The

 Spinal Code

 

Did you know back pain is the #1 most common injury in Pilates classes?
With up to 80% of adults experiencing back pain, chances are at least one person in every class has a spinal issue—even if they haven’t told you.

Are you confident your modifications are helping, not harming?

💭 “Can they flex their spine, or will that make it worse?”
💭 “Is this safe for a disc bulge?”
💭 “What if I make their pain worse?”

If you hesitate when spinal injuries show up in your classes, it’s time to ditch the doubt and step into confidence.

 

Are You Nervous About Working with Clients With Back Pain?

A 2-hour masterclass designed for mat & reformer instructors who want to modify safely, protect their clients, and stand out as the instructor who truly understands spinal health.

 

Why This Masterclass Is Essential for Instructors:

✔️ Back pain & injuries are the most common reason people stop exercising – Know how to keep them moving safely.
✔️ 1 in 3 Pilates clients will experience spinal pain – Learn what to do (and what to avoid).
✔️ Modifications make or break your reputation – Be the instructor clients trust with their injuries.

Why Complete?

This workshop is your solution! Gain the confidence, skills, and tools to handle spinal clients with ease while keeping your class flowing smoothly.

Sign Up Here

 

 

 

This self-paced masterclass will give you a deep understanding of spinal health and injury modification—so you can stop second-guessing and start teaching with confidence.

  

Anatomy & Physiology of Back Pain

  • Why back pain is the most common issue in Pilates studios—and why it’s often misunderstood.
  • The different types of back pain (acute vs. chronic, inflammatory vs. mechanical) and how they present in movement.
  • The role of core activation and spinal stability—why “just engage your core” isn’t always the solution.

Disc Bulges, Sciatica & Chronic Pain

  • The biggest mistakes instructors make when working with clients with disc injuries.
  • How to modify movements for disc bulges, herniations, and nerve-related pain (including sciatica).
  • Key do’s and don’ts for flexion, extension, and rotation in clients with a history of spinal injury.
  • Why some traditional cues can make pain worse—and what to say instead.

Scoliosis & Postural Imbalances

  • How spinal asymmetry affects movement—and why generic corrections don’t always work.
  • Programming for scoliosis: when to encourage movement vs. when to stabilise.
  • Common stress points in the spine and how to avoid aggravating pain.

Safe & Effective Modifications for Group Classes

  • How to modify without disrupting the class flow.
  • The difference between "safe" vs. "effective" modifications—why avoiding movement isn’t always the answer.
  • How to manage mixed-level classes where clients have different spinal conditions.
  • Practical strategies for cueing and demonstrating modifications so clients feel supported

Red Flags & When to Refer Out

  • How to recognise pain that needs medical attention—and when to refer to a physiotherapist.
  • Signs of serious spinal pathology that Pilates instructors should never ignore.
  • How to protect your credibility by staying within your scope while offering high-value instruction.

 

This masterclass will elevate your confidence and make you the instructor clients trust when it comes to safe, effective spinal modifications.

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Why This Workshop Solves Your Problems:

 

  • As a Pilates instructor, you’ve probably experienced at least one of these struggles when a client with back pain walks into your class:

    ❌ You feel unsure about modifications. Are you helping or making things worse?
    ❌ You worry about saying the wrong thing. Should they flex? Extend? Stay neutral?
    ❌ You don’t know when to push or when to stop. Are they just “tight” or at risk of serious injury?
    ❌ You’re stuck using generic regressions. But are these actually effective for their condition?
    ❌ You fear losing credibility. Clients with pain expect you to know what to do—but do you?

    If any of these resonate with you, this masterclass is the solution.

    🔑 Gain Clarity & Confidence – No more second-guessing. You’ll finally understand the why behind spinal injuries and how to modify with purpose.
    🔑 Learn What Actually Works – Move beyond surface-level “safe” cues and discover effective strategies that keep clients moving without increasing pain.
    🔑 Know When to Modify & When to Refer – Protect both your clients and your professional reputation by identifying red flags early.
    🔑 Transform Your Group Class Instruction – Learn how to seamlessly integrate modifications without disrupting the class flow or singling out clients.
    🔑 Become the Go-To Instructor – Stand out in the industry by confidently handling the most common injury seen in Pilates studios.

    You don’t need to be a physio to teach smart, safe, and effective spinal modifications. You just need the right knowledge—and The Spinal Code delivers exactly that.

    👉 Enrol now and step into every class with confidence!

I Want To Level Up

Meet The Studio Owners Who Have Leveled Up Their Team With Our Trainings:

 Sam - Feels Pilates Owner

This is so good for our trainers because now we both as owners have the confidence knowing that they are going to be looking after all the clients for us. They all now know the modifications for different injuries, conditions, and things like pre & postnatal which everyone needs to be upskilled in. 

There are constantly changing do's & don'ts in the industry - with this course, she keeps us up to date on the latest literature.

So for our girls who may have done their course a couple of years ago, we all need to stay up to date. This course really gave us the knowledge that we need to give to our clients every day (with over 10-12 classes a day). That is hundreds of people coming through our doors.

We need to feel confident in our girls (instructors) so we know our clients are getting their care and support they need. 

 Lauren - Feels Pilates Owner

We found that even though Kira-Leigh is a Physio and she has all this knowledge but she delivered that information to us as trainers - bringing all sorts of layman's terms so we can clearly understand it.

She put all the concepts, injuries, and their modifications into really easy-to-understand - the way she spoke about the body and movement was relatable.

She was really relatable as a teacher so putting that towards a room full of trainers - was really enlightening.

We all loved the course!

Meg - Hello Pilates Offical, Owner

It was so lovely to meet you and the workshop did not disappoint! I really believe the team got so much out of it (and so did I!); having an opportunity to go beyond the generalised modifications learnt in pilates certification training and being able to really hone in on our specific clients / the injuries we see most day to day. The anatomy side of the workshop was explained in a way that just made sense... unpacking tricky terms and explaining the intricacies of each condition in the context of the reformer. 

 

We sat around and talked for a little while after, rehashing some of the concepts, sharing more ideas and talking in some more depth about our clients.. there seemed to be this renewed sense of confidence, empowerment and motivation in the room. So thankyou for igniting this!

Leah - Barre Nation, Studio Manager

The Barre Nation team were so grateful to have been given the opportunity to be guided by Kira-Leigh in all things Pre and Post Natal & anatomy. Her knowledge was exceptional & she presented in a very practical and easy to understand way. The fact that our whole team is now succinct with our knowledge, we can now provide clients with the same information & practices, whilst using similar terminology, giving our clients even more confidence in our teachings.  

As a studio manager as well, I can now provide concise information to clients and have the confidence our instructors are all trained to provide greater care for clients. Kira-Leigh also provided amazing recos for postpartum protocols & other little golden nuggets our studio will apply.

Our team absolutely adored her and we will have her back in a heartbeat for future training :)

Steph - SO Podarity Owner, UK

Thanks you Kira for your online tutorial from our team, it was really well structured and well explained and we were able to ask questions to Suit our needs.

We loved how the handbook was laid out so we could focus on certain elements. We really could have talked and asked questions for hours it was so enjoyable I can highly recommend Kira-leigh she is an experienced and skilled clinician.

The course has allowed the team to build their knowledge base and be better therapists and instructors!

Sarah - Vive Active Brookvale Owner

I thought it was amazing in the way - you just delivered to the girls and how you are able to explain everything with such relatable terminology.

Just being able to dumb it down for us to be able to explain it to the clients who might not even understand it.

I just believe it was really helpful even just refreshing our knowledge!

I Want To Sign My Trainers Up

Karen - Blue Mountains Pilates

The studio I teach at organised for Kira-Leigh to come in and provide some pre and post natal training as well as managing injury in group class settings. The training she offered was simply phenomenal. She gave clear and easy to understand explanations, provided details of what to look for in our clients and examples of ways to offer effective modifications within the flow of a class. On top of that she was a wealth of knowledge and gave us time to ask any questions to assist our teaching. Kira-Leigh made me feel confident in being able to assist clients to get the most out of classes and provided much needed information that you don’t realize you need till you are teaching in the real world.

Yvette - Vive Active Brookvale Owner

We have so many clients that come to class with tennis elbow, slipped disc, bulging disc, torn meniscus - plus everything else we talked about!

We just feel so much more equipped to understand what they're going through and know what their can & can'ts are in class.

So thank you so much that was amazing.

Azraa - Tempo Pilates Sydney

I did Kira-Leigh’s anatomy workshop for reformer instructors. As a newly qualified instructor I used to panic when clients told me that they were pregnant or had injuries like a disc bulge or shoulder pain, because I had a lesson plan that I’d created, with injuries it meant I often ended rushing to change the plan last minute to suit everybody.

Kira-Leigh explained all common injuries so thoroughly and simply, showing us all how to adjust movements to suit these clients. Following her training, I feel so much more confident teaching without the panic and without having to change my lesson plan completely.

She showed us how to modify and progress movements, whilst allowing the other clients to enjoy a class too, and gave us a space to ask her questions on other issues that we have faced. I couldn’t recommend this training enough for instructors of all experience levels!

Sana - Tempo Pilates Sydney

I loved Kira’s anatomy workshop so much I’ve now done it twice!

 

The course covers everything you need to know about not only knowing the anatomy and understanding how injuries occur but also how to modify around them and it just makes you feel so much more confident as an instructor knowing I can modify and make sure everyone with or without injuries gets the most out of my classes. We covered injuries, prenatal, postnatal and so much more and I just feel so empowered knowing that I’ll know exactly how to modify without changing my class plan completely.

 

Kira explains everything super simple so everyone understands and made us do the exercises and feel the difference with different modifications which made it make sense even more! Would highly recommend every instructor to do the Anatomy workshop!

 
 
 

Meet Your Host:

Kira-Leigh

I am a Physiotherapist, studio owner (my baby @body.formphysio.pilates ) passionate about helping pilates instructors gain the confidence about teaching any client that walks through their door 🙌

Little BTS in the last few years of my life:
✨ Qualified reformer & mat instructor
✨ Qualified Physiotherapist
✨ Womens health specialist Physiotherapy trained
✨ Diploma of Clinical pilates & rehabilitation
✨Opened my first studio @body.formphysio.pilates 
✨ Been hosting yoga & pilates retreats for the last 4 years @sweatandsoulretreats 
✨ Barre qualified
✨ Honoured to be selected for @lululemonausnz ambassador in 2022

Super excited to host your trainers Anatomy Workshop at your studio - in-person or online - Physio led course all about understanding your clients body and how to have complete confidence to modify for any injury WITHOUT having 4 years at uni 🎉🎉