What is Reformer Pilates?

Specialist Pilates Apparatus

The Reformer is one of a number of inventions designed by Joseph Pilates, the founder of Pilates (as we call it today). Joseph Pilates not only developed the system of “Contrology” (now simply known as the “Pilates method” or more commonly, simply "Pilates") but he also designed and built a number of items of specialist equipment to help treat certain medical conditions and enhance physical performance. 

His various inventions often used springs, for added resistance training, and were designed to provide alternative exercises that could not be performed using standard apparatus or bodyweight alone, or that could be performed by people who were not capable of traditional exercise. 

Exercises on the apparatus could be adapted to target specific muscle groups, in order to tailor the benefits to specific sports and activities, and his machines allowed him to push those exercises to new extremes.  

The Pilates Spring Wall

The Spring Wall (sometimes called the Half Cadillac, when paired with a Reformer) was originally born from a hospital bed – helping patients to rehabilitate themselves while recovering from surgery or injury. 

Pilates originally developed this while caring for patients on the Isle of Man, during World War 1; he originally used the springs from the beds themselves and attached these to the metal headboards and footboards, to allow the patients to rebuild or maintain their strength while lying down. Today’s Spring Wall uses a system of suspended springs and bars to enable supine workouts of the limbs and connected muscles.

The Pilates Cadillac

The Cadillac took the Spring Wall to another level – placing a large metal frame over the entire bed to allow the subject to raise their body up and perform both callisthenic body-weight exercises and the augmented spring-assisted exercises delivered by the Spring Wall. Sometimes, the ‘bed’ of the Cadillac is itself a Reformer, with a platform extender placed between the carriage and the standing platform, to create a static and solid base for exercises. 

The Pilates Reformer

Much like the Spring Wall and the Cadillac, the Reformer was developed by Pilates to benefit from the use of springs, which can be used to make exercises harder or easier as required. This flexibility makes the reformer one of the most versatile pieces of exercise equipment available anywhere in the world. The Reformer allows exercises to be performed while lying down, which makes it ideal for rehabilitation, and also allows users to focus their attention on specific muscle groups during exercises.

The Pilates Reformer consists of a 'bed-frame', topped with a smooth-running carriage which typically rests on wheels that glide in 2 runners, which run almost the full length of the equipment. The carriage is then attached to its frame via a series of interchangeable springs which can be varied for each exercise. The carriage has shoulder-rests to push against, and usually has an adjustable head-rest, and the carriage-frame is equipped with looped straps that run through pulley wheels, and which are ultimately attached to the opposite end of the carriage to the springs. The carriage-frame also has a collapsible foot-bar, and can be fitted with a jump-board to enable horizontal 'bouncing' actions or a foot-strap to assist with sit-ups and thoracic raises. 

The Reformer makes use of the control provided by the consistent and interchangeable resistance of the springs. Exercises on it can be adapted to make them harder or easier with the addition or removal of extra springs or different-strength springs. 

Some of the exercises performed on the Reformer are similar to what would be performed in Mat Pilates but the springs and moving parts augment them and help to focus the mind, and the body. A Reformer class is generally more intense and more dynamic than a Mat class, however for rehabilitation or for gentle work, the reformer can be used to make exercises easier – often enabling users to perform exercises they could not do without assistance.

There are literally hundreds of exercises which can be performed on the Reformer using the combination of equipment it provides, which allow the user to perform controlled exercises of the legs, arms and core. Combined with correct body-alignment which is advised by your instructor, these exercises allow the benefits of each of the exercises to be focused accordingly to the respective adductors, flexors, rotators and core stabilising tissue. 

This flexibility of use means the Reformer can deliver sport-specific cross-training to enhance performance, and offers huge benefits for rehab – especially for knee injuries as the resistance force can be set way lower than the user’s body-weight. 

Many of Joseph Pilates’s students in his studio New York (which he opened in the 1920s) were ballerinas, dancers, gymnasts and professional fighters – and soon, the popular figures and celebrities got wind of his successes and thus began the movement which sees many of today’s celebrities and hundreds of thousands of acolytes around the globe training Pilates on a weekly, if not daily basis. 

Pilates’ techniques were designed to work the deep muscles which are so often superseded by the more dominant, large “superficial” muscles. The Reformer allows the user to work the entire body, including the more peripheral muscles in the arms and legs, with greater (or lesser) resistance provided by the springs compared to what can be achieved on a mat.

Exercises on the Reformer typically work muscles through a large range of motion. This is crucial for building and toning muscles, as well as increasing stability and mobility through the joints and peripheral limbs. 

While the Reformer can look a little scary to those who have never seen one before (it can look intimidating and possibly even a little medieval!), the Reformer is literally the most versatile and effective piece of exercise equipment ever made… and it’s great fun!

A good Reformer Pilates class will work muscles you didn’t even know you had! 

A Brief History of Joseph Pilates 

Infobytes TV and Taube Pilates have put together this wonderful little animated history of Joseph Pilates which may be of interest: 

The only thing I spotted in the video was a little mistake on the page of inventions, where the Reformer and the Cadillac are labelled the wrong way round. Below is how the image should look in the video. 

A sample of Joseph Pilates’s inventions: