Pilates has become one of the most popular forms of fitness training and its unique benefits makes it ideal for people with virtually any fitness level. Pilates fitness equipment can be as simple as a mat or as complicated as a Cadillac (I’ll explain this later). Not only is it a very inexpensive form of exercise but much like Yoga it goes beyond mere physical training. Pilates is all about alignment, breathing, posture, concentration, control, flow and flexibility. While no real additional is required, what lacked however was resistance training which is why several types of Pilates fitness equipment were introduced.

Mats And Balance Balls:
The most basic equipment is a matt and a balance ball. Balance balls help with many of the balancing postures and helps with core training. The so-called Arch Barrel is an additional piece of equipment that’s used during stretching and helps to support the shoulders and the back.

The Reformer:
The Reformer is probably the most important and most widely used piece of Pilates fitness equipment. It allows you to add a level of resistance to each and every one of the basic Pilates workouts and depending on your fitness level, it allows you to adjust your workout from easy to very intense.  A Reformer will add resistance to your Pilates training and help you tone and build muscle without the usual harshness of weight training. Its basically a sliding platform that works with a pulley system and springs to provide resistance. A wide variety of exercises can be done on this and many see this as an “all in one” home gym.

The Cadillac:
A Trapeze Table or a Cadillac as its commonly known is a piece of Pilates equipment that can be used for a variety of resistance exercises. It has a series of bars, straps and springs attached to it and allows you to use it with several different postures and positions to target a wide variety of muscle groups. While you can use this at home, its quite a cumbersome device and probably best suited for a fitness studio.

The Wunda Chair:
It usually made of a hardwood frame with an upholstered seat. It resembles a chair which is spring loaded and the sides can be pushed down to provide resistance during the exercise. By adjusting the springs you can increase or decrease the resistance levels.

Most gyms and fitness centers that have Pilates studios will have all this equipment. Pilates classes usually use one or all of these equipment – depending on the level of the class. If you want to use Pilates fitness equipment at home you will need to get proper guidance from an instructional video. There are many Pilates manuals and video programs available and since Pilates is all about technique, it makes up a really important part of your workout program.

Although these are some of the key pieces of Pilates fitness equipment there is a lot more to explore. As you get more advanced or as you explore different approaches to Pilates you can explore different pieces of equipment. In the end its complimentary to the exercises and should never take over what you are doing. The core of Pilates exercises is for it to be free from “machines” and heavy equipment, so be mindful of that and always keep it real.
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