Reformer Pilates vs Mat Pilates: Differences & Benefits

Over the past decade, Pilates has become an increasingly popular form of exercise across London. It offers a balanced approach to fitness, emphasising strength, flexibility, and control while being accessible enough to perform in group classes.

Many people turn to Pilates as a way to exercise throughout the week without needing complex equipment or dedicating time and effort to creating an in-depth workout routine.

Now, with Reformer Pilates similarly growing in popularity, questions of which is the better are becoming commonplace. While both methods provide substantial benefits, they cater to different goals and preferences, which we'll explore in this post.

What is the Main Difference Between Reformer and Mat Pilates?

Reformer Pilates and Mat Pilates both focus on building strength, enhancing flexibility, and promoting balance, but the primary difference lies in the equipment, or lack thereof, involved in each method.

Reformer Pilates uses a Reformer, a machine that uses springs, straps, and a sliding carriage to create an environment where resistance is controlled. Mat Pilates, on the other hand, is performed on the floor by leveraging one's body weight through exercises that target core stability and endurance.

Understanding how both are performed will help you gauge how they can support your fitness goals.

How is Reformer Pilates Performed?

The Reformer is a specialised equipment resembling a low bed with a sliding carriage. This machine includes adjustable features such as springs, pulleys, and straps. These provide resistance and support during the exercise, and the machine as a whole is required to perform Reformer Pilates.

But why are these parts important?

Resistance Control

The ability to adjust the resistance of the springs within the Reformer makes it perfect for all fitness levels. Beginners and advanced practitioners of Pilates can scale the exercises to their appropriate level and challenge. Similarly, this makes Reformer Pilates highly adaptable for those rehabilitating from injury to those seeking an intensive workout.

The machine's scalability means you can increase the difficulty curve over time, ensuring the stimulus is challenging and you can progress, similarly to how you would progress with other forms of training, such as weight lifting.

Dynamic Movements

The sliding carriage on the Reformer enables a range of dynamic movements that would be challenging to achieve on a mat. These exercises involve pushing, pulling, and stabilising movements, which force and enhance muscle control and engagement.

Guided Alignment & Support

The Reformer provides guided alignment, which helps individuals maintain correct posture and positioning throughout the workout. This structure can make Reformer Pilates feel more supportive, particularly for those with joint issues or postural concerns.

How is Mat Pilates Performed?

As the name suggests, Mat Pilates is performed on a mat without equipment. Instead, you must leverage bodyweight exercises that challenge your core and stabilise your muscles.

Bodyweight exercises

A series of bodyweight exercises can improve core strength, stability, and control without needing external equipment. The focus is on body weight resistance; however, as you become more adept at Mat Pilates, you can include resistance bands, small weights, and Pilates rings for additional challenge and direction.

Accessibility & Convenience

A Pilates Mat requires far less space than other options, making it an accessible choice for nearly everyone. You can practice Mat Pilates at home or in a gym without equipment. Similarly, while both Reformer and Mat Pilates can be used alongside other training modalities, Mat Pilates can be used as a warm-up to a personal training session.

Core Focus & Muscle control

Mat Pilates relies heavily on your ability to control your muscles without using a machine. The emphasis on bodyweight control helps develop foundational core strength, which can benefit other types of activity.

What Benefits to Expect from Reformer Pilates

Reformer Pilates provides various benefits, making it a popular choice among Londoners looking for a well-rounded fitness routine. Here's what you can expect:

Enhanced Core Strength & Stability: The resistance provided by the Reformer machine requires more core engagement, allowing you to strengthen your abdominal muscles more effectively. Typically, this will strengthen these muscles more effectively than body weight alone.

Improved Flexibility & Range of Motion: Reformer Pilates facilitates greater muscle stretching and lengthening. Over time, this can lead to improved flexibility and joint mobility, which are particularly beneficial for full range of motion and can enhance quality of life.

Support for Rehabilitation & Injury Recovery: The adjustable resistance levels on the Reformer make it an ideal choice for those recovering from an injury. Exercises can also be modified with support to reduce impact and provide a low-stress, safe environment to support healing.

Increased Muscle Tone & Endurance: The Reformer's dynamic resistance allows for an overall more intense workout than its mat counterpart. Over time, intense workouts that target and tone muscles can lead to muscle endurance and a leaner, more toned physique.

What Benefits to Expect from Mat Pilates

Mat Pilates offers its own unique set of advantages, particularly for convenience and accessibility. Here's what you can expect:

Strengthen Core Muscles with Minimal Equipment: Mat Pilates targets core stability and strength, offering an effective workout with just a mat. For those who prefer minimal equipment and just diving straight in, Mat Pilates can offer that while still providing a challenging core workout.

Improves Balance & Coordination: Since Mat Pilates relies solely on your bodyweight control. This helps improve balance and body awareness (proprioception), which is essential for everyday movement and injury prevention. This is also particularly beneficial for enhancing and remaining consistent as we age.

Increases Flexibility & Joint Health: Stretching and strengthening Mat Pilates exercises enhance flexibility and help maintain joint health. This is useful for individuals seeking to improve mobility without the added resistance offered by a Reformer.

Versatile and Beginner Friendly: While Reformer is a great beginner option, Mat Pilates requires no machinery and can be done anywhere, arguably providing a lower entry barrier to getting started. It can also be an excellent option for starting out, where you would prefer to understand your limits and experiment with your strength in your home.

Is Reformer Pilates Better than Mat Pilates?

A common question we get asked at The Body Lab is whether Reformer Pilates is better than Mat Pilates. The decision will often come down to individual goals and preferences. Each has its own unique benefits, but as they're both forms of Pilates, other benefits are the same.

For main considerations, there are two key points:

If You Prefer Equipment-Based Workouts

Reformer Pilates may be better if you prefer using equipment when working out. While a preference, equipment does also provide additional resistance and support. In the context of beginners, this can mean that you feel more secure and safe while working out. Additionally, the exercises can feel more streamlined and guided.

During our 1-on-1 Reformer Pilates sessions, our trainers will help guide you through exercises correctly and safely, which can lead to a more effective workout. While the same can be applied to the mat, movements rely entirely on your body control, so there's no available machine to help stabilise you when you require it.

If You Prefer Convenience

Mat Pilates may be the better choice if you value the convenience of bodyweight exercises and enjoy the simplicity of working out with minimal equipment. Using a mat means you can fit in a workout in most spaces with minimal set-up time.

Mat Pilates still offers a robust core workout despite the lack of equipment.

If you're looking for workout progression

Undoubtedly, Reformer Pilates is the better choice if you're looking to progress consistently in your fitness goals without requiring you to increase the complexity of your workout. While you can do the same with Mat Pilates, as it relies solely on your body weight control, you may plateau when you've mastered the exercises at your current body weight.

Once that happens, your only options are to add additional supporting weight, which can have its own challenges, or adapt your exercises to include more demanding options.

Conversely, as the Reformer machine allows you to adjust resistance, you can progressively make the exercises more complex, creating a streamlined progression curve. This ensures that you remain safe while performing the exercises, as you don't need to alter anything regarding the exercises themselves to increase the challenge.

Which Is More Challenging: Reformer or Mat Pilates?

Speaking of challenge, which is more challenging to perform?

Both Reformer and Mat Pilates can be challenging but in different ways. Reformer, as mentioned, offers adjustable resistance levels that can widely alter the intensity of exercises, making it highly adaptable with the potential to exceed bodyweight Mat Pilates in terms of strenuous exercise.

Mat Pilates, however, requires high muscle control and stability. Relying solely on your body weight, Mat Pilates can be incredibly challenging for those new to core-focused exercises or those who lack flexibility. Starting out, it may be hard to hold positions for the required time or even get into specific core-challenging positions without first building the core strength.

While this can be rewarding in its own right, it can also lead to a defeated mindset.

Ultimately, the challenge of both can be adjusted to match your fitness level, with Mat Pilates requiring different exercises.

Starting Your Pilates Journey

Reformer and Mat Pilates offer distinct benefits, and the choice between the two depends largely on your fitness goals, preferences, and current level. While Reformer Pilates provides equipment's added resistance and support, Mat Pilates offers simplicity and accessibility.

At The Body Lab in Kensington, we offer 1-on-1 Reformer Pilates sessions under the guidance of a Reformer expert. Whether you want to enhance core strength, increase flexibility, or find a supportive fitness environment in London, The Body Lab is here to help you achieve your wellness goals.

Contact us today to start your Reformer Pilates journey, or book your first session through our Reformer Page.