As pilates and fitness instructors we spend so much time commiserating about our clients who don't feel the work that we are giving them: they don't feel the gluteals on bridging, they don't feel their abdominals after a series of 5 (Pilates)....  You know what I am talking about.  But this article is about what they DO feel.  And how they describe it which is generally very different from the fitness jargon that we use. 

For instance,  I had a client tell me that her main goal was to 'Stop breaking toilet seats.'  I am NOT kidding you. She's 5'9" and weighs about three pounds.  Super thin.  So of course, I laughed when she said it but she was serious.  That was one of her main goals.  So what did I find?  I found a pretty good scoliosis that rotates the left side of the pelvis posteriorly when she sits. Thus, breaking toilet seats. 

Another client told me that she wants to be able to breathe again.  I found her to be kyphotic; not severely but enough to make a big difference to this woman whose career involves giving presentations. A kyphosis crushes the lowest lobes of the lungs and stops full aeration.

Let's take a goal/complaint we hear all the time: I don't feel my abs.  If your client never feels the abdominals then the chances are good that they really are not using them.  Maybe the hip flexors are doing all the work.  Maybe the low back is tight and not allowing the abdominals to come out of a stretched state. 

I encourage you to listen very carefully to what your clients are saying.  Usually they are right on with their assessments of their own bodies.   Crazy, huh? :-)

Would love to hear your stories if you have any to add to the conversation.  

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