Welcome to my Mat Pilates Teacher Training Course - this was the pilot course for the Academy and still the most popular. I absolutely love this course because unlike other courses you will be ready to get teaching straight after you have completed all the tasks on the course. We have all done those courses where you didn’t feel competent enough to get started I am 100% committed to you feeling safe and capable to teach Pilates after your complete this course.

This course is fully certified and fully insured by Balens Europe BV. Which means after successful completion you will be able to get insurance to teach Pilates in Ireland. This course takes 60 hours to complete spread over 3 months. It is an intensive enjoyable program designed to give you the knowledge, skills and confidence to teach basic to intermediary pilates repertoire classes based on 25 moves that I feel give every student a good core exercise regime, and from which you can design a myriad of classes. You will learn to teach prepilates and pilates mat exercises - but more than that you will really start to understand how the body works. This course would also be extremely interesting for any student of pilates who wished to dive deeper for the pure joy of it.

Your Pilates training journey with me is going to focus heavily on learning the repertoire suitable to the demographic of the west of Ireland - developing your teaching skills so you are confident in your ability to cue, demonstrate, know how to use modify and progress exercises, and most importantly how to really help your students to progress and enjoy the art of pilates.

You will also work on deepening your own practice at the same time - I passionately believe in the significance of your own journey of discovery and experience and the development of your unique personal voice and style as a pilates teacher. Without a good home practice you will struggle to keep your teaching fresh and interesting for your students.

This 60-hour Pilates Teacher Training course is based on the work of Joseph PIlates with some contemporary pilates in there too - to make the exercises fun and accessible to all. Some more of my pilates inspiration come from Romana, Sonja Mayo, Mejo Wiggins, Cathy Grant - to name but a few. I also have spent many years working in the style of Blandine Calais-Germain. The focus in this course is understanding and teaching pilates in such a way that your students look forward to coming to your class. You will learn about alignment, extension, breath, initiation, anatomy, fundamentals of the pilates method, regressions and progressions.

At the end of the course you will be ready to practice and teach the 25 exercises on the course and also to create your own class plans with various themes. You will learn a strategy of how to find the set up for success for each pose, key elements to a pose , cues to fix misalignments and various images that really bring pilates to life. You will learn to teach the students infront of you and be able to regress and advance movements so you keep your students safe and happy.

I will also cover anatomy in movement and breathing techniques. Everything I know about mat pilates I am giving to you.

This course would suit someone who wishes to work as a pilates teacher, physiotherapists who wish to learn more about the pilates method, yoga teachers looking to double their income, other fitness professionals, or a keen student who wants to learn more about pilates principles.

An introduction to the principles of Pilates movement and a deep dive into anatomy and the primary muscles of the body involved in Pilates movement. If you are going to work with the body and with principles like alignment and initiation you need to know muscles and joints, an over view of the skeleton and its function.  Don’t worry it won’t be boring - I love anatomy and I love teaching it. You will not have to learn every single muscle in the body - just the relevant stuff.

This is the meat and veg of the course. You will learn to teach 25 of the most fundamental exercises to the Pilates Method. I have omitted 9 of the 34 as they are too advanced for most classes you will teach in the West of Ireland and its demograph. After teaching for a year you can return and study the Level 2 course - which is the full 34 exercises on the mat - but its better to start teaching Level 1 for at least a year so you get used to teaching bodies. Once your students have got stronger and have a good understanding of Pilates Principles you will want to come back and do more training. I have many students who have only done Level 1 and they have more than enough to teach.You will learn how to cue these poses, demonstrate them, regress them if students find them too hard and advance them if students find them too easy. You will learn the contraindications of each pose so you can feel confident in your ability to teach safely. You will learn common misalignments that you see a lot on the mat and how to fix them. You will also learn some key hands on adjustments to really help your students to go deeper.

In this module you will learn about various postural issues that you will see every day in your classes. How people use their body in standing, walking and sitting is key to their physical health. I find students really enjoy learning about their postural bias and working with it. This module  will make you understand why some students can do some poses - eg roll up and some can’t without a lot of work. When you understand a students’ posture and pelvis it can really help you as a teacher as to why some moves are so challenging, with this knowledge you can really help your students to advance in the method. Learning to really observe students in motion is a skill that every teacher needs to cultivate.

You will be required to submit continuous assessment videos showing that you have a good understanding and an ability to teach the poses on the course. This takes some practice and time and will ensure that you succeed and become a great teacher. In my years of teaching all the students say this is the most challenging but most essential part of the course. Accountability is everything here. 

During the course I will ask you to complete a variety of online classes from a variety of teachers so you can have a good immersion into teaching styles. You will be asked to send feedback on these classes.

The exam will be a written exam focusing on anatomy plus a practical examination of your teaching skills and self practice. You will be well prepared for this and do mock ups to practice. If you have learning difficulties please talk to me as I have other options for this besides a test that may suit you better. I really don’t want anyone feeling stressed about an exam.

After passing the final examination students will receive a teaching certificate from Suzie Dodd Pilates Academy, and be able to apply for insurance by Balens BV Europe.

Return to Life, Joseph Pilates - any version is fine.

Anatomy of Movement, Blandine Calais-Germain. This book is now hard to get ebay is your best bet. If you can’t get it - get this instead MUSCULOSKELETAL ANATOMY COLORING BOOK by Joseph E. Muscolino

Pilates for Dummies

The Pilates Body - Brooke Siler

Equipment - Magic Circle, Miniball, Resistance Band.

The cost of the course is 950 euros. A non-refundable deposit of 300 euro is required to book a place. You can pay the balance 3 weeks before your course.

You need to have attended a minimum of 20 hours of pilates classes prior to starting the course. This can be online or in person. Please send proof of this to info@suziedodd.com. Either a log signed by your teacher or screenshots of the classes attended online. All students must sign the Suzie Dodd Pilates Academy Handbook. This will be emailed to you when full payment is made. Full payment is due 2 weeks before the course starts.

If you wish to become a member of the CTHA, you will also need to complete anatomy and physiology course QQI (online is fine) level 5 or Uk level 3.

A word of warning - I have had one or two people sign up before and it clearly wasn’t the right course for them. So if you are not sure give me a ring and we can chat about it. Please ensure you read the terms and conditions. This course is for general populations - ie healthy bodies, it does not cover you to teach pre and post natal pilates - this is a separate course.

Enrollment:

Suzie Dodd reserves the right to refuse admission to trainings, or workshops.

Suzie Dodd Teacher Training courses require a minimum of 8 participants to proceed.

Please do not book non-refundable transport or accommodation in advance of confirmation. In the event that admission is refused for any reason within the discretion of Suzie Dodd Classical Pilates Teacher Training payment of deposit ,and or other payments will be refunded.

Suzie Dodd Classical Mat or Reformer Pilates Teacher Training or Osteoporosis Training requires that all trainees attending our Teacher Training program have comprehensive medical insurance for the duration of their training. Trainees who are pregnant, or fall pregnant during a Teacher Training Course are not permitted to partake in or continue on the training. A refund will be given under these circumstances.

In the event a trainee wishing to cancel their attendance Suzie Dodd Classical Reformer, or Mat Pilates Teacher Training has the following refund policy. The deposit of 300 euro is non refundable. The balance refund policy = I will refund you if you cancel a month before the training, you can also postpone to the next training - life happens. If you cancel at the last minute I can’t refund you as I won’t be able to replace you at such short notice.

With regard to signing up and cancelling the Osteoporosis Training one week before training there will no refund - otherwise I will refund you. Feel free to postpone to the next training.

Security of Information:

Suzie Dodd Teacher Training takes the privacy and security of our trainees and their personal information very seriously. Information collected is used strictly by me to provide my services to you and as is required for the provision of my services.

Trainees understand that Suzie Dodd Teacher Training engages in social media networking, such as Facebook, etc. as part of promotional endeavours, which may involve sharing of photos. If you have a problem with this please talk to me about it.

Cancellation: Suzie Dodd Teacher Training accepts no responsibility for cancellations, delays, changes or losses caused by acts of God, war, and threat of war, closure of airports, civil strife, natural disasters, accidents or any other events beyond our control. This includes injuries, illnesses, medical or psychiatric conditions of trainees developed during or subsequent to the course as well as loss of, or damage to, personal property during the training.

In the unlikely event that a Suzie Dodd Teacher Training , workshop or retreat is cancelled 100% of the payment will be refunded, or an alternative training placement will be offered.

Where an enrolment is cancelled by a trainee for any reason, the deposit is not refundable. Transfer of deposit to another training , for exceptional reasons, will be at the discretion of Suzie Dodd Classical Pilates Teacher Training.

By partaking in trainings and classes trainees retain control and direction over all their physical activities and voluntarily assume full liability and accept the risk of harm, including physical injury and discomfort as a result of my participation in activities during the programme.

Suzie Dodd Teacher Training accepts no liability for any injury or illnesses that occur to trainees during the trainings, workshops or classes.

The nature of a pilates mat, osteoporosis or reformer teacher training includes a certain level of interpersonal physical contact. By participating in this yoga events trainees voluntarily agree to this contact and understand its professional nature.

General terms:

All trainee Suzie Dodd Teacher Training teachers, must arrive to the training room 5 minutes prior to class commencement, with any materials needed for that class.

All trainees must have appropriate attire for all classes

All trainee Suzie Dodd Teacher Training teachers must not consume illegal substances during the training dates. Coffee is defo allowed.

Photo Release :

Pictures may be taken during trainings, workshops, retreats or classes and used in a promotional capacity such as Facebook, Instagram, youtube, the company website etc. By agreeing to these terms- in accordance with GDPR, trainees give full permission for this information to be released - if this is a problem please chat to me.

Suzie Dodd Teacher Training retains no liability for use of pictures or videos taken by trainees of the training, the teachers or other trainees.

No photos and videos to be taken by trainees during trainings without permission.

Use of Materials:

Materials that are part of any training, workshop or retreat including but not limited to the Suzie Dodd Teacher Training training manual, logos, trademarks and webpage content are the property of Suzie Dodd Teacher Training and must not be copied or disseminated.