Studio Pilates Zoom Course Requirements

You must meet some minimum internet speed requirements to enrol in a Studio Pilates International Zoom course. It is your responsibility to ensure that you meet these minimum internet speeds prior to enrolling in the course.

To complete any Studio Pilates International courses fully online via Zoom, you must have internet with a minimum speed of –

• 15 megabits per second (mbps) in downloads
• 5 megabits per second (mbps) in uploads

To test your internet speed – 

1. Take your computer to the room in your house that you would complete the course in
2. Open the internet on the computer that you would use to complete the Zoom training
3. Go to https://www.speedtest.net/
4. Select “Go” to test your internet’s upload and download speeds (wait until the test calculates BOTH upload and download speeds)

If Your Internet Doesn’t Meet These Speed Requirements 

We don’t recommend enrolling in a Zoom course if your internet does not meet these speeds. However if you believe that your internet will be okay, you can still enrol in a Zoom course at your own risk. You will be allowed to still attend the course, however if your internet drops out consistently on the course, you will be asked to leave the course and contact the Instructor Support team in order to reschedule to a face to face course date. You will be charged a reschedule fee to change your course dates.

If your internet doesn’t meet these speed requirements, another option is to check the internet speed at the homes of family or friends (just bear in mind that you will still need a quiet, private and light space to complete the training). If family or friends have faster internet, it may be an option for you to complete the Zoom course at their home instead of your own. Alternatively, you can also contact your internet service provider to increase your current speed – we have had many students do this with great success.

If Your Internet Consistently Drops Out on the Course

If you meet the speed requirements above, however your internet consistently drops out on the course, you will be asked to leave the course and contact the Instructor Support team in order to reschedule to a face to face course date. If you can provide a copy of your speed test showing that your internet met the speed requirements, you will not be charged a reschedule fee to change your course dates. However if your internet did not meet the speed requirements and you dropped out consistently, you will be required to pay a reschedule fee to change to face to face course dates (see above for reschedule prices for each course).

Why is Internet Speed More Important on a Studio Pilates Zoom Course Compared to a Standard Zoom Call 

You may be wondering why internet speed is so important if you already attend Zoom meetings successfully with your current internet. However it is important to note that the Studio Pilates Zoom courses are quite different to a standard Zoom meeting. All Zoom courses (except for Anatomy) utilise “breakout rooms.” These breakout rooms require more internet power than a standard Zoom call. And this is the most common place that people drop in and out with their internet connection.

Unlike a standard Zoom call, where you are looking at someone’s face (and it is okay if the screen is a little bit blurry), on a Studio Pilates Zoom course, you need to be able to clearly see someone’s body to practice your instructing. In the course, you spend most of the training instructing your partner and them instructing you. As a result, you need to be able to see your partner’s body and their technique very clearly in order to instruct them. And in order to be fair to the other people on the course, they need your internet to be strong enough that they can also see your body clearly.

Because of this, please do not assume that your internet will be strong enough simply because you have used Zoom previously. Instead, it is your responsibility to ensure that you meet the minimum internet speed requirements prior to enrolling in a Studio Pilates Zoom course.

Depending on the Zoom course you are enrolling in, you will need to have specific equipment on the training –

• Zoom Matwork Courses: You will need a Pilates or Yoga mat
• Zoom Ball Circle and Band Courses: You will need a Pilates mat, a Pilates circle, resistance bands (1 long, 1 short) and a large swiss ball (around 55cm in diameter)
• Zoom Reformer Courses: You will need access to a reformer (preferably with a box)
• Zoom Anatomy Courses: No equipment required

You will need a relatively new and up to date computer which you can use to download and access Zoom. Unfortunately you won’t be able to participate in the Zoom training via a mobile or tablet as the screen is just too small and you will be spending a lot of the course looking at your fellow students’ technique and correcting them, so it’s important to be able to have a large enough screen to see people clearly. The bigger your screen, the better.

You will also need to have wireless headphones with a microphone as these can make it much easier for your fellow course participants to hear you as you perform the exercises. Wireless headphones are essential because you can get up and down off the mat (or reformer) easily and perform exercises without being connected to your computer. We recommend testing your wireless headphones thoroughly with your computer before the Zoom course to ensure that they connect easily via bluetooth.

You will need access to a quiet, private room for the duration of the course where you can learn and participate uninterrupted from children or pets. A big part of the course is other students needing to see your body clearly, so please take the time to ensure that your space has enough light. If it is a bit dark, we recommend grabbing a bedside lamp (or similar) to make your space lighter for other students to see you clearly.

If Your Home Environment is Not Conducive to Either Your or Other Students’ Learning

As mentioned, it is essential for students to be able to see your body clearly and hear you clearly throughout the course. Occasionally a home environment may not be conducive to either your own or other students’ learning on the course. Here are some examples of scenarios which would not be conducive to learning –

• There is a lot of noise in your background and it prevents other students from being able to practise their instructing with you
• Other students aren’t able to hear you properly, so you are not able to practise your instructing effectively
• Other students can’t see your body clearly so they are not able to effectively practise their instructing with you

In a scenario where your home environment is not conducive to either your or other students’ learning, you may be asked to leave the course and the Instructor Support team will contact you on the next business day to help you to reschedule to the next available face to face course date. You will be charged a reschedule fee in this scenario.