The SlowLane of yoga, pilates, and fitness classes

[FierceRacoon]

Background: I have 10+ years of dance training. I perform ballet, and I have taught Argentine Tango and yoga.
I did not, however, start as a kid; my first background was in math and programming.

I have been through more than my fair share of open classes in dance, yoga, pilates, and a bunch of other modalities, mostly in the U.S.
Many of those are similar to the SlowLane; here I am thinking about the investment advisors who don't practice what they preach --- either they get rich writing books telling you to follow conventional advice, or they are broke themselves.

So, regarding the classes I have taken:
- the entry standard is low. Even the serious yoga schools like the one I went to required 200 hours of dedicated effort; quite often, casual pilates or fitness classes in a gym are done by someone with a few weeks' worth of certification.
- the pay earned by most teachers is poor, and they are always in a rush for their next gig, caught in their dream of being self-employed. Some have a day job and only teach a few classes, but those tend to be less qualified.
- Some teachers are knowledgeable as trained dancers / acrobats / swimmers / ..., but then they tend to not know how to teach the average folks. The usual philosophy is that it doesn't matter that much, what you tach the average folks, so long as it's within the ballpark.
- the common denominator is, basically, don't injure the students and keep them happy. It is hard to cater to this crowd of unskilled people coming through the door; it is nearly impossible to maintain a staff of teacher who care enough and who are knowledgeable enough, all while charging $20/class.

What I mean by that, if you want people to really learn, you have to make them uncomfortable, and you have to filter out those who don't have what it takes. If you want to have a full class, and if especially you want to survive paying rents in NYC, you have to keep everyone happy and lower your standards.

A common strategy is segregation - segregating those who are serious from those who are here to "just have fun".

Now, I understand that not everyone is as dedicated as I am; however, the end result is that what is often taught is nothing like the real thing. The same applies to pilates classes and other modalities. People are getting, like, 10% of the benefit that is possible, and the essence of the experience is often removed.
Then there are new teachers who are somewhat knowledgeable, and are passionate, but they are commonly broke and yet inexperienced. Either way, you can't win.


I would say, the worst of it is the soul-killing attitude of being in a class "just to stay fit". You can tell it by observing people over a few seconds, their mindset. It's like going to a job "just to get by", just so you don't end up broke. I understand, sometimes it's important just to keep moving so you don't get a heart attack from overeating.

Even if you don't love any of those things, they are a toolset.
- If you are anxious, you can do meditation and some breathing exercises.
- If your neck hurts, you know, which exercises can help you.
- If your back hurts, you know which exercises can help you.
- If you need more energy, or if you need to calm down, you know, which exercises can help you.

If you really are going to work out for a few days a week, for 10 or 20 years, you might as well build a toolset that you can intelligently use in a variety of different situations, not just always be in a damage-control mode. Furthermore, you don't want to always rely on a teacher.

On the flip side, if you don't have a trainer/coach/teacher, even if you just do weightlifting, consider getting one. If you are going to repeat the same movements for the next decade or two, you might as well figure out, how to do them properly. Re-learning takes much longer, which means it will probably never happen, which means you will be losing out on the benefits, or even causing some moderate harm.

Summary: don't look at fitness classes as "pay-suffer-and-forget-about-it". This is the SlowLane, or even the SideWalk. Pick a physical field / sport you enjoy, even if it's just for maintaining your body, and study and practice it properly. Pay attention to your teachers or the resources you are learning from (never ever learn physical skills from the Internet). Make sure those people are qualified, are motivated to teach you, and know that you are committed. You will enjoy it more, it will make your identity richer and allow you to connect with more people, thus opening more doors for you.

 

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[Onakosa]

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