What is Pilates?

Pilates is a form of exercise for everybody and every body-type. Using equipment with spring resistance, Pilates tones your body safely and effectively, focusing on mobilizing tight areas and stabilizing and strengthening weak areas. Mat work and mat classes are also a part of the practice. There are six Principles of Pilates: control, concentration, centering, breathing, precision, and rhythm/flow. The goal of Pilates is to have a completely balanced body of strength, flexibility, and control.

No gender, age or physical restrictions apply. Some people start at age 70, some at age 10 or younger. Try a private lesson to get the most out of your workout with one-on-one attention and complete privacy. Try a mat class for the fun and flow of it!

Who invented Pilates?

Joe Pilates was the genius behind the creation of what he called “Contrology” and is now called “Pilates.” Born in 1883 in Germany, Pilates was a boxer, gymnast, diver, and yogi, who trained injured prisoners when he was in an interment camp. He also trained the German police force. He emigrated to the United States in 1926 and opened a Contrology studio in New York City with his wife Clara. After Pilates died in 1967, his work was carried on by his wife, as well as several of his students; the most well-known of whom was Romana Kryzanowska. Alexis is a third-generation teacher, certified by Master Teacher Dorothee VandeWalle, who trained with Romana.

What is a Reformer? How does it work?

The Pilates Reformer is one of the apparatus, or pieces of equipment, that Joe Pilates invented in the early 1900s. It is used for the Pilates Method of exercise. German-born Joe Pilates invented the Method, which he called Contrology, during his lifetime (1883-1967). He was influenced by his study of boxing, yoga, martial arts, gymnastics, body building, swimming, diving, skiing, and more. He invented the Universal Reformer to enhance his Contrology Method. The design of it was based roughly on a moveable bed, with springs (he originally used springs from hospital bed frames attached to the head board for exercises with bed-ridden patients in England). He continued to develop his apparatus designs after moving to the United States in 1925.

The Reformer has a low rectangular frame about 7 feet long. The frame has four legs, and in the frame rests what is called the carriage. The carriage is a thick, padded rectangular mat on wheels, so that when one is lying, standing, or sitting on the carriage, it can move. At the base of the carriage is a set of four springs that are used in various configurations (0-4 springs, plus different spring locations) to properly align the client, and to make the exercises more challenging. At the head of the carriage is a set of leather straps. At the head of the Reformer frame is where the leather straps loop through another set of wheels and terminate in a pair of handles. These handles can also be for the hands or feet. At the base of the Reformer frame is a moveable foot bar. This can also be for the hands or feet.

What is a Pilates Reformer used for and how will it change my body?

 Joe Pilates invented hundreds of exercises that can be done on the Pilates Reformer. The Reformer is used for a full body workout. Exercises on the Reformer tone your stomach (upper, lower, and deep abdominals), obliques (your side abs and waist), lower legs, inner thighs, outer thighs, hips, bottom, whole back, arms, neck and shoulders. You will increase your heart rate, balance control, flexibility, lung capacity, circulation, and concentration. Additionally, the Reformer exercises enhance your coordination, rhythm, and stability.

Reformer Pilates can be used by all body types, regardless of age, height, weight, or how fit you are. Not every client will do the exercises being demonstrated by Joe Pilates below. Your instructor will choose the appropriate exercises for your abilities and work up from there.

Your instructor may have you lie down on your stomach or back, stand up, balance, sit, or kneel on the Reformer. You can have your hands or feet in the straps, or on the foot bar. There are hundreds of different exercises of varying levels that can be used to increase mobility where you are tight, and build strength where you are weak. On everyone, one side is stronger than the other, whether it is because you are right or left handed, have scoliosis, drive a stick shift, play an instrument, or a sport, for example. The springs can be adjusted to challenge your weaker side, and sometimes your instructor will have you repeat an exercise on one side. Reformer Pilates is excellent for revealing discrepancies since you are meant to be completely square on the apparatus. With the shoulder blocks and foot bar helping to keep you even, you will feel truly “reformed” after even a basic Reformer Pilates workout.

If your instructor wants to work you out on other pieces of equipment, Reformer Pilates can also be used for specific exercises to target a particular muscle group, rather than being the main workout apparatus of your Pilates session. For example, your instructor may choose for you to do some exercises on the Wunda Chair, the Cadillac, the High Chair, etc., because the Reformer doesn't offer the same exercise, or because that particular exercise suits your body better on a different piece of apparatus.

How long is a Reformer Pilates session?

Typically, private Reformer Pilates lessons last about 55 minutes. You may spend your entire session on the Reformer, but depending on your instructor and what your body needs, you will likely be using other pieces of equipment and the mat. Also, it is recommended that you do Pilates 1-3 times a week, at least. This is especially important when you are starting out, so that your body can learn this new form of moving. You can combine your Reformer workout with mat classes, and other equipment lessons as well, depending on what your studio offers.

What type of Reformer is best?

 I was trained and taught on Gratz reformers. They are the original manufacturers of Joe Pilates’s equipment and are still making equipment today.

 Gratz is the original manufacturer of the Universal Reformer (as it was called by Joe Pilates). Gratz continues to make all of the Pilates apparatus at the highest quality and standards outlined by Joe Pilates. This style of originally designed equipment is the only equipment used by Classical Pilates Master Teachers Jay Grimes, Kathi Ross-Nash, Dorothee VandeWalle, Brooke Siler, Mari Winsor, and many more. All of these instructors studied with Romana Kryzanowska who trained with Joe Pilates. Jay Grimes also studied with Joe Pilates. Says Grimes, “Joe Pilates developed his exercise method and his apparatus hand in hand. He was adamant about performing the exercises with precision, and was equally adamant about the precision of the apparatus. For over four decades Gratz has been manufacturing Pilates equipment to these exacting standards, and for me Pilates and Gratz go hand in hand. To achieve the true Pilates experience, and to get the full benefit of these exercises, Gratz is the only way to go.”

Romana Kryzanowska studied with Pilates for many years, trained hundreds if not thousands of teachers, and carried on Pilates's legacy well into the 2000's. She was chosen by Pilates to share his work that he developed over his extensive career. Says Kryzanowska, “Gratz is an undeniable part of Pilates history, having built Universal Reformers to Joseph Pilates' rigorous specifications, but it's an even more essential part of this exercise method's future. No other Pilates apparatus feels as good, lasts as long or preserves the Pilates Method as safely and authentically as Gratz. The difference is clear with the first workout.” Kryzanowska passed away in 2013, but her well-trained instructors carry on her work.

There are many other manufacturers of Pilates Reformers, and some now that make them close to the original designs as well. Other Reformers are manufactured companies such as Pilates Designs, Basil, Peak, Balanced Body, Stott, Aero Pilates, Malibu Pilates, Pilates Power Gym, and more. These apparatus have varying degrees of quality and price. Some straps are leather, while some others are made of nylon cords. Angles of the foot bar are different, and newer locking mechanisms for the foot bar obstruct the flow of the Pilates routine. Some Reformers also have 5 springs instead of four, and the springs are varying tensions.

Can I use a Reformer at home?

My best recommendation would be to do Reformer Pilates with a trained Classical Instructor on quality equipment, and if you want an at-home practice, there are some small affordable reformers on the market. You can also just do Pilates Mat at home. You can get small at-home props such as exercise weights and a Magic Circle and get an amazing workout using those props (and you can even use a wall at home too). There are a lot of videos to follow on our videos page!

The Reformer and other Pilates apparatus were designed to support your body in the mat workout. Mat Pilates is extremely challenging, so Joe Pilates created all of the apparatus so that your ultimate workout, the mat work, would be more accessible. There are many exercises on the mat that are difficult for particular body types (such as people with tight low backs, tight hamstrings, or in opposition, too much mobility). The Reformer provides the stability and strength building of the springs, and its unique design allows for you to open your low back, hamstrings, and much more, in ways that are not possible on just the mat. Combining your mat workout with a Pilates Reformer, and other Pilates equipment, is the best overall, full-body workout that you can achieve.