The Reformer, if used right, can be a life-changer no matter who you are! A single workout with this miracle machine helps you improve your physique comprehensively; it corrects your posture, tones up your muscles, and helps you lose weight. So while you're using it, why not get the fullest a Reformer can offer?
Here are 5 top tips that you can use to ensure excellent results in your Reformer workout.
1. Wear comfortable clothing
Wearing the right workout gear will lead to a more comfortable experience in general. It will increase your flexibility and will help you achieve the right posture more easily. Comfortable clothes will also guarantee a distraction-free workout, as you won’t be pained by the stiffness of your clothing mid-session. Furthermore, wearing comfortable clothing helps you maintain harmony and composure, and ensures the efficiency of your Reformer workout.
You should wear tight & comfortable yoga clothes while you engage in Reformer exercises
It is advised you wear tight & comfortable yoga clothes while you engage in Reformer exercises
2. Have the correct posture.
Everything in the Reformer comes down to posture. Maintaining the correct posture while in your Reformer will help you improve your balance and maintain muscle tone efficiently. A good posture will also help you prevent all kinds of muscle and joint pains after your Reformer workout.
Good posture is always the key to being a Pilates pro!
3. Learn Pilates breathing
Pilates style Breathing is the most essential part of Reformer exercise. Unfortunately, it is also the part that is most often overlooked by beginners. This style of breathing, also known as ‘lateral’ breathing, is fundamentally different from breathing techniques in other exercises; hence, it is crucial to learn it.
As you inhale, direct the airflow through your nose. Once the inhaled air is in your system, channel the air through your ribcage, and feel your chest contracts. When doing this, do not direct the airflow to the abdominal area.
Lateral breathing is accomplished by first inhaling directly through your nose. Take a deep breath through your nose and channel the air into your ribcage. Feel your chest expand. When doing this, do not direct the airflow to the abdominal area.As you exhale, slowly contract your ribcage, and breathe out through your mouth. Feel your chest as it contracts.
As you exhale, slowly close your ribcage and breathe out the air through your mouth, and feel your chest contracts.
As you perform this breathing technique, make sure you visualize the different parts of your body expanding and contracting in response to the movement of the airflow. This visualization will help you develop harmony in your workout, and will help activate the targeted muscle groups.
4. Customize the functional features of the Reformer
True Reformer professionals don’t fit themselves to the Reformers; they fit the Reformers to themselves. Basically, by tweaking some of the functional features of the Reformers, professionals make the Reformers fully accommodate their physique and the intensity of their workouts. But why do all this? The answer is simple; customization boosts the effectiveness and comfort of your workout while virtually eliminating the risk of post-workout pain.Here are some scenario-based examples on how to customize the functional features of the Reformer - test these out yourself!
If you think that the carriage (the big flat mat of the Reformer) glides too easily, you can increase the resistance of the carriage by changing the number of tension strings hooked.
If you think that the Reformer hand-foot straps are too short to accommodate your physique, you can pull out the strings of the straps underneath your reformer to increase the length of the straps.
If you are too short to reach the footbar (the long bar that sticks out near the edge of the Reformer), you can change the angle of the footbar accordingly so that it leans towards you.
The Footbar of this Reformer is customized to accommodate your workout needs.
Note* There are many other functional features in your Reformer that you can customize besides these, so explore!
Related Blog: Step-by-step guide to buy a Pilates Reformer
5. Try out the basics first.
Reformer exercises are completely different from yoga, gym workouts, and probably any other exercises you have been doing prior. Therefore, it is important that you start your Reformer journey from very basic-level exercises and and then slowly advance to more challenging ones in a progressive manner. This will allow you to develop a strong foundation for advanced Reformer exercises later on.