01 — THE APPARATUS
Reformer Pilates in Los Angeles
Private sessions on the reformer and the rest of the classical apparatus, one teacher and one client at a time.
The reformer is the machine most people picture when they hear the word Pilates: a carriage that slides on springs, a footbar, and straps for your hands and feet. At our studio on N Highland Ave you work on it privately. Nobody is on the next machine and nobody is waiting for yours.
The reformer is also only one piece of the method. Joseph Pilates designed a whole set of apparatus, and we teach on the pieces below.
The reformer
The springs set the load, so the same exercise can be made gentler or much harder by changing them. Your teacher changes the springs and the footbar as the hour goes on, and the order of the work follows how your body is moving that day.
In a group reformer class one instructor is watching a full room. Here every adjustment is made for you, which is the main reason people who know reformer classes find a private session feels like a different practice.
The jumpboard
We also teach on the jumpboard, a padded board that attaches to the end of the reformer so you can jump while lying on your back. It raises your heart rate with much less impact than jumping on the floor, and the springs let us set exactly how hard it is. It usually comes in once the reformer basics feel familiar.
The Cadillac
Also called the trapeze table, the Cadillac is a raised table inside a frame, with springs, bars and straps attached overhead and along the sides. It can hold you in positions you could not support on your own, which makes it a good place to learn a movement before you take it to the reformer. It is also where some of the most advanced work happens, hanging from the bars.
The arm chair
A low seat with a tall back, with springs and handles attached behind you. Most of the work is done sitting with your back against it, working your arms and shoulders against the springs, which teaches you to keep your trunk steady while your arms move. It is a good place to find out how much your neck and shoulders try to help.
The wunda chair
A small box with a spring-loaded pedal. It looks like the simplest piece in the room, and it is one of the hardest, because you press against the springs while balancing with far less support than the reformer gives you. Joseph Pilates designed it to fit in an apartment.
The ped-o-pul
A tall pole on a wooden base, with springs and handles coming down from the top. You stand on the base and draw the handles down and out against the springs. It takes the work into standing, where the posture you build lying down on the reformer has to hold up on its own.
The ladder barrel and spine correctors
Curved pieces for stretching and strengthening the spine in every direction: bending forward, arching back, side bending and twisting. They come into a session whenever your spine needs them.
Why we use the whole set
Each piece teaches something the others cannot. A classical session keeps its exercises in a set order, so one prepares you for the next, and your teacher brings in the other pieces as your body needs them. We train on the Contrology line by Balanced Body, built to Joseph Pilates' original specifications. Our classical Pilates page explains the method and the teaching line behind it.
Sessions and pricing
Every session is 55 minutes and private. The first is a $65 intro session. After that a single session is $150, and packages lower the rate. The full list is on our services page. Sessions over Zoom are mat work, since the apparatus lives in the studio.
How to start
You do not need any reformer experience. Book the $65 intro session, or book a free 15-minute call with Yonatan first. Our beginners page explains how the first session goes.