Pilates Reformer...

On Wednesday, I went to my first Pilates Reformer class. I was suggested to go to this class by the guy who joined me up to the gym as it would be less pressure on my ankles as it's done on a Pilates Reformer bed and not as weight loading on my ankles.

A Pilates Reformer machine.

A Pilates Reformer Machine looks a bit like some kind of torture chamber/contraption when you first see it. However, when you see people laying down on it to do their exercise, you immediately feel much better about bing able to use it yourself. Work out while laying down? Yes, please!

The machine uses springs to increase resistance, along with a sliding bed, straps for hands/feet, a bar for pressure, and a box to do some back workouts on. My gym has 13 machines set up in a small room:

Pilates Reformer class at the gym.

The class went for 55 minutes, and worked on stretching different parts of the body in a repetitious manner. Arms, legs, abs, back, shoulders - you name it, it was stretched! The was a big focus on breathing throughout, as well as positioning of the body, including keeping feet together a fair bit. Some of the stretches felt good, and others were real tough work to do, especially doing them several times over. I think I will be feeling the after-effects for a few days yet! The class was a beginner's class and there were a few others who had never been to one before, but the instructor showed us how to set up and use the machine, and also came around the class to give instructions to individuals for body positioning and whatnot, which was very helpful. 

I would like to go again, but I'm not sure when it is on at a time that suits me once I go back to work. I think it would be better than regular Pilates as there is the use of resistance rather than your own weight so you can't phone it in as much. I will still try a regular Pilates class as I've never done one (have done Yoga which was a killer). I felt like I worked harder in this class than BodyPump, and I didn't get any pains in the body (apart from the regular for being inflexible/a newbie), as it is harder to not position yourself correctly on the machine.

Have you ever done a Pilates Reformer class? Do you do regular Pilates? Do you prefer Yoga or a mix of the two? Do you hate these mind/body classes and prefer to do regular stretch or weights work?