“Reformer Pilates” and injuries

For the past few months I’ve been seeing news about more injuries due to the spread of the so called “Reformer Pilates”.

I never read those articles because:

1. They make me mad;

2. I already know that poor Pilates can cause injuries.

Although I’m very glad that - thanks to the many new franchises (like Club Pilates) and the popularity of one particular piece of apparatus (Mat and Reformer mostly, but I just read a very scary advertisement about learning only the “Pilates Chair” 😱), more people can now afford to learn Pilates, I am increasingly worried about what people think Pilates is.

Let’s start by saying that there is a good reason for Pilates classes to be expensive.

As an example I’ll use my own training and my own studio.

I started my Pilates Comprehensive Teacher Training in 2012 and I completed it in 2015.

Yes, 3 years.

Three long years during which I took a bus (I was still living in Rome) to get to my teacher’s studio where I stayed as many hours as I possibly could, in order to train, observe her teaching, assist her teaching, and take private or semi-private lessons with her.

On top of the tuition, which was a few thousand euros, I was required to take a minimum of 30 lessons with her (which were very expensive: €120/hour, that occasionally could be split with one or two students), and I had to spend a minimum amount of hours as an apprentice (I can’t remember how many: I just know that whenever I could, I stayed there 7 or 8 hours).

At the end of all that I had to take an exam that required me to perform most of the intermediate exercises on all the apparatus and to teach a full session to a student.

A few years later I was ready to open my own studio. For that, on top of the rent, of course, I had to buy the apparatus. There are many manufacturers nowadays but a good quality reformer costs about $4000 while a Cadillac can go up to $6000. The Chairs and the Mats and the Wall Units (“Towers”) are still in the thousands. And there are many other pieces of equipment, some of them I’ve never even seen in person!

Then I continued my education with another comprehensive teacher training and I continue to study biomechanics, movement and health related topics to this day.

I have taken many (paid) workshops, webinars and courses. Some of them are required to maintain my NPCP (National Pilates Certification Program) certification; others I take for my own growth.

You can now compare all of that with an online course of one weekend that teaches you to teach the Mat. Or with whatever they take to teach ONLY the Reformer.

And the most important aspect of this is,

Pilates was never meant to be “Reformer Pilates” or “Mat Pilates”.

Joseph Pilates created a system that was much more than the exercises. He wanted us to be outside in the fresh air. He wanted us to scrub our skin very well under the shower, and he wanted us to not spend hours in the gym, but rather be efficient while moving, so that in an hour you’d be done (including the shower!).

He took inspiration from nature (how wild animals move), from yoga, and was influenced by the physical culture movement and calisthenics of the early 20th century.

Then it is believed that he created his apparatus to help bedridden, injured soldiers exercise and although there is no real evidence of that, one thing is sure: he meant his method (he called it “Contrology”) to be a system. This means that he created his different pieces of apparatus in order to help his clients achieve the healthy and strong physical form he himself had till his death.

If you’ve ever taken a few private Pilates lessons in a Classical Pilates Studio (like ViviPilates!), you have probably noticed how all the exercises on all apparatus are all similar to each other, except each apparatus provides a different challenge and some exercises act as the foundation for other, more complex exercises. The complexity and level of difficulty is given by the amount of  support and range of motion.

For example: you need to do The Half Roll Down on the Mat and learn how to rotate your pelvis and round your spine without collapsing, before being able to do The Teaser on the Reformer, where the same pelvis and spine shape is challenged by a smaller and moving surface, the pull of springs loaded with your own body weight plus the carriage and box, and the arms and legs lifted and long.

When someone calls me and ask if we offer Reformer Classes, I always say that we offer Pilates classes. The exercises a first-timer can successfully achieve on the Reformer are very few, and to have them do a Teaser without the proper progression would be useless at best. In the worst case scenario, that first-timer might fall or get hurt.

Reading that the rate of injuries caused by crowded Pilates classes is going up doesn’t surprise me, based on what I shared.

It’s fun to try a weird “machine”* and do fancy stuff on it. And it’s all good until you’re strong and healthy. And it’s not bad to take a class just to have fun (you’re reading from someone who takes Handstands and Splits classes!); but if you are seeking Pilates to recover from an injury; if you have never been very active and start to feel that your body needs movement to be well; if you’re an athlete and overuse your body to achieve greatness in your loved sport, and are looking to find a practice that can bring more balance and support to your joints, then be mindful of the new, popular pieces of Pilates taught as a standalone practice. And don’t hesitate to ask for your teacher’s credentials. How many years have they studied Pilates? What school do they come from? Do they know how to modify an exercise to make it good for your body, or are they simply showing you a move that you’re supposed to repeat? What if that move is not great for you?

Even if you don’t know anything about Pilates Teacher Training Programs, we live in the AI era so you can research and get your answers.

Clearly I’m talking to our clients, who already know the difference between a real Pilates studio (and there are many amazing Pilates studios in Pittsburgh!) and a fashion-driven group class on a Refomer; but I would like to encourage you to share what you know with your friends, so that everyone can make an informed decision when choosing the best  movement practice for them.

I’d like to hear your thoughts! Please comment below if you’d like! And I’m happy to answer any questions!

Thank you for spending time reading this!

Viviana

* please don’t call them “machines”!!! They are called “Apparatus” or “Equipment”. The difference being that while machines do the work for you, Pilates equipment is moved and controlled by your body. Think about a gym machine, like the Leg Press. It is built to make sure your body stays in the perfect range of motion and can’t deviate from good alignment.

Now think of The Footwork on the Reformer. Same movement (hip and knee flexion - basically a squat) but now you have to keep the ankles and hips stable, so that your legs can bend and extend in their full rage of motion and resist the pull from the springs.

Neither is better: they’re just not the same thing.