A day in the life of a Pilates instructor

Want to find out what life is like as a Pilates instructor?

First up: Stephanie Santarini, Clinical Pilates Teacher and Complete Pilates Studio Manager

Sunday night:

Weekdays for me are hectic. We offer group classes and individual sessions at Complete Pilates. I only teach Pilates on a 1:1 basis so my days are filled with back-to-back Pilates sessions with clients.

This means that Mondays are always the start of a busy week and to make sure they run smoothly I need to spend Sundays getting organised. I don’t mind though – I like to start the week feeling prepared

Sunday afternoons have become a bit of a routine in my household. I always roast a load of veggies, boil quinoa and maybe roast chicken breasts. I then divide them up in to containers for my lunches for the week ahead. I have busy days with minimal break time so I like to be quite efficient and save costs.

I spend Sunday evenings looking at my personal diary and my Complete Pilates schedule at the week to come. I like to take this time to prepare my clients’ lessons for the next day and check my schedule so that I know what the week holds for me in terms of which clients I will be seeing for appointments.

The night before each weekday I prepare my breakfast for the following day. I usually make either a bircher muesli bowl, a chia pudding with almond milk, or in the summer a smoothie. This makes it easy for me to grab my food and go in the morning.

5.30 am:

I am an early riser – and I need to be because my first client normally comes in at 7 am. This means getting up at 5.30 am every morning!

The first thing I do when I wake up is to have a glass of warm water and lemon to get my digestion going.

Then I get dressed, brush my teeth, grab my bircher muesli or smoothie, and I am out the door. I like taking the bus to work, but I do try to have a no-social-media-on the-bus-ban in the mornings. Instead, I listen to music or an Aussie podcast that I like (I’m an Aussie myself).

6:30 am:

I arrive at Complete Pilates in Chelsea (on the Fulham road) at 6.30 am. I then set up the studio ready for clients, put some music on and sit down to have my breakfast.

7:00 am:

From 7 am onwards I teach the first 4 of my lovely clients in back-to-back sessions. They are all 1:1 classes and each one will be very different because all my clients have different injures and needs.

Like most of the Complete Pilates team, I have completed my pre- and postnatal training and have a couple of pregnant clients. Their sessions will be different again because pregnant women can’t do certain exercises.

11:00 am:

By 11.00 am my tummy is rumbling. I normally get my coffee fix from our lovely neighbours at Cpress or Joe and the Juice. Then I sit and have a nibble of the lunch I packed the night before.

11:30 am:

Back to work! 11:30 is when I start teaching again and I will usually see around 3-4 clients after my break.

2:30 - 3:30 pm:

Most days I finish teaching around 2.30 pm or 3.30 pm. But this is not the end of the working day for me.

Because I have so many different clients it is important for me to stay organised with their notes. So, after I have finished teaching, I wrap up my notes from the clients I have seen that day and plan their classes for the following week. I then look at my schedule for the next day, see which clients I will be teaching and write a little plan for their sessions as well.

Most afternoons I stay around the studio and chat to other trainers at Bumps and Burpees (a dedicated pre- and postnatal training space at Lomax) and discuss events that are coming up.

The Complete Pilates team have a good rapport with the Physiotherapists at Complete Physio. As we normally see the same clients. I often spend some of the afternoon chatting to the Physios and will make plans with them for our shared clients.

As well as teaching Pilates for Complete, I am also the Complete Pilates studio manager. I usually start my managerial work after I have finished teaching and spend any available time making sure the jobs that need doing get done! I end my working day by writing a to-do list for the following day (or week) for this role.

5:00 pm:

I am a fitness fanatic and like to stick to a routine. If I have the time during the day – either in-between clients or after work – I will do my own Pilates workout.

Or I will try and get to a F45, which is HIIT training, then head home for dinner.

7:00 pm:

Dinner is something healthy and light, like a quinoa bowl with lots of greens.

10:00 pm:

I like having a nice early night and have a strict rule about not using phones an hour before bed. Then it is lights out early so that I can get plenty of sleep before my 5.30 am wakeup call the next day.

Related: If you are interested in becoming a Pilates instructor then why not check out this post on Pilates training courses in London.