The Reformer
For those of you who follow me on Facebook, or who know me better through my Pilates connections, you will already be familiar with my enthusiasm for this lovely piece of traditional (yes traditional) Pilates kit. And for those of you who are sitting there scratching your heads thinking "what the hell is she going on about now" allow me to give you a brief introduction to the Reformer.
Way back in the 1900s Joseph Pilates created the Reformer by fixing springs and pulleys to the beds of bedridden patients to enable them to exercise and thus speed up their recovery. This primitive version of the Reformer has developed over the years into a version of what you see in the photo attached to this blog post. At this point I must point out there are many different versions, some metal, some wooden, some more expensive than others, different spring tensions etc. but all basically the same shape. And all designed with more or less the same intentions/functionality into them.
So where does the Reformer fit in with my Soft Tissue work I hear you say? More recently I have been using the Reformer as part of my rehab prescription for my clients. It has all the benefits of Pilates matwork but more: the resistance of the pulleys and springs are better than just your bodyweight on the mat, the resistance can be adjusted to speed up recovery/results, by ensuring you do the exercises in the CORRECT alignment will give you better posture, which in turn reduces the chance of injury, retrains misaligned muscle patterning, challenges your stability/mobility and helps you build up your core strength quicker. Some of the other positives include better back health, flexibility and body awareness.
I currently run private one to one sessions on the Reformer at my home studio in Preston, Dorset. In fact many of you (my clients) have already seen my Reformer when you have been for your soft tissue treatments - it’s that 'unusual looking' bench with the ropes and chains etc. I'm so pleased to be able to offer this service to my clients as it really does help improve their lives.