Entrevista com Glenn Withers | Fundador APPI

Conheça Glenn Withers e o seu percurso inigualável. Este fisioterapeuta visionário é o criador da APPI, entidade referência em Pilates em todo o mundo!

Glenn, when did you first think about creating a modified Pilates course and how did you have such an idea?
Myself and fellow APPI founder Elisa first thought of this course in 1999 after attending another Pilates course. The information was out of date, and not relevant to the clinical application of exercise. I really enjoyed the course, but I left with very little I could use with my patients. I also felt the theory was being applied in the wrong way, and there was very little research behind the approach.

How would you describe APPIs Pilates courses? What are their main differences?
APPI courses are the only courses of its kind where the main focus is clinical reasoning. In this training we teach you to be able to justify each and every exercise you choose. We then progress the exercises right through to advanced levels. The APPI Method has taken the traditional exercises and broken them down based on pain, research, and function to create a step by step program that is relevant for everyone. A complete Pilates program that can be applied to the client from day 1 of acute back pain, right through to the elite athlete or fitness enthusiast.

How can Pilates be a clinical tool for physiotherapists if that is not its origin?
By applying the principles of motor relearning and pain. The APPI Method has a 5 stage program that ensures the correct exercise is applied to the client at the right stage of their rehabilitation. It all comes down to clinical reasoning.

What advises would you give to a health professional that wants to learn more on Pilates?
Attend an APPI Pilates course! Other than that, attend classes, experience the technique, read the relevant literature, but most of all practice. Once you are doing this start to apply your existing knowledge to your experience of the pilates technique. However, I strongly advise a formalised training program such as the APPI method to really learn how to teach the technique correctly.

You are a PT but also a businessman. Do you think there is still room to innovate and create new concepts and businesses?
Always, in everything we do.

Your Pilates project is now more than 10 years old. You are Australian, moved to the UK and now have this widely known company. Looking back, what do you think your main victories are?
Believing in the technique. Elisa and I have developed and used this technique clinically for over 10 years now, and over that time I have kept the belief in the APPI Method. I use it every day, I see the clients getting better and better, and that is my main victory, continuing to believe that the technique works in many different settings. I now see APPI instructors all over the world allowing their clients to benefit from this technique. That is the biggest victory, to know a client on the other side of the world is gaining benefit from the program.

What can Portuguese participants expect from the APPIs courses?
A course that I hope will transform their clinical practice. An opportunity to begin a complete new chapter in their career. Unlike most other courses, the APPI Program literally can give you a new career. On our courses we aim to challenge you, push you, and guide you to a new way of thinking. A clinically reasoned exercise program that will allow you and your clients to achieve great results together.

APPi's website: www.ausphysio.com