Reformer Pilates or Mat Pilates?

Pilates is everywhere these days, it seems. (Thank you Tik Tok and Instagram!) It’s certainly boosted an interest in “Reformer Pilates”, and I get a lot of inquiries if b.Pilates & Fitness offers it. While we do have them, reformers are only part of the full Pilates experience. In fact, Mat and Reformer Pilates were designed to work together. 

When I first started doing Pilates, mat work was all that was being talked about. This was in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, when VHS videos and DVDs were still a thing. The gym I taught at had added a couple of mat classes to the schedule, as were most gyms and rec centers. Back then, I had no clue that Pilates was named after a person, Joseph Pilates, nor did I know that he had invented and patented over 25 apparatuses to be used with his exercise system. The reformer is one of those, and is named so because Joe designed it to “reform the body”. 

Comparing Mat and Reformer Pilates

When you study how Joe designed the Pilates work, you’ll learn that he created a set sequence of exercises for both the mat and reformer. Many of them are the same in each sequence, but by design, the reformer has added resistance from the springs. The carriage, the flat surface you work on, also moves. Over time, you learn how to control the carriage and springs so you’re using your muscles instead of allowing the apparatus to push or pull you around. 

On the mat, the exercises also have you looking for length and control, but you need to create your own resistance to build strength and improve mobility and flexibility. This can be difficult to understand at first, so using the reformer is a great way to feel how you can resist and lengthen. It will help you get more from the mat work. Reformer Pilates also shows you if you’re setting yourself up off-center or if you’re moving with more strength or a better range on one side of your body than the other. The symmetry of the reformer can help you to even these things out.  

The mat work is body weight work, which can be hard! The most dreaded gym workouts are generally body weight exercises, like burpees, jump squats, and push ups. While Pilates doesn’t have you jumping up and down, it does make you lift and move your own weight in all sorts of ways. The more you do it and learn to create length and control, the harder it gets. 

Mat & Reformer Pilates Go Hand in Hand

To get the most out of your Pilates workouts you should incorporate both reformer and mat sessions. I love to take clients through a mat workout every little while to help them see the progress they’re making by working on the reformer and all of the other Pilates apparatuses (which we’ll save for another day). All of the apparatuses and the mat are meant to work together, and they’re amazing in their own ways.