Hardcore Reformer at Mercury Fitness Pilates Center, SF

Hardcore Reformer at Mercury Fitness Pilates Center is great for those wanting to target their Core, small muscles, and become more proficient on the reformer.

CLASS: Hardcore Reformer, Mercury Fitness Pilates Center (Cow Hollow) Monday, 5:30pm

TRAINER: Lauren G. – Lauren understands form, the body, and movement to instruct this class from a technical point of view.

SWEAT:  5/10 – Not much sweat, but each movement will produce a shake and burn.

LEVEL: Beginner to Intermediate – Class requires some knowledge of the reformer, but since class size is small you do not need to be an expert.

TOP 3 TAKEAWAYS:

• Old school. This class is built around the Pilates fundamentals and uses traditional reformers.
• Short reps. On the reformer, each movement has at max 6 reps but each movement is slow and controlled for maximum burn.
• Personalized instruction. Since there are limited reformers, class size is small allowing for individualized attention.

MUSIC: Music is Indie (Mumford and Sons, The Avett Brothers, etc.) but is played in the background and is drowned out by the instruction and focus needed for each movement.

BRING: Grippy socks and water bottle if desired (not required).

CLASSPASS: Yes

THE WORKOUT

The workout begins with a little breathwork and yoga roll downs. Then the class builds a little fire with deeper movements both on and off the reformer (think variations of squats on the floor and on the reformer carriage).

The entire class alternated between targeting the core, lower body, and upper body while minding the core the whole workout (belly button up and in). We Cycled through classic Pilates movements, and each exercise only consisted of four to six reps and then we topped it off with tiny pulses or static holds.

The one piece of additional equipment used in class were boxes to add height to the reformer carriage. The height helped us deepen our core work, as we worked the back (supermans), obliques (deep mermaids) and lower abdomen (bird-dog variations).

Throughout class, Lauren spoke a lot about the core and pelvic floor; and gave us detailed directions so we could picture how each muscle should properly move.

Overall, this class passed quickly but it was clear we had an effective workout.

Mercury Fitness Pilates Center | 2904 Laguna St, SF | 415.567.9009| mercuryfitness.com