The workshop · 6 min
Two ways to plan a class
My Freestyle method for when you need a class by Tuesday, and my Crescendo method for building toward one hard exercise. Plus the nine checks I run every single class through before I’ll teach it.
Free workshop + a full class plan · For Pilates instructors
Most of us plan a class forward. First exercise, then the next one, then hope it adds up by minute fifty. I plan backward. This is the whole method, and then an entire class plan so you can watch the method used on a real class. Every series broken down on video, plus the written plan as a PDF you can take into the studio. Free, and I’ll send it straight to your inbox.
Free · 6-minute workshop, a full class plan, and the written PDF · No card required
One thing to watch for: at checkout there are two small checkboxes. Please check them both, including the second one that reads “Yes, receive news and updates via email.” That box is how all of this reaches you, and if it’s left blank I have no way to send you anything.
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“What should I teach today?”
You have the certification. You know the exercises, you could name forty of them right now without thinking about it.
And still, you sit down to plan, you open your notes, and the page just sits there looking at you. So you reach for what you taught last week. And the week before that. And you walk into the studio not entirely sure whether the flow makes sense or whether you just found a way to fill fifty minutes.
Here’s what I wish somebody had told me when I started. Planning is a sequencing skill, not a creative gift, and skills have rules you can learn in an afternoon.
The shift
Forward
The way most of us were taught
Backward
What I do instead
I’m the kind of person who reads the last page of a book before the first page. Turns out that’s also how I build a class. Leah, in the workshop
What you’ll get
The workshop · 6 min
My Freestyle method for when you need a class by Tuesday, and my Crescendo method for building toward one hard exercise. Plus the nine checks I run every single class through before I’ll teach it.
The class plan · Series by series
Not clips. An entire class plan from inside Pilates by Leah, broken into short videos series by series. Setup, spring settings, cueing, and the reasoning behind the choices.
The written plan · PDF
The same class as a document you can download, print, and prop up on the reformer. Equipment, springs, the order of the series. So you’re not scrubbing through video while a client walks in.
This is a real class plan, the same one members teach from, not a sampler. Watch the workshop first, then watch the plan and count how many times I put clients into hip extension. That’s the check almost everybody skips, and once you’ve seen it you’ll notice it missing everywhere.
Trusted by 1,000+ instructors worldwide
“I was finding myself spending way too long planning my classes and trying to find ways to be creative without being too repetitive and making sure that I am progressing in my programming and I am SO HAPPY that I found the Pilates by Leah app because it solved all of those problems and more!”
Joanna“Pilates by Leah is such a wonderful tool to have as an instructor. The layout makes it so easy to pick and choose from different categories and ‘build’ your own class, giving me endless combinations of class plans!”
Helena“I’ve tried many instructor platforms, but this one stands out. The routines are innovative, explanations are clear and concise, and the modifications make it adaptable for all. It’s a game-changer for new or seasoned instructor looking for fresh ideas and efficiency.”
MichelleBefore you decide
“I’m not creative enough for this.”
Technique beats style, every time. What this asks of you is a process and a checklist, not invention. The most methodical, least improvisational instructor in the room can run it, and honestly she’ll run it better than I do.
“I’ve been teaching for years.”
Then you already have the exercises. What a lot of experienced instructors don’t have is a reason their class is built the way it is: a way to look at a finished plan and know it’s balanced instead of hoping. That’s the gap this closes.
“I don’t have time for this.”
You’re already spending the time. It’s going into staring at a blank page on a Sunday night. And you get a finished class out of this one, so the first week pays for itself before you’ve applied a single thing you learned.
Who this is for
Newly certified
You get a process now, instead of building one slowly over three years of trial and error in front of paying clients.
Teaching full-time
You get a way to check your own work, so the classes you build on autopilot at 9pm still hold up.
Studio owner or lead instructor
You get a shared framework you can hand your team, so “is this class any good” stops being a matter of opinion.
Who’s teaching this
I’ve taught more than 5,000 Pilates classes over the last nine years. Packed group classes, private sessions, beginners, advanced clients, athletes, prenatal clients, and everything in between.
Class planning is, by a wide margin, the most requested topic on Pilates by Leah. So this is the thing I’d start with if you were standing in front of me, and I’m giving you one of my own plans with it so you can see exactly what the finished thing looks like.
“I’ve forgotten sides. I’ve struggled with confidence. I’ve navigated difficult clients. Pilates by Leah was created to be the resource I wish I had when I first started teaching.”
How to get it
Enter your name and email. There’s no card field, because there’s nothing to pay.
You’ll see these two together. The first one you can’t skip. The second one starts empty and it’s the one everybody misses. It’s what lets me send you the link to everything, and the planning notes that follow it.
Everything unlocks in your library straight away, the videos and the PDF both, and the link lands in your inbox so you can find it again later.
Questions
Two checkboxes on the next screen. Check them both. The second one reads “Yes, receive news and updates via email” and it’s the only way any of this can reach you.
One last thing
This is about the order you put them in, and about knowing before you walk into the room that the order is right. That’s a learnable skill, not a gift you were born with or without. Here’s the method, and here’s a whole class built with it so you can see it working.
Free · 6-minute workshop, a full class plan, and the written PDF · No card required
Check both boxes at checkout. The second one reads “Yes, receive news and updates via email” and it’s what lets me send it all over.