What everyone gets wrong about tech in Pilates

I’ve asked countless Pilates instructors what matters most, and their answer is almost always the same: form.

It makes sense. Pilates has a reputation for precision, for meticulous alignment, for that one cue that suddenly transforms an exercise. But here’s the thing—form isn’t the first thing to focus on. Somehow, we forget that all the other principles we learned in teacher training are just as important (if not more so).

Form Comes Last, Not First

Before I correct a student’s positioning, I always ask myself:

✅ Are their spring settings and equipment adjustments correct? Resistance and setup matter more than a perfectly placed pinky toe. If someone is struggling to complete a movement, adjusting their springs or strap positioning can often fix the problem before any form correction is even needed.

✅ Do they understand the movement itself? I call this big picture form. Can they roughly perform the exercise? If not, throwing out detailed form corrections—like “drop your ribs” or “relax your shoulders”—is pointless. They need to grasp the fundamental movement pattern first.

✅ Only then do I focus on the little form cues. Refinement comes last, not first. Those small adjustments that take an exercise from “I feel this a little” to “oh wow, my core is on fire”? Those only work when the student already has a solid foundation in place.

This approach isn’t just about how we teach—it also impacts how we think about Pilates technology.

The Problem With “Perfect Form” Tracking

There’s a growing push to use technology to measure Pilates performance, and most of it revolves around form. The idea is that if we can track joint angles, posture, or alignment, we can somehow create a more effective Pilates experience.

💡 But here’s my issue: Pilates isn’t just about moving through shapes—it’s about moving through those shapes under the right load. And to get that right, we need good teaching, not just good data.

If Pilates were just about getting into precise positions, we wouldn’t need springs, straps, or equipment at all. The apparatus exists because resistance, tension, and sequencing matter just as much as form.

What Makes a Pilates Cue “Magic”

As instructors, we love delivering that one cue that suddenly makes an exercise click. That moment when a client finally feels their abs firing or when a small shift in alignment makes a movement ten times harder.

I think that’s where we subconsciously set the bar for what makes technology “effective” in Pilates. We want tech to be able to deliver that same experience—to diagnose what’s missing in a movement and correct it in a way that unlocks that breakthrough moment.

But those cues, while powerful, are just one piece of what makes Pilates work. And that breakthrough? It’s only possible because of the work that came before it—the right springs, the right setup, the right understanding of the movement.

Pilates Tech Needs to Evolve

We can’t ignore the less flashy but equally important parts of the Pilates system:

➡️ Resistance levels and how they impact muscle engagement
➡️ Equipment adjustments that make or break an exercise
➡️ The sequencing and progression that build toward mastery
➡️ The teaching process that guides a student to better movement

And we definitely can’t forget that what makes any workout effective is how it’s taught. Pilates instructors have an edge over many other fitness pros because our training isn’t just about exercise science—it’s about teaching methodology.

That’s why I believe Pilates tech needs to go beyond form snapshots. It needs to capture the full teaching philosophy. And that doesn’t start with form tracking (shocker 😉). It culminates in it.

Where Do We Go From Here?

If we want Pilates technology to be truly valuable, we need to shift our priorities. Instead of obsessing over “perfect form,” we should be asking:

🔹 How can we measure resistance and effort, not just movement?
🔹 How do we quantify impact beyond heart rate and calorie burn?
🔹 How can tech support good teaching instead of replacing it?

The future of Pilates tech isn’t just about tracking—it’s about understanding what makes Pilates work.