Pilates Fitness Equipment
Pilates Matwork exercises are, in my opinion, the most important basis of any workout. "Matwork" means just that - a mat or other suitable floor covering - no fancy equipment necessary. Clients are always amazed when I show them how many great toning moves they can do using just their bodyweight. Which means they can do their workout anytime and anywhere, without massive amounts of equipment cluttering up the spare room!
Having said that, there is some great basic equipment you can purchase cheaply that can enhance your Pilates workout by making it more interesting and challenging. It is a fact that your body adapts quickly to any exercise system you do regularly, so it is a good thing to change your workout every now and again and do something different to challenge your body. Otherwise you will hit an exercise plateau and get no further benefits from your exercises.
So what types of Pilates Exercise Equipment are there?
At the top end (pricy!) are the Pilates Reformer, WundaChair and Pilates Power Gym. These are all fantastic pieces of equipment but can be extremely expensive (Reformers can cost $1000's) and require specialist tutition if you wish to be safe. Reformers are also huge and would need a room of their own in your house.
However, at the other end of the market, there are all sorts of wonderful "toys" to refresh your workout and keep your body guessing, as well as keeping you interested: -
Pilates Magic Rings
Small rings with padded handles that can be squeezed, lifted, pushed and pulled. Can be used for legs, arms, shoulders and chest to firm and tone all those floppy bits!
Pilates Exercise Bands
Flat pieces of flexible rubber band used to introduce some resistance into your exercises; resistance training is excellent for helping to develop those long lean muscles and burn loads of calories.
Pilates Balls (Stability balls)
Used to give you an unstable surface to work from. Any exercise done on one of these is far more challenging. Yes, I know they're unstable - they're meant to be. Always exercise on a soft surface and be careful.
Pilates Mats
All types of different colours and textures to make your exercise more comfortable.
Pilates Rollers
A large sausage-shaped piece of hard foam you can lie on, lean on or even stand on to do your exercises. A foam roller forces the body to work harder - as with the Pilates Balls. My classes all love it when we bring the rollers; they all work hard but have great fun and giggle like kids all the way through
So, if you want to make your Pilates exercise sessions more challenging and certainly much more interesting, consider buying one or more pieces of equipment - you won't regret it. And because these pieces are small they can easily be put away in a closet or under the bed, leaving the spare room free for Auntie Mavis. Oh help. Quick, buy a Reformer!
If you would like more detail about the different types of equipment available, take a look to the left and click on one of the links.
All the best,
Carol J Bartram
(Pilates Instructor)
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