations and exclusive relative to the size of the teaching profession. This is fact. In my opinion (which I feel qualified to offer) the PTA often post on the social media forums posts that call for regulation. In truth the PTA appears to be less about inclusive regulation of all the variants of Pilates and more about preventing practice that is not delivered by Fully Comprehensive Pilates teachers. The PTA are often the instigators of some of the noise. Not always a bad thing. I believe the PTA have a huge amount to offer the sector in this limited field but as it is limited with poor representation of the majority of teachers in the UK I do not believe the PTA could support an open and inclusive regulation structure to enable the practice. 

The SPM are a relatively new organisation, founded by a number of commercial organisations who are leaders of training in the Pilates sector in the UK and abroad.  Their membership is also relatively exclusive, although much wider than the PTA. The membership initially was limited to the commercial organisations and their teachers that they represent.  It is now opening to additional schools and teachers joining the organisation. It is not generally open to the wider representation of UK Pilates Teachers such as mat teachers and teachers who are not affiliated through a school. There is work to be done by the SPM to be responsive, open and inclusive to enable the SPM to widen representation and support the whole sector. The SPM generally remain silent through the noise, which may be sensible but can present as a lack of authority. The PTA by comparison do passionately stand by their noise which could be considered admirable to a point.

CIMSPA and EMD UK are both publicly funded and for clarity this means they draw down Exchequer and Lottery funding to support their activities. In other words they draw down the good old tax payers monies to fund their goals. They have slightly different remits. CIMSPA, as one of their responsibilities (they have many more than this) are the gatekeepers of the professional standards. Professional Standards guide training and qualifications. They are not regulated standards and the current Pilates standards are for Pilates mat only and even those are not currently accepted by the whole of the Pilates sector in the UK. Professional standards have proved to have failed in the sector, they are unwieldy, over reaching, limited and are always out of date. The Professional Standards have no teeth for regulation.   CIMSPA also hold a register of recognised CPD training. This is not a regulated register in any form. This is a paid for register and training providers can pay to have their training on this list. This list cannot be relied on for regulation as it is commercial and generates commercial income. It lacks genuine quality control, is unregulated and can be confusing for teachers as it appears as regulated. As an example CPD on the list is often mixed up with a qualification leading teachers to invest in training they assume will qualify them when it doesn’t.

EMD UK is the National Governing Body for group exercise. Much of the current discussion in the Pilates world is focussed on large group classes in both mat and reformer. EMD UK therefore have a role to play in Plates regulation. Particularly large group classes. EMD UK hold the scope of practice for the group elements of Pilates and are funded to represent and support the workforce of teachers. They have agreed governance goals that offer a more inclusive approach than the commercial organisations. Their membership uses their scopes of practice. They also offer many additional services to support a Pilates teacher, whether in an individual one to one Pilates setting or in a group setting. This is fact. In my opinion EMD UK still lack the voice in the Pilates world which would be needed to bring some of this together and have some distance to travel to develop their understanding of the support the Pilates sector needs. They tend to sit on the fence and not enter the noise. 

When we unpick the sector and the organisations that could support the evolvement and improvement of practice in the sector there is not an easy route for any one organisation. Is it time to call out for some joined up thinking and representation. Teachers are crying out for their needs to be met. In an ideal world we need to have representatives from all aspects around a joint table to review the problem and present the solution. 

So! What’s the ask?

If it was in your gift to give the solution what would be your ask, your wish list. Here is ours for a starter for 10.

  1. Consultation and research all Pilates teachers, employers and Pilates business’s in the sector to develop an understanding of what they teach or offer and what their Pilates practice is together with what training they have undertaken.
  2. Consult with Pilates teachers, employers and Pilates business’s to understand that if regulation was brought in, what would they want regulation to achieve and what would they want that to look like
  3. Unite the Pilates practice in the sector with agreed, self regulating, clear scopes of practice identifying and celebrating the variation of Pilates pathways and practice, enabling quality provision. Scopes of practice for the whole spectrum of Pilates from fitness, mat and small equipment, through reformer and all its variations to Fully Comp classical/traditional from one to one to small group to large group
  4. Have an authoritative, respected regulative authority/organisation that represents the whole of the Pilates practice that is ethical, inclusive, open and truly works on behalf of the teachers.
  5. Define regulation across the diversity of pathways to enable all entry points and career pathways and not limit this to exclusive practice.
  6. Support bridging for instructors who don’t meet the scope of practice but are able to with some additional support which would need to be in place due to the regulated aspect
  7. Access to further training in health and safety and risk assessment and or any other holes identified in a scope mapping document.
  8. Whistle blowing and identification of any misrepresentation of any teachers who do not meet their scope presenting as if they do  This needs a process, support and education to sit behind it.
  9. Public and participant awareness campaign of the scopes and what various classes or sessions present for what purpose etc. So a big education piece for the public and press.
  10. Define what constitutes safe apparatus standards and safe use of apparatus with consultations that support the H&SE in taking action should apparatus not meet standards
  11. Continued campaign of education across the sector employers and supporting employers with both health and safety and risk assessment, instructor training and meeting scope
  12. Public management across social media and comms channels on all of the above
  13. Bank of evidence based work and research to support all of the above. 

What would be your wish list?

Short Biography Highlights.

Gill Cummings-Bell BA (Hon’s) M.Sc. MBA. PGCE. AMCSP

Involved in the developments of the very first qualification in the sector ever! 

45 years teacher training experience in the Exercise Fitness and Wellness Sector

20 years Public Sector teaching including Head of Faculty in Public Sector Colleges

45 years experience of external verifier for Awarding Organisations, 

45 years sector lead in development of professional standards, scope of practice, qualification development and leading national educator through national organisations from being a Board member of the very first national governing body in exercise and fitness, to the current national governing body (too many to list here)

45 years Pilates and group exercise studio owner

Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Fully Comprehensive Pilates Teacher and Studio Owner

Retired CEO and Board member of the EMD UK NGB for group exercise

Passionate in the belief that everyone has the right to move well and as a practitioner of movement disciplines including Pilates a strong advocate for inclusivity and enablement for everyone.