Reformer Pilates - what level should I do?

It’s often a tad confusing when you first start attending group Reformer Pilates classes, when it’s time to move up to the next level. There’s often differences between practitioners' styles, modifications for clients within each session, and the same level class but at different times of the day. You may even attend the same class, with the same practitioner at the same time for a few weeks, and have a completely different experience each session! These are all common bits of feedback we get from our clients who attend regularly, and is also a common thread across most studios’ I’ve ever visited or worked at. So what do you do?

PilatesRobert Carruthers5 September 2023Reformer Pilates, pilates, Group ClassesComment

Reformer Pilates for Beginners

My first Reformer Pilates experience was as a graphic designer in South Korea. Every night after work I would pass by a Pilates studio and notice the clients pushing and pulling and jumping on a weird looking machine. My first impression of this imposing machine device (that I would later find out to be a Reformer) was that I would never be able to use it to better my posture/fitness as it seemed so difficult and intimidating to use. But with constant back complaints and sitting at a desk all day, I decided to give it a go anyway.

Pilates, healthy livingGuest User21 October 2021pilates, Group Classes, beginners, Reformer PilatesComment

Pilates For Weight Loss

One question that I’ve heard many many times over the year is ‘will I lose weight doing Pilates?’ And the answer is always the same. And unfortunately, the answer isn’t what most people want to hear - Pilates on it’s own is not effective for weightless, sorry to say! So then why do people often say that they feel amazing, or have lost so much weight doing Pilates? In general terms, it’s actually more a reflection of a number of choices they are now making and Pilates is just the method of exercise they are doing at the time. These choices will reflect their mental state, their food choices, their motivation to exercise, and their outlook on themselves. Taking up Pilates from doing no exercise at all will help shift some weight, but training Pilates with other forms of exercise won’t change things that much. Let’s explore this a bit more for you to understand.

healthy livingRobert Carruthers6 August 2020pilates, Group Classes, weight lossComment

Online Pilates Classes

If there is one thing this pandemic has shown us, is that technology has provided a fantastic platform to help keep us connected when we can’t physically be with each other. At a personal level, being based in Melbourne and having our families based in WA and NZ has meant that although we haven’t been able to physically see our families, we’ve still been able to share the highs and lows of the last few months, and enjoy casting shared thoughts in to an unpredictable future. Is it ideal? Far from it. Is it okay as a temporary measure? It’s certainly better than nothing - faster than a letter in the mail, and a bit more lively than a phone call.

healthy livingRobert Carruthers21 July 2020pilates, Group Classes, online pilatesComment

Group Fitness Classes

It seems as though every corner of Melbourne has got a health or fitness studio popping up, offering some form of hyped-up fitness phenomenon. And the pictures all look ‘amazing’ right?! Sweaty bodies, tight active wear, perfect physiques and the golden smile. It’s all part of their pristine marketing campaign to facilitate huge numbers of willing and ambitious people in to their small but busy studios. Why? Perhaps in hopes of achieving the media influenced, socially-accepted ideal body that’s continually pushed down our throats by mainstream marketing. It’s enough to make you reconsider even starting to exercise, and unfortunately Pilates (particularly reformer Pilates) is right in the mix with the best of them…

However, they aren’t all like that. Some of them actually even know what they’re talking about!

Robert Carruthers21 January 2020Clinical Pilates, Reformer Pilates, Movementality, Group ClassesComment