Pilates Studio

What IS a fully, equipped Pilates studio (and why does it look like a medieval torture chamber!)?

The wonderful thing about the Pilates equipment is how much feedback it gives you - you are able to correct your alignment and posture whilst you are working out - it gives you time to feel and think about your movements, which creates greater body awareness in everyday life. You are able to feel the correct muscles engaging before and during movement - those that need to work to keep your body still as well as those which enable movement. It allows the mind/body connections to develop so you learn to control your muscles and movement, make sure the weak muscles are firing so the strong muscles don't take over all the time. The equipment supports your movement, enabling the correct range of movement for the prime-moving muscles, whilst the synergist and antagonist muscles work at an appropriate level. We want the local stabilisers and local mobilizers to fire before the global muscles. By creating instability, the body must fire the deep stabilizing muscles to enable movement. This way we ensure that joints are kept healthy and mobile.

Industry-leading equipment

“Merrithew has dedicated more than 30 years to building, crafting and perfecting high quality exercise equipment for professional and personal use, under the guidance and leadership of Lindsay Merrithew. Using the highest quality materials and finest manufacturing processes in the industry, our equipment is versatile, durable and built to last, and is used by fitness and health care professionals around the world. Our care and craftsmanship is evident in every detail.”

www.merrithew.com

The Reformer

The best known part is the Reformer - a rectangular frame on legs, with a sliding carriage with a headrest and shoulder rests, a footbar and platform at one end and pulleys with ropes and straps on the other, springs and gearbar underneath. It works by adding different resistances by changing the spring load and moving the carriage by pushing or pulling with your feet or hands on the footbar or shoulder rests or putting your hands or feet in the straps and moving on different planes to activate different muscles. You can lie on it; sit on it; kneel on it or stand on it; facing forwards, backwards, sideways, up to the ceiling or down to the floor; you can flex, extend, twist, side-bend and do a combination of all of these in a series of precise Pilates exercises, known as the repertoire.

The Cadillac Trapeze Table

The Cadillac Trapeze Table is a huge frame with a mat suspended in the middle. It was named after the car! When Joseph Pilates arrived in New York in the 1920s, he was so impressed with the size of the cadillac he decided to name his equipment after it! It has a moveable bar push through bar on one end and the Roll Down bar on the other, both are attached to springs to add resistance to assist movement in different planes enabling great flexibility; the leg springs and arm spring challenge core strength and imbalances; the trapeze is used for strength and flexibility. The fuzzy straps (that people think is the kinky bit!) are for ankles when using the overhead bars or hanging (Okay, that sounds odd!). The chains are for safety to stop the Push Through Bar falling.