Dr. Hadar Schwartz, founder of Body Science

Dr. Hadar Schwartz, PhD, PT

Physical therapist, researcher and Pilates teacher trainer. I help instructors understand what their exercises actually do, and teach them to build programs from evidence rather than tradition.

I am the founder and professional director of Body Science, a school of movement education for Pilates instructors and therapists in Israel. I hold a PhD in public health from Tel Aviv University. My doctoral research was a randomized controlled trial in which untrained adults chose their own resistance training loads by perceived effort instead of prescribed percentages. They gained strength comparable to a standard prescription and reported a more positive, more autonomous training experience.

I have directed Pilates teacher training programs since 2010 and have been NPCP certified since 2008. From 2010 to 2020 I taught at Pilates Method Alliance conferences on Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, diaphragmatic function, chronic pain and motor learning. I have also taught at Balanced Body’s Pilates on Tour in London and at Pilates Around the World, a global online event, alongside presenters such as Alan Herdman and Lolita San Miguel. In 2026 I return to the PMA 25th Anniversary Summit.

Each topic can be delivered as a keynote, a hands-on workshop, a multi-day teacher training, or online.

Pilates as resistance training

How heavy is your reformer? Load, effort and proximity to failure, and what the research says about building strength with Pilates. Based on my doctoral work on perceived effort.

Clinical populations

Working with clients living with Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, chronic and back pain, and with older adults facing osteoporosis, muscle loss and reduced balance. What changes in the program, what stays the same, and where the instructor’s role ends.

Motor learning and cueing

How people actually learn movement, and how the words we choose as instructors help or get in the way. Includes the diaphragm in rehabilitation.

Evidence literacy for instructors

Teaching instructors to read primary research, separate mechanism from marketing, and explain the science to clients in plain language.

Where I have taught

  • 2026 PMA 25th Anniversary Summit, West Palm Beach, Florida: Pilates as resistance training
  • 2020 Pilates Around the World, global online event: Pilates class with a stick
  • 2020 PMA annual conference, online: Parkinson’s disease
  • 2018 Pilates on Tour (Balanced Body), London
  • 2018 PMA annual conference: chronic pain and motor learning
  • 2015 PMA annual conference: the diaphragm in rehabilitation
  • 2014 PMA annual conference, San Diego, California: traumatic brain injury, and a rehabilitation panel
  • 2011 PMA annual conference, Desert Springs, California: Pilates for clients with traumatic brain injury
  • 2010 PMA annual conference: working with clients with Parkinson’s disease
  • Since 2010 Body Science teacher training programs, Israel

Research

  1. Schwartz H, Har-Nir I, Wenhoda T, Halperin I. Staying physically active during the COVID-19 quarantine: exploring the feasibility of live, online, group training sessions among older adults. Translational Behavioral Medicine. 2021;11(2):314-322. doi:10.1093/tbm/ibaa141
  2. Schwartz H, Emanuel A, Rozen Samukas II, Halperin I. Exploring the acute affective responses to resistance training: a comparison of the predetermined and the estimated repetitions to failure approaches. PLOS ONE. 2021;16(8):e0256231. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256231
  3. Boxman-Zeevi Y, Schwartz H, Har-Nir I, Bordo N, Halperin I. Prescribing intensity in resistance training using rating of perceived effort: a randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Physiology. 2022;13:891385. doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.891385

ORCID: 0000-0002-6446-191X · ResearchGate

Body Science

Body Science is a school of movement education in Israel. It trains Pilates instructors in mat, apparatus and rehabilitation support, with a faculty of experienced instructors and physical therapists. Every program combines in-depth anatomy, current research and practical teaching.

Invite me to speak

Tell me about your event and I will get back to you within a few days.

EN - Invite Dr Hadar Schwartz to speak

Or write directly to hadar@hadars.co.il

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