IT may resemble a nineteenth century torture device, but there’s a lot more to this conglomeration of cables, bars, straps and pulleys than meets the eye.
Each week I left The Yoga Lounge with an extra spring in my stride, head higher, shoulders back, belly scooped in and Anita’s voice in my head.
Home to the most expensive reformers in the industry - eight Stott Pilates V2 Max Plus™ Reformers - The Yoga Lounge’s Nisha Srivastava (a fully certified level 2 Stott Pilates instructor) and her team are stretching our minds, as well as our bodies.
Nisha has 16 years of experience in the industry and is the preferred teacher of Everton FC, Wigan Warriors and Saints RFL. One of the highlights of her career so far was teaching Sting while he was on tour in Manchester back in 2007. More recently, Pilates reformer is also said to be practised by David and Victoria Beckham.
Offered in 60 minute sessions, even if you’ve tried Pilates on mats before, Pilates reformer will feel completely new. This is because the machines’ range of modifications allow for exercises beyond what can be done on a mat.
Pilates Reformer Does Wonders For Sting
At The Yoga Lounge, Pilates reformer classes are open for all ages and abilities with a maximum of eight to a class, which means you’re in for due care and attention in a very relaxing atmosphere.
Anita, my instructor for four weeks, began every class in the same way – introducing the equipment, posture and breathing techniques. These refreshers didn’t take long but were important because it’s very easy to just start pulling and pushing the carriage without really thinking about what you’re doing and, more importantly, why you’re doing it.
“Take your hands, bring your finger tips together and put them on top of your rib cage. As you breathe, utilising lung capacity and the rib cage, your finger tips should come together and move apart. Connect through your core. Scoop the belly in.
The Yoga Lounge entrance“Now take focus to the shoulders sliding up and down. Inhale up, exhale away” said Anita, talking melodically as she waltzed around the room, keeping check of us all.
Being able to deeply inhale through the nose and fully exhale through the mouth innately is important as you progress in Pilates reformer because eventually it becomes second nature to inhale as you push the carriage out and exhale as you bring the carriage in, with the carriage responding to the effort you exert. This sequence provides the basis for most movements in the class.
The next step was to get used to how your spine needs to be aligned when using these machines.
“Flatten and arch the back. Keep the tail bone on the mat. We call flattening the back into the mat ‘imprinting’. The mid-point between arching and imprinting is your neutral spine and pelvis. There should be a small space under your lumbar spine when you’re in neutral.”
The idea was then to maintain this neutral spine in some of the exercises. A lot harder than it sounds, I might add.
The Stott Pilates V2 Max Plus™ Reformers at The Yoga Lounge, Manchester
When lying flat on your back and trying to lift your legs in the air into the chair position, the natural tendency is for the spine to imprint and as I tried to focus on keeping my spine neutral my abs tightened and quivered. Anita reassured me that it would become less challenging as I became stronger over the weeks and she was right.
Imprinting on demand also felt alien to me in those first couple of weeks. I’m naturally inclined to arch my back due to what Nisha told me is called “an increased lordosis and anterior pelvic tilt”.
While a deep lower back arch may look great in a bodycon dress (lordosis can often be seen in many mammals as an invitation to mate) from a health perspective it can lead to excess pressure on the spine, causing pain.
Likewise kyphosis – often experienced by people hunched over at computers a lot – is another type of muscular weakness that can result in physical imbalances too, weakening the back muscles.
Pilates reformer can help with both as the reformer acts as a frame supporting your body so you can increase your range of motion safely while adding resistance to strengthen and tone your entire body. This is what sets reformer apart from typical gym machines which isolate muscles.
There are 250+ different sequences you can practice on the reformer and in our 60 minute classes we got through, on average, ten to fifteen per week.
Lynda practices squats on the reformer
A lot of the exercises have multiple variations too. By simply adjusting your feet on the bar from toes together to heels together while pushing yourself back and forth on the carriage, you can work a range of different leg muscles.
We were doing the more acrobatic looking exercises by the end of week one, much to my surprise. Many of the exercises are performed lying on your back with your head on the head rest and shoulders stabilised against the shoulder blocks, but in others you’ll be sitting, kneeling or standing on the carriage.
It wasn’t long before I was up in a shoulder stand, on my front imitating butterfly stroke, stood up on the carriage doing squats and working the arms with a rowing technique using the straps and my own body weight. We listened and followed Anita’s instructions, changing the colour coded reformer springs upon her request to increase or decrease the resistance.
The reformers are very stable and the ropes are strong so there was never a moment I felt nervous about hoisting myself up after the first time. Much to the contrary, it was a lot of fun. The synchronised nature of Pilates reformer classes means you will get the job done and enjoy feeling your muscles working, all the while losing yourself in the motion.
Lynda tries a shoulder stand on the Pilates reformer
Each week I left The Yoga Lounge with an extra spring in my stride, head higher, shoulders back, belly scooped in and Anita’s voice in my head. You see Pilates reformer doesn’t end in that expensively kitted out room. The reformer, as its name suggests, amends what is wrong and changes you for the better.
And with regular practice that change can be, well, life changing really.
Pilates reformer costs £16 per person, per class. The Yoga Lounge also offers 10 reformer classes for £150 or four reformer classes for £40.99.
For more information about Pilates reformer at The Yoga Lounge, please visit theyogalounge.co.uk/pilates/classes/reformer
Follow Lynda on Twitter @lyndamoyo
The Yoga Lounge
1 The Great Northern Development
253 Deansgate Mews
Manchester
M3 4EN
