Hello My Lovelies!
Yesterday I visited all my Reformer exercises for the first time in over a week. Sure there were in-between workouts on the Cadillac and the Mat but it was definitely time to commune with my Reformer.
It’s just the best thing really.
I left my online class buzzy and high from new Pilates connections. I resolutely declared my 80” Contrology Reformer to be one of my best purchases of 2018!
Full disclosure, I have a bit of a purse problem…
At the time I purchased my Contrology Reformer, I fell madly in love with a fancy handbag that sold for nearly the same price as a Reformer.
Had to leave the purse for now and oh boy that Reformer was worth every penny!
Could a handbag make me feel as amazing as a Reformer workout?
Well, you know, it’s different…
Reformer for now, a purse for my birthday?
Fingers crossed.
Although by then I’ll probably need another Reformer 😉
K Week at Westwood Pilates in Los Angeles
Last month I was thrilled to work alongside my Vintage Pilates colleagues again at Westwood Pilates in Los Angeles.
Our Korean colleagues were all in town and it was a true Pilates Party.
Thanks so much for all your hard work and for the warm invitation to join in the fun!
Today’s post topic is my favorite Pilates game to play and my new favorite workshop.
I’ll be teaching it again in my Solana Beach studio this September.
Full details on the September Pilates Party at the end of this post!
The Pilates Apparatuses are Compressive by Nature
One brilliant element of the Pilates apparatus is its compressive nature. Using the oppositional forces of the Pilates exercises allows us to resist the compression of the apparatus creating a wonderful length in the body.
How do the Pilates apparatuses do their magic?
Joe Pilates invented the Mat exercises first and saw that they are difficult to master.
They produce results but it takes a long time.
During the pandemic, several of my clients, having only the Mat exercises for over a year of their Pilates lessons got really good at the Mat exercises and now do the full routine.
So it can be done given regular, steady practice and time.
Joe found he used his own body to help his students achieve the exercises.
Hey, we need an app for that!
And on the 7th Day Joe created the apparatus 🙂
The Order of the Universe?
If you had to rank the Pilates apparatus according to most compressive apparatus to least compressive, probably the Reformer, the Chairs – High Chair especially – and the Guillotine would be at the top of the list.
Makes sense, right?
The Reformer the Mat and the Wunda
The compressive environment of the Reformer and Wunda Chair teaches us how to behave on the Mat (and in life outside of the Pilates environment – LOL remember that?).
This brings us back to…
You guessed it.
The Roll Up.
But first, find your Roll Up moment with the compression of the Reformer:
Otherwise known as The Elephant.
Here it is again on the Wunda:
This one you’ll recognize as The Pull Up.
To create a pressurized environment for yourself imagine that the top of your back “stands you into your feet” in both the Elephant and the Pull Up.
If you were seated, the base of your trunk “lifts from your bottom, up your back, and all the way down your arm to the hands on the Footbar and Chair, respectively.
With the spring tension to support you, you’ll keep the “pressure alive” to do the exercise. Lose the pressure or let it dissipate and the apparatus will let you know.
Now you’ll apply (remember) the feeling of the apparatus here in the same body position of the Roll Up.
What luck! You’ve got a strap and a pole.
Use them well.
Your heels on the Mat under the strap have become your Reformer carriage and Wunda pedal.
You’ll create the lift in your trunk with the pole as your target.
The same body position on all 3 apparatuses, with the environment and the relationship to gravity, slightly altered.
See how you do.
Join me in September!
This year marks the return of my Teacher Lab, plus 2 new workshops: 2-way Stretch and the Compressive Apparatus and Pilates Projects: The Up Stretch.
Space is limited. Snag your spot today.
2 Responses
I love this idea, of naming the equivalency exercises across the different apparatus. Do you have a chart of this anywhere on your blog?
Thank you!
Hi there –
Thank you so much for reading and for your kind words on my post.
The relationships between the exercises all around the Pilates studio are just one brilliant feature of the Pilates System.
The relationships are truly infinite, and thus are more experiential and individual.
I share just a few of my own associations in this post, and there is not really a chart of them on my blog.
However, many posts reference this topic tho, and you may enjoy the relationships in other posts, such as this one: https://pilatesandrea.com/pilates-crimes-spine-stretch-forward/
Thank you so much for reading and keep up the good work! xox