A minimum of six months to one year of experience with Pilates and the ability to perform the intermediate level exercises on the mat and apparatus is required before beginning the program. Experience teaching dance, movement, yoga or personal training is highly recommended. A letter or verbal recommendation from your current instructor is also recommended.

If your experience consists primarily of group mat classes we strongly encourage you to get training on the apparatus before attempting the full certification program.

Coursework Requirements

In order to take the written and practical certification exam you must complete all of the coursework as well as the following practical hours:

Full, Reformer or Apparatus Only
Coursework (including anatomy)	126
Personal session	60
Observation	50
Student Teaching	250
TOTAL HOURS	486

Mat Only
Coursework (including anatomy)	54
Personal Sessions	30
Observation	20
Assistant Teaching	20
Student Teaching	60
TOTAL HOURS	184

Coursework Descriptions

Coursework consists of 18 hours of anatomy, 36 hours of mat, 36 hours of reformer and 36 hours of other apparatus training for a total of 126 hours of training on the mat and apparatus exercises during the weekend courses.

Personal Sessions consist of any mat or apparatus sessions you have taken for yourself.  Ideally you will have completed the minimum required before starting the training but we hope you will have done many more.  If you are interested in the complete certification, your personal sessions must consist of one on one sessions, not group classes.  In addition, for the complete certification 20 of the personal sessions must be completed at Turning Point Studios during the course of the class.  For the mat certification 15 of the personal classes must be done at Turning Point Studios with 5 of them being one on one instruction.

Observation Hours consist of hours spent watching an experienced instructor working with clients or teaching classes.  These hours help you to develop your eye and your verbal and manual cueing skills.  At least half of the required number of observation hours must be completed at Turning Point Studios. If this is not possible due to geographic or other limitations, other arrangements can be made

Student Teaching begins when you are fully responsible for a client from intake through program planning, implementation and development.  If you have already been teaching for a while, we will count many of your hours as completed, however, some portion of your student teaching hours must be done while you are attending the class; the number of hours will be determined on an individual basis.

These hours may be completed at the studio of your choice and you may take up to 18 months after you have completed the coursework to complete the requirements and take the final exam.