Meet Rebecca

My name is Rebecca Sirkel and I’m a certified Pilates and Feet-ness instructor with over 22 years of experience teaching classical Pilates.  I offer Private and Semi-Private Pilates sessions  in my home studio in Frederick, MD.

I love teaching fitness fanatics and individuals just beginning their health and wellness journey about how to enhance their sports and movement practices. I specialize in postural alignment and will help you correct muscular imbalances so you can move gracefully all day, every day. With a lifelong love of movement, I created a career in fitness after earning my degree in Kinesiology at Arizona State University.

Education and Training

· Degree in Kinesiology from Arizona State University 2002

· Power Pilates Comprehensive Certification 2006

· Pilates Method Alliance Certification 2011

· Teacher Trainer for Power Pilates 2012-2019

· Plant-Based Nutrition Certification from eCornell 2014

· Feet-ness certified in 2020

· Pilates Professional Advanced Teacher Training program with Kathi Ross-Nash 2022

MY STORY

My journey with Pilates began at a wellness retreat in Mexico called Rancho La Puerta. At the time, I was studying Kinesiology at Arizona State University and working part-time as a Personal Trainer at the Student Recreation Complex. My parents invited me to join them at the retreat when they went in 2000. My Mom enthusiastically recommended a mat Pilates class she had enjoyed the year before. We took the class together, and she was right! I loved it.

After graduating from ASU, I worked full-time as a personal trainer and taught Yoga at a health club. The club offered Reformer Pilates training with Balanced Body and Polestar Pilates to the fitness staff, and I eagerly embraced the opportunity. This training led me to expand my teaching skills including Pilates on the reformer. With the reformer, I learned a rehab-based teaching technique that sparked a desire for me to learn more about Pilates. Reformer Pilates provided a new focus on the pelvis and core connection, which my clients and I both needed.

So, I explored various locations across the Arizona valley to find a Pilates method that resonated with me and that could help relieve some of my back pain. I had lordosis (aka swayback) and I didn’t know how to properly use my abdominal muscles to stand correctly. Then, at a studio in Scottsdale, I took a class with the owners Doug and Alicia Zabrocki. I experienced an immediate relief from the pain. I knew I had found my mentors and was inspired to pursue the Comprehensive Power Pilates certification in 2005.

My passion for Pilates and the Power Pilates method grew into wanting to share it with others. 

I embarked on a year of intense training in 2011 and became a Teacher of Teachers for Power Pilates in 2012.  I built a strong community of teachers in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area, and was promoted to Regional Director in 2017.

In 2019 I was accepted into Kathi Ross Nash’s Professional Pilates Teacher Training Program. She chooses 10 teachers from around the world to learn her Red Thread method.  My confidence expanded when I graduated from her highly esteemed course in 2022. 

While learning the Red Thread method, I decided to specialize my practice further by obtaining a Feet-ness (foot-fitness) certification in 2020. I noticed many of my clients had foot conditions and I wanted to provide them with tools for foot mobility and strength in their routines. My experience with Feet-ness classes provided the techniques I needed to address foot and toe imbalances and enhance my clients' practice in a user-friendly way.

Try this foot exercise to see how amazing your feet can feel in three minutes or less.

Now I feel empowered to teach Pilates efficiently and effectively to all of you! 

My commitment to my client's well-being goes beyond personalized Pilates programs, too. 

In 2011, I made the transition to a plant-based diet after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives. I devoured many books about this way of eating including The China Study, which led to my education with eCornell in Plant-Based Nutrition. Since then, I have considered a whole-food, plant-based diet the secret ingredient to vitality and slowing the aging process.

I am dedicated to staying in the know on the most up-to-date nutrition and lifestyle medicine research, to ensure I provide the best guidance to help you reach your maximum potential.

Specialties include:

- Postural Alignment

- Athletic Performance

- Prenatal and Postpartum 

- Low Back Pain Relief

- Feet-ness (Foot Fitness)

- Plant-Based Nutrition

"To live your fullest, happiest life, you must prioritize your physical fitness and nutrition. Pilates & Feet-ness are amazing, but a whole food, plant-based diet is the secret ingredient to vitality and longevity."

Rebecca Sirkel