People would often ask me, “Well what’s the difference? Should I do Mat Pilates or Reformer Pilates?"

Or clients seem to join camps - one group being, “I’m spending money so that I can use the fancy apparatus. Can you believe the instructor taught us plain mat exercises?” and the other group faithfully coming to Mat class never seeing or understanding the need for apparatus work.

The answer is: You Need Both.

 When I first started Pilates, as a broke college student, I could only afford Pilates Mat classes and it had me hooked, right from the get go, with unrecognizable strength and physique changes. But, I will say, when I incorporated the apparatus, it too changed my body and strength for the better.

What I like to tell people is this: you get your strength from the mat. There is nothing to assist you, and you are completely responsible for the moves on your own. With the added springs and tension of the apparatus, you will see toning and flexibility changes more rapidly.

Joe designed the apparatus to help people get strong enough to perform the mat sequence. And with that said, there is an actual sequence. The exercises are put into a certain order to prepare the body from one thing to the next and to create a flow of one continuous exercise.

This month we will be going over why the exercises are in this order, what the two-way stretch means in each exercise and which exercises are appropriate for which bodies.

Studio Flo will also be participating in the Pilates Community’s March event: #MarchMatness!