Top 5 Buys To Build Your Own Home Pilates Studio
Can’t get into your favourite gym or studio at the moment? Why not build your own studio at home with some key pieces of apparatus that can really give your Pilates workout a boost. There’s no need to shell out for your own Reformer, there are a number of pieces of kit that don’t cost a lot of money but deliver a lot of bang for your buck.
Magic Circle
The Magic Circle is one of the original pieces of small equipment designed by Joe. It is a ring of metal or flexible plastic with two shaped pads on either side. It is a really flexible bit of kit as it can be used in a multitude of ways.
As well as specific arm, leg and neck exercises that were designed for this apparatus you can also get creative and use it to enhance your usual mat workout. Sometimes I will use the Magic Circle as a tool to help organise the muscles in a particular area of my body, for example holding the circle between my hands during the Roll Up or Hundred on the mat helps bring focus to the upper body and the stability needed around the shoulders helping me to curl my spine and use my arms more effectively.
You can pick up a Magic Circle from lots of online stores and they can range from £15 to £40. The more expensive options tend to be made of metal which makes them more durable and also less flexible meaning they can add more resistance to exercises.
Towel
I’m pretty confident everyone already has one of these, so no need to buy anything at all! I’ve already demonstrated how to use the Towel exercise from the Classical repertoire to help build strength and flexibility in the feet on my Facebook page here so check out the video to see how simple and effective this set of exercises is.
You could even take it further and investigate the repertoire of the Fletcher Towel work developed by Ron Fletcher, a student of Joe and Clara Pilates. This is a typical example of how a student of Pilates took on the principles and the spirit of the work and continued its evolution in order to best serve the needs of his clients. You can find out more about this work in this video from Pilates Anytime.
Foam Roller
A Foam Roller can be used to do the job that some of the more traditional Pilates equipment does, working like "extra muscles" to provide support when learning challenging mat exercises such as Swan, Corkscrew and Jack Knife. In Swan, for example, laying on your tummy with both arms outstretched, hands on the roller, you can achieve the feeling of drawing your chest to the roller as you roll it towards you, arching your spine in a beautiful curve.
You can also use the roller to add a greater stability challenge to your mat workout. You can lay along the roller to do versions of Hundred or Single Leg Circles and this demands much greater body awareness and control throughout the exercise.
Tennis ball
You can use a good old fashioned tennis ball to replicate the work of the Pilates Foot Corrector. Whilst this is not as sturdy as the original piece of equipment it is rather more affordable, you can pick up a pack of tennis balls for a few pounds whilst a quality Foot Corrector might set you back £200!
Placing the tennis ball under the ball, arch or heel of the foot and pressing down into the ball without changing your body weight, or leaning forward or back, strengthens the muscles of the feet and articulates the many joints within the structure. This is really important for maintaining stability whilst walking or running, particularly over uneven ground.
Hand Weights
Many of us probably already have a set of small hand weights gathering dust somewhere around the house so why not dig them out and bring them into a Pilates workout. Just like the Magic Circle they are super versatile as you can add them to your mat workout or use them for the Classical Hand Weights Arm Series which helps build strength and tone from the wrist to the shoulder ready for exercises like Push Ups on the Mat or Chair, or the Rowing series on Reformer.
Holding hand weights during the Roll Up, Hundred or Spine Stretch exercises on mat both increases the challenge of the exercise and helps to organise the muscles in the upper body to complete the exercise more efficiently.
If you don’t already have a set of light hand weights, around 0.5 - 1kg is best you could invest in some as there are many reasonably priced options available online. Alternatively you could just use a couple of bottles of water or tins of beans!
If you’d like to know how to get the most from any of these pieces of home apparatus why not get in touch for a personal lesson!