I went to BODYBAR Pilates

...and I have so much respect for anyone that can do pilates regularly. 

I have seriously always wanted to try pilates, but was so intimidated by it! I felt like I had no idea what to really expect going into it, like this was an exclusive club of Regina George’s and hot moms. I can see why anyone who does pilates would be super toned--this workout will get every part of your body shaking!

The basic set-up: The studio has two rows of “reformers.” Reformers are the tables that you get on to do your work out (seen all around me above.) The reformer has a foot bar, a floating table top (that gives resistance based on a series of springs that you can unhook,) and then a “tower” which is a metal piece going up and around the reformer and has an arm bar swinging down and a series of bands hanging off. For each of the movements, you are instructed to hold onto the reformer machine in a certain way and which springs to keep attached. The springs are color coded to how much resistance they provide (the higher, the harder to push against.) The 3 red are the easiest, then one yellow, and the blue is the highest resistance. Generally, the movements are fairly small and focus on moving your body on the moving platform against the resistance from either the springs or the bands. I did not use the chair or the 9 lb bar, but I’m sure in higher level classes you will. Also, the music was calming/alternative versions of songs, featuring lots of my girl T. Swift.

What I liked: Each movement was using the reformer to specifically target a different area of the body and we hit each area of the body during the workout. I was physically shaking, trembling, and quivering the entire time. Walking out, you know that you got a great workout in and are on your way to toning every muscle group. 

This workout is very individual as in there is not a lot of encouragement or interaction with the trainer or other people in the class. The trainer did not ask anyone’s names or help anyone with corrections (and I didn’t feel like any of the moves were self-explanatory.) I also felt like this workout was not the best for me to do regularly, because it was surprisingly really hard on my joints and my poor knees were not able to keep up.

Rating: 10/10- Pilates is a great workout to tone up each and every muscle in your body and take the time to focus and meditate. The reformer machine is great at helping you target different areas and making you push through to your strongest! 

Have fun at happy hour!