Tag Archives: pilates in barcelona

Pilates in Barcelona: Do qualifications and experience matter?

Pilates Barcelona

www.chrishuntwellness.com

Barcelona is a multi-cultural City blessed with many things which makes it very popular as a place to live and a place to visit.

When I arrived in Barcelona from London, the first thing that I did was to establish my own Chris Hunt Pilates group Pilates and functional training sessions and also Pilates and functional training personal training sessions. There is a culture in Barcelona of being outside as much as possible, so it is wonderful for me to be able to teach inside, but to also offer classes and training on the terrace, in the park and on the beach.  I have always wanted to have regular exercise sessions on the beach, and Barceloneta, Barcelona’s main beach is just perfect for that.

My article today is not only about Pilates in Barcelona and Spain, but also about my experience of qualifications and experience, and the relevance of these things.

Pilates in Spain is still developing, and in my experience does not yet have the regulation and certification that I have seen in the UK and some other European countries such as Germany. For this reason it is very important to make sure when you visit a health club, Pilates studio or Pilates teacher in Barcelona that the person who will be teaching you has appropriate certification, and also appropriate experience.

In the UK, the days of weekend Pilates certifications are thankfully long gone. Certification is regulated to ensure that the necessary standards are adhered to. This is a vital starting point for anyone who wishes to pursue a career as a Pilates teacher, and a professional qualification is something that any member of public should look for in any teacher who they think about training with. During one of my visits to Madrid some years ago, I met a Pilates teacher who proudly told me that the extent of her qualifications were the four Pilates books she had at home!

A common comment to me here in Barcelona that worries me is that I have been told by several people that Pilates is not an interesting or worthwhile system. No surprises, it usually turns out that they had one or two sessions with a poorly trained teacher and are judging the whole system on that brief experience.

Experience is an interesting component of overall knowledge. I have 20 years experience, but as with many fields of knowledge, to me it’s not enough to say “I have 20 years experience of Pilates”. That could mean 20 years of doing Pilates wrong. It could mean that in 20 years I have not travelled to experience any different or new ways of teaching. It could mean that for 20 years I have been doing the same things. It does not also give any indication as to the type of experience either. For example my 20 years includes group sessions, personal training, matwork, equipment, Pilates for rehabilitation, Pilates for athletes and Pilates for children etc.

Again in my experience (I can of course only talk from my own experience and I fully appreciate that other people will have different experiences) even when some Pilates bodies insist on their students completing sometime many hours participation in Pilates classes, this still does not guarantee a major benefit because often there is no control over exactly whose sessions are being attended.

Whilst I would usually (but not always) say that having experience is better than not having any experience, when I travel around the world to teach my system of Pilates, Pilates EVO, what I look for in a potential Pilates EVO teacher is yes how long they have been doing Pilates, but what I find in many cases more relevant is what they have been doing for the past few years. Often what they were doing 5, 10 or 15 years ago is now of little real benefit to their teaching today. It is also interesting to me that on occasions meeting a newly qualified teacher can be better than someone who has many years of teaching and thinks they know it all. None of us know it all, and if you ever meet anyone who says they do, smile politely, shake their hand and walk away quickly because whatever experience that will follow will not be a good one, trust me.

And let’s return to the question of qualifications. I am sure that we all know someone who has every qualification going, but is incapable of getting that knowledge across to clients in an interesting and stimulating way. So clients soon get bored and stop their training, or move to a different teacher.

It is about balance and common sense. Yes, it is essential that a teacher has a recognised qualification to show they have the basic knowledge of Pilates and anatomy. But this is only the start of the story. I like to work with teachers who have tried several different schools of Pilates, and who have travelled to experience how different Pilates can be in different countries. I also like teachers who have experience of different types of clients, and importantly who have an open mind to new medical and scientific discoveries.

Perhaps the most important thing I look for in potential Pilates EVO teachers is where they teach from; their heart or their bank balance (when I am speaking at conventions, at this point I double pat my heart, and then double pat my back pocket). We all need to make a living and pay the bills, but if this the only motivating factor in what someone does, whether it is Pilates, any form of teaching, or any job for that matter, then after a while (usually a very short while) it is clear to everyone that their heart is not in what they are doing. And if your heart is not in it, if it is not your passion, then you will never be able to be the best you can be.

Chris is an international Pilates presenter and educator based in Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also organises Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. For more information about Pilates with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway?

Felicity Kendal at 67: Pilates better than botox


GH Felicity Kendal L2.jpg

www.chrishuntwellness.com

So it’s my birthday today, but there is nothing I like to do more in life than to champion the benefits of Pilates!

Today I am writing about the British actress Felicity Kendal. She has always looked amazing, and she has now revealed some of her secrets. She naturally uses Pilates as part of her routine, and she says some very intelligent and interesting things about health and beauty. So for once I will let someone else do most of the talking!

She used Botox and fillers earlier in her career to try to halt the ageing process, but last week the 67-year-old actress admitted she has now dispensed with cosmetic surgery, claiming she wants her complexion to ‘match the rest of her body’.

Miss Kendal, who shot to fame in cult BBC sitcom The Good Life in 1975, said she now prefers to use a combination of yoga, Pilates and weightlifting to help maintain her striking looks. Speaking about pressure to maintain her youthful appearance, she said: ‘There is pressure in the movie business, but I’m not in that. I haven’t done fillers or Botox for ages. There comes a point where you have to match bits of you with the other bits, otherwise you get a terribly random situation. All that is off the cards now.

‘I do a combination of yoga, Pilates, and weights. Very often I don’t feel like it, but you get to the point where you either get stiff and stop, or you keep going. And it’s so worth it, because it makes me feel good. If I don’t do it, I feel yuck, the jeans don’t fit, and I’m lacking in energy. I’m fitter and stronger now than I was 20 years ago, and I’ve never felt so good. ‘Women have become incredibly independent. We’ve really come a long way in almost every walk of life in the past 30 years, and society is more equal now. But we’ve still got this hang-up about what women look like. I do it myself. There is still an obsession with women’s looks, and that’s never going to go, but we could be a little more generous.’

As well as appearing as Barbara Good alongside actor Richard Briers in BBC hit The Good Life, which ran between 1975 and 1978, Miss Kendal has made numerous stage appearances. She also starred in the 2010 series of Strictly Come Dancing where she impressed viewers with her athletic dance routines.

Talking about her approach to staying healthy, she added: ‘My pleasure is a glass of red wine… maybe two. After that, I can’t remember! But I don’t believe in guilt. I used to feel guilty: I should do more exercise, I shouldn’t do this, I should do that… But now I just think, this is who I am, and give into it. There’s a liberation in that. At my age, women get to a point where we don’t make decisions to impress somebody else, but to please ourselves. Like when I got my tattoo four years ago. It was the opposite of trying to be younger and ‘with it’, it was about celebrating the fact you’re not young anymore, so you know what you want to do. It’s something I did totally for myself.’

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

Escape the Rat Race. If I can do it, so can you!

Chris Hunt PilatesEVO

www.pilatesevo.com

Escape the rat race. Is it possible?  5.45 am and I’m woken up by the piercing “Beep Beep” of my alarm jarring through my brain. I tried bird-song and babbling brooks but nothing changed the fact that it was 5.45 am and I had to get up, get ready, then go fight for a seat on the train to the City. I knew exactly (to the nearest centimetre) where to stand on the platform so a door would stop right in front of me, but the train was usually full already so my military precision was usually pointless.

After this wonderful journey into the centre London listening to other people’s “tinny” music leaking from inadequate headphones and enjoying their wet umbrella’s slowly dampening my trousers and my spirits at the same time, I would spend the day working in my role as Claims Manager for a large insurance company. I really enjoyed my work but felt constrained by the out-dated philosophies and attitudes I saw everyday. Lunchtime was an oasis that I’d spend in the gym. Sound familiar? I am sure this is a daily routine shared by many.

That was then… But this is now. I am a Senior Business Consultant and I also specialise in wellness, presenting Pilates and functional training all around the world. I am my own boss in everything I do, and I really feel that I am making a positive difference to people’s lives, and I am living in the place that from when a was a small boy I dreamed of living.

Pilates EVO Education Ukraine
Pilates EVO Education Ukraine

“I would of course love to pursue my dream as a/an ………….. (insert dream job here) but I could not possible do it because (delete as applicable) I’m too old / of the mortgage / of the children / I’m not good at learning new things / I can’t do my own accounts / I have no marketing experience / any other excuse you can think of.” Other people keep the thought in their head that “I could give up this life I do not enjoy but when the time is right”. Of course the time is never right, but they get some comfort believing that they could if only… They are the same people who say they could give up smoking, they could give up over eating, they could start exercising, they could learn Spanish but surprise surprise, it never happens. There is always an excuse not to.

I lost my father a few years later, and that along with some other events gave me the final push to achieve my life-long dream and move to Barcelona. Another big challenge, another “out of comfort zone” experience. But as they say, that’s when we grow the most.

So how can we go from a life of “coulds” to actually taking action? It makes sense to have a gradual change, maybe pursing your new career in your spare time first, so you have the financial security of still earning money and also save some money. This does mean working long hours, but what better motivation than to know that one day you will have the career change you have always dreamed about. It’s not a compromise to start part time, it’s just sensible. As long as you have a plan, an end game, and you stick to it. Don’t end up doing two jobs forever!

It’s essential to have a plan. When I say that to people, they say “Aha, but you are Buddhist and you always say about living in the Now and not in the future” as if they have found a vital flaw in my philosophy. But I politely point out that with no plan, we have no direction. Planning per se is not a bad thing to do, but there are rules. One golden rule of planning is that plans change! So be prepared for that. It’s like driving on a long journey at night. We know our final destination (otherwise we would drive around aimlessly) and we have a map so we know where we are going and how we will get there, but at any one time we can only see 100 metres ahead of us. Maybe our route will change because of unforeseen problems, but we will be flexible and we will arrive at our destination. You do not need to be able to see your destination to get there. Enjoy the journey, one step at a time, but always knowing that you will get to where you want to be.

Pilates EVO Hamburg Educations
Pilates EVO Hamburg Educations

But you must be careful about your new career. Your business should be a means rather than an end, a vehicle to enrich your life rather than one that drains the life you have. The worst thing you can do is start working for yourself and end up working so hard and stressing so much that you hate your job! It’s such a common mistake, people see the romantic notion of being their own boss, but after the initial euphoria, they realise that they are working harder and longer than they were before. At least working for someone else they could leave work, go home and relax. But now their job is with them every waking hour, they live it. And the dream turns into a nightmare because instead of having a boss for your job, your job has become your boss! And it’s no fun. In fact it’s less fun than your old job working for someone else. You can’t take holidays because the work won’t get done. You can’t be ill, you can hardly stop to think. Your social life is nonexistent, yet you carry on thinking that your hard work will pay off one day. Maybe it will, but more often it won’t, and many people end up giving up and getting a “normal” job again. The important point here is that no matter what you thought before, your business should not be your life. Your business should serve your life, and not the other way around.

Pilates EVO Masterclass at Pilates Carnival Krakow
Pilates EVO Masterclass at Pilates Carnival Krakow

There’s a saying that great businesses are not built by extraordinary people but by ordinary people doing extraordinary things. So how can an ordinary person do extraordinary things? By having a system and a plan. Again it’s the “p” word. Have a plan and stick to it! Things will change, but always know where you are aiming to get and how you will get there. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Friends and parents will help of you ask. They will see the changes you are trying to make and if they are really on your side then they will help. And of course, make sure you have the support of your partner. It sounds so obvious and yet I know many people who think they can make such a big decision on their own. You must expect hard times and up and downs. It’s normal and natural. Remember the old cliché, we grow the most when we are out of our comfort zone. I can confirm from experience that this is so true! So much so that I try to stay out of my comfort zone as often as possible.

I could continue writing for pages and pages about Business Plans, marketing, SMART targets, feasibility studies, SWOT analysis/matrix etc etc, but that is not the point of this article. The point is to show you there is another way. You can change your life. You control and create your own Universe, you really do. You always have a choice. Always. Every journey begins with the first step. But it will never begin unless you take that step. I’m not special. If I can do it then so can you.

Pilates EVO Education Moscow
Pilates EVO Education Moscow

6.00 am and I’m woken up by my alarm. I still get up early and I work very hard, but now it’s very different, it’s my choice. Maybe I will go for a run on the beach or an early morning swim before I start work and before the rest of the world wakes up. That’s the difference now. Choice and control. And it’s a great difference. I still regularly go into The City and I deal with my old contacts, but now it’s for my own company so it’s on my terms. It feels a very different place.

The moral of my story in 11 words? It’s not too late, you have the rest of your life. And if there is any way I can help, then please just ask.

Chris is a Senior Business Consultant and international Pilates and Wellness presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.