Do you need to know anatomy to be a good Pilates instructor?

My answer here might surprise you, but, in short, I don't think you need to know anatomy to be a really effective Pilates instructor. Funny, because I teach anatomy and post-rehab to Pilates instructors. So where's the rub? Well, I think this statement needs more context. While I don't think you need to know detailed anatomy to be a good instructor, I DO think we need to understand human movement and understanding anatomy is the first step in understanding movement.

There's a difference between understanding and knowing. Knowing anatomy, in my opinion, means we've learned a bunch of names, insertions and origins, and a bunch of actions based on humans standing in the anatomical position (upright, palms forward). But learning this way always left me feeling confused. It was like, okay, then what? Like, how is this relevant to a moving body and how do I apply this information to situations and environments that more closely match real world scenarios? In my experience, we start to learn the basics of anatomy but we never progress to the point where we apply the information to the studio. In other words we seems to be stuck in this model of learning anatomy but never progress it to biomechanics (the study of forces acting on and generated within the body) and kinesiology (the study of movement). Anatomy is just the first step. 

Instead of saying we do or don't need to know anatomy to be a good instructor (i kinda still think we don't need to learn anatomy to deliver a great class, we need to be great communicators) we should reframe this question as how much anatomy do we need to understand and at what point in our career are we ready to absorb anatomy, biomechanics, and kinesiology information. Learning the repertoire in the certification process is like learning a new language. Learning anatomy is like learning a new language. Learning them together is kinda like trying to learn Greek and Spanish at the same time and maybe we're just confusing the hell out of new instructors with information overload. It's no wonder we come out of teacher training without being able to apply basic anatomy concepts to moving bodies, not to mention a lot of what we're being taught in teacher trainings is outdated, but that's another post. 

So, it's not that I don't think we should learn anatomy, it's that I think we need to rethink the way we teach it with the goal of understanding how anatomy applies to the moving body. This means the end point isn't learning the body map (muscle names, origins, insertions, and actions) it means learning the map of the human body is the foundation and learning biomechanics, kinetics, kinematics, and basic exercise science principles is the end goal. This is how we truly apply anatomy to the work we do every day. When we understand how anatomy applies to the moving body and when we can apply exercise science principles to movement we can confidently deliver classes and sessions that are both effective and fulfilling for our clients and we can stop wondering if what we're doing will deliver the intended results or if what we're asking of our clients will unintentionally hurt them. 

Understanding movement > memorizing facts

Science > guessing