Reformer Pilates is everywhere. If it’s not our fave celebrities doing it (Adele, Hailey Bieber and Margot Robbie are all avid fans), it’s all over Instagram, so if you’re new to reformer Pilates, you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about.
A UK survey by HFE even found 70% of people would now choose Pilates over yoga; most citing its potential with weight loss and muscle toning, as well as strength and mobility training. These are all valid benefits of reformer Pilates, but there’s more. Reformer Pilates can also be effective for weight loss if that’s your goal (one study showed that 12 weeks of consistent reformer Pilates classes could improve body composition), while the use of the reformer carriage can test your balance and coordination.
Read on for our full list of reformer Pilates benefits, as well as the best reformer Pilates classes near you in the UK, the difference between reformer Pilates and regular Pilates, and how reformer Pilates works.
What is reformer Pilates?
The reformer — the name given to the entire platform and frame used in reformer Pilates — is probably the most famous piece of Pilates equipment. And, if you aren’t familiar, it looks kind of scary.
In reformer Pilates, a frame, called the ‘carriage’, moves around on wheels and is attached to one end by a set of springs, which provides resistance as the platform is moved. There’s also a foot bar and long straps, which can be used by the legs and arms, and shoulder blocks for stopping the practitioner falling off when working out.
A reformer Pilates machine can be used in a huge range of ways to benefit strength, flexibility and balance; the majority involving pushing or pulling the platform against the spring resistance and controlling the movement back, or holding it in place, though this can be done standing, sitting, upside down and using all the different elements of the Reformer.
The versatility of the equipment means it can continue to challenge even the most experienced Pilates practitioners; often by holding more of the body off the platform or with the springs on a lighter setting, requiring more strength and engagement.
Reformer Pilates classes may also include the use of Pilates balls, Pilates rings, ankle weights and resistance bands.
Is mat Pilates as good as reformer Pilates?
Relative to mat Pilates, ‘Quite simply, you can do more on the Reformer’, says Justin Rogers, Head of Brand at Ten Health & Fitness. ‘With the combination of adjustable spring resistance and a sliding platform, the Reformer can create resistance or instability (or both) to make exercises easier or harder in a way that the mat can’t.’
What are the benefits of reformer Pilates?
Have you seen Elle Macpherson (just one of many who loves herself a reformer Pilates fix)? Though the results speak for themselves, the benefits of Pilates aren’t just celebrity fluff.
‘It’s brilliant for everyone as it’s an inclusive workout method’, says James Shaw, Pilates instructor at Frame. ‘Whether you’re a pro athlete, office worker or new to working out, reformer pilates will help develop your whole body’.
Like mat Pilates, reformer Pilates benefits include the following:
- Improves strength — particularly around the core, back, glutes and thighs
- Improves flexibility
- Improves balance
- Improves focus
- Improves coordination
- Improves posture
- Improves body alignment
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves cardiovascular health
- Can ease lower back pain, as it focuses on stabilising the spinal muscles
- Can aid weight loss, when teamed with balanced nutrition
Can beginners do reformer pilates?
Like most types of exercise, many movements can be modified to ensure that reformer pilates is accessible to all experience levels – beginners included. If you’re early on in your reformer pilates journey, be sure to book beginner-friendly classes so you can learn the exercises at a manageble pace and with the support of a teacher. Don’t be afraid, if an exercise feels too challenging or you aren’t sure of how to perform it correctly, to ask for help from your teacher.
Does reformer Pilates change your body shape?
Despite the internet leading you to believe that Pilates creates long, lean muscles it does not – y0u can not lengthen your muscles. Think what you’d look like if you did and your muscles were longer than your bones. What it does do, is strengthen your muscles through ‘eccentric muscle contractions’, which is the name given to the motion of an active muscle lengthening as it resists a force or load. Eccentric training, which reformer Pilates comes under, involves doing this repeatedly.
Read what happened when one WH staffer did reformer Pilates twice a week for a month.
Does reformer Pilates have mindful benefits too?
Though, unlike yoga, reformer Pilates wasn’t invented as a spiritual activity, it’s undoubtedly mindful. The proven mental benefits include improving memory; training the brain; the good old endorphin kick; and relieving anxiety and depression.
pilates H1 Pilates Reformer
pilates H1 Pilates Reformer
There are also specific workouts designed to flush the body of stress hormones, as well as releasing tension in the face that isn’t targeted during a normal stretch session.
With breathwork being the latest buzzword in wellbeing, it’s noteworthy that it’s one of the six fundamental Pilates principles, with Pilates himself saying: ‘Above all, learn to breathe properly’. This is also a technique applied in reformer Pilates.
‘The main thing beginners do wrong in reformer Pilates is to hold their breath!’, says Shaw. ‘We encourage breathing with the movement to help engage deeper abdominal muscles, lower blood pressure and help bring focus from the mind to the body.’
How to use a reformer Pilates machine
Reformer Pilates is accessible to any age and fitness level, but it’s worth going to classes or getting a private teacher to ensure you understand the foundations of Pilates and how to isolate and activate your core muscles correctly. We’d also highly recommend attending a reformer Pilates class if you’re pregnant, as opposed to trying a machine on your own.
The teachers will explain exactly how to use the board (known as the reformer), but your form and posture is key. ‘Correct form and alignment are a fundamental part of Pilates, and it’s easy to feel that you’re in the right position when you’re not’, says Justin Rogers, Head of Brand at Ten Health & Fitness. ‘Often just a small change in your form will make a big difference to how effectively you’re working, and which muscles you’re engaging. A good instructor will adjust your position manually to make sure you’re performing each exercise as safely and effectively as possible.’
8 Pilates essentials
domyos Pilates Medium Resistance Band
SMARTrich Mini Fitness Balance Ball
Sweaty Betty Pilates Socks
Now 33% Off
Sweaty Betty Reversible Mesh 7/8 Leggings
Now 33% Off
domyos DOMYOS Pilates Soft Ball
domyos DOMYOS Pilates Ring
Physical Company 3″ Large Pilates Head Pad
Best reformer Pilates classes in the UK
Best reformer Pilates classes in London
1. Ten Health & Fitness
Keen champions of the benefits of Reformer, Ten have taken on the Pilates technique and added their own refinements — including elements from other disciplines, like circuits, weights and spin — for maximum body-sculpting effect.
- Price: £30 per class
- Location: Chiswick, Notting Hill, Little Venice, St James’s, Fitzrovia, Tottenham Court Road, Hatton Garden, City, Nine Elms
2. Frame
Frame offers reformer Pilates at five studios across London. They recommend that you attend three beginner classes before trying a standard class, but both will help you improve core strength, stability and posture. The teachers really know their stuff, so rest assured you’re in good hands.
- Price: £22 per class
- Location: Shoreditch, Kings Cross, Victoria, Hammersmith, Angel
3. Nobu Pilates
Developed by Creative Director Marsha Lindsay, Nobu Pilates offers three signature classes – Power, Precision and Pure – combining the core elements of traditional Pilates with a fresh flow. Set in an elegant studio in Nobu Portman Square Hotel, and with a maximum of 10 participants per class, you’ll be feeling the burn long after you’ve left the studio. With Stretch and Sushi, their new concept, you can enjoy a bento box at the Nobu restaurant after class for a uniquely mouth-watering package.
- Price: £37 per class; 5-, 10- and 20-class packs available
- Location: Marylebone
4. Pilates HQ
Split into just Beginner and Intermediate, with the occasional cardio focus, Pilates HQ’s classes — set in a simple bright, light-filled studio – are a comprehensive starting point for your Reformer journey.
- Price: £25 per class
- Location: Angel
5. Tempo
As the name suggests, Tempo sets your Reformer sesh to an eclectic mix of ‘awesome’ music that sets the pace for your body-conditioning sequence; which are offered in five different experience levels from Beginner to Tempo HIIT, and the ‘tough love’ Up-Tempo Pilates L3.
- Price: £30 per class
- Location: Shoreditch, Hackney, Elephant Park
6. Core Kensington
The crème de la crème de la Reformer, Core Kensington’s minimal studio only has space for six practitioners per class, meaning you’ll get your money’s worth of the teacher attention.
- Price: £30 per class
- Location: Kensington
7. Exhale Pilates London
As an intro to Joseph Pilates’ technique, there’s nowhere better than Exhale. With state of the art apparatus, highly experienced teachers and max six people per class, you’re getting the most effective version of Reformer.
- Price: £35 per class
- Location: Primrose Hill, North Finchley
8. Power Pilates
As the name suggests, Beckenham’s Power Pilates prides itself on fast-paced energetic reformer Pilates classes that promise a veritable burn. The teachers are unmatched in both skill and motivation (we’re big fans of Natalie Scrutton), with an attention to every participant’s form that makes you feel as though you’re the only one in the class (and you’ll never be unsure of what to do – particularly noteworthy for any beginners).
- Price: £24 per class
- Location: Beckenham
9. KARVE
Keen for a challenge? KARVE is the place to be. The studio is inspired by New York’s Transformer Pilates method, with every 50-minute class designed to ‘karve’ your body, using time under tension techniques, pulses and isometric holds. The music is cranked up high and the lights are dimmed, and you’ll finish every sesh with a breathing meditation to help re-establish your mind-body connection.
- Price: £35 per class
- Location: Kensington High Street
10. Psycle
If power, banging playlists and passionate instructors sound like a bit of you, Psycle is the place to be. Each class – including beginner, signature and advanced sessions – takes a more dynamic approach than classical reformer Pilates, but rest assured your instructors will coach you through every move, to help reshape your body, realign your posture and release stress. We’re big fans of teachers Matt McCell and Ben Stott.
- Price: £25 per class
- Locations: Oxford Circus, Shoreditch
11. Reformcore
Designed by the fitness experts at Barrecore, Reformcore is a high-energy, low-impact reformer Pilates class that focuses on isometric training. With the lights ever-so-slightly dimmed, the 50-minute classes at Reformcore effortlessly blend the intense burn of a Barre class with the lengthening of the reformer machine. Targeting every muscle, these Pilates classes seriously bring the burn (trust us, our glutes were on fire!), while focusing on breath and rhythm. Expect the trainers to keep telling you that ‘your breath is the one thing that will get you through this class’, when you’re wincing in pain.
- Price: £30 per class
- Locations: Chelsea, Mayfair, Islington, St Mary’s Axe
Best reformer Pilates classes outside of London
12. Zero Gravity
Zero Gravity prides itself on an ultra-dynamic approach to reformer Pilates, which the founders say will help you see results in your body ‘in a matter of weeks’. You’ll use Pilates rings, hand weights and boxes to help you hit all your muscle groups, making every 60-minute class totally unique.
- Price: £25 per class
- Locations: Potters Bar, Mill Hill, Loughton, Temple Fortune, Muswell Hill, Brentwood, Beaconsfield, Henley on Thames, Marlow, Chelmsford, Sevenoaks
13. Clifton Pilates
At Clifton Pilates, eight guests are permitted per 55-minute reformer Pilates class, to ensure that your instructor can pay attention every individual’s form and technique. The sessions follow a slower structure, with a focus on posture and agility, but rest assured you’ll get a full-body workout.
- Price: £25 per class
- Location: Bristol
14. Sculpt in Haus
Central Manchester’s top reformer Pilates studio Sculpt In Haus hosts three types of classes: reformer full-body, reformer ass and abs, and reformer bounce. The latter involves the use of a jumpboard, a piece of equipment that’ll be attached to the end of your reformer, for you to push off. Each class caters to every ability.
- Price: £20 per class
- Location: Manchester
15. Sópers House
Sópers House’s reformer Pilates classes are rooted in Joseph Pilates’ original method. You’ll run through his original Pilates exercises on one of the best brand of reformer Pilates beds: Peak Pilates, with a selection of top trainers. Expect an exclusive and intimate feel.
- Price: Membership prices available on request
- Location: Cuffley, Hertfordshire
16. R3FORM Pilates
Set in one of the most beautiful, sun-drenched studios in a reformed barn, R3FORM Pilates’ reformer classes are a fusion of HIIT, Pilates and strength training, suitable for all fitness levels, and designed to help you build core strength, and kiss goodbye to any aches and pains. Bangin’ playlists and expert instructors are a given.
- Price: £20 per class
- Location: Peterborough
17. Balance Pilates
Balance Pilates is home to the most extensive of reformer Pilates offerings, with seven different types of classes. Choose between reformer basics, reformer, reformer barre, reformer bounce, reformer stretch, party reformer and reformer 1-1. There really is something for everyone.
- Price: Intro offer, 2 classes for £25, or £20 per class
- Location: Macclesfield, Cheshire
18. Studio Flex
Studio Flex’s standard reformer Pilates classes focus on alignment, core development, coordination and balance. Then, once you’re ready to up the ante, try the dynamic reformer Pilates classes for an intense full-body workout that will help you build more lean muscle and leave you buzzing with endorphins.
- Price: £25 per class
- Location: Suffolk, Ipswich
19. Flex and Tone Classical Pilates
Flex and Tone is what you need if you’re after a more personal approach, with classes held on a 1-1 basis. Sessions follow a classical structure, with founder Francis focussing on moving ‘to heal’.
- Price: Available on request
- Location: Blewbury, Clubhouse
20. STRONG Pilates
STRONG Pilates classes use a Rowformer, or Bikeformer – a combined Pilates and Rowing machine or a Pilates and Resistance Bike that blends resistance training with cardio HIIT training. The perfect class for those looking for something more high-intensity in a guaranteed sweat session.
- Price: Available on request
- Location: Islington London, Leicester
Cut through the noise and get practical, expert advice, home workouts, easy nutrition and more direct to your inbox. Sign up to the WOMEN’S HEALTH NEWSLETTER
