LITTLE ROCK — When asked to describe a Pilates Reformer, even the most knowledgeable can be at a loss for words.

“It’s hard to describe,” said Melissa Burkett, owner of IM=X Pilates Studio in Little Rock.

“You really just have to do it.”

While the machine itself is difficult to explain, users agree that Reformers allow for a full body workout like no other.

Reformer exercises are core focused, leaving the body with increased strength and flexibility.

A Pilates Reformer is a spring-loaded contraption with a pulley system that can be adjusted to provide more or less resistance. Individuals lie or sit on a gliding carriage and use handles and bars to perform resistance training with their own body weight.

After trying “every exercise known to man,” Tami Shuck of Springdale decided to try Pilates Reformers on a friend’s recommendation. She has been doing private Reformer training at Pilates Plus in the Fayetteville area for about a year and a half.

“I’ve seen it all, done it all, tried it all,” Shuck said. “I had never seen anything as quick to define the body as the Reformer machine, and I had a lot to compare it to.”

A Reformer is a “wonderful piece of equipment. Not only does it strengthen every muscle, it also stretches and flexes,” said Elizabeth Grant, owner of Pilates of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Reformers allow for “purposeful movement,” which helps with posture, alignment and balance, she said.

“You can do hundreds and hundreds of exercises on Reformers,” said Hannah Harris, owner of Pilates Plus. Most exercises focus on the “core,” which includes abdominal, pelvic, hip and back muscles.

“Reformers engage your core muscles that people don’t always engage,” Harris said. “We’re built to use our core first and our extremities last. It helps gain control of posture and body alignment.”

Reformers also “stabilize the body for perfect alignment, neutralize the spine and add resistance training,” Burkett said.

Workouts are also considered “full-body” because arms, shoulders, gluteal muscles and legs are put to work, as well.

Compared to Pilates done on a mat, Reformers provide more support to the body, Burkett said.

Harris said Reformers and mat work have pros and cons, but complement each other.

And, Harris said, one is no better than the other but, in a perfect world, individuals should do mat work once a week and Reformer exercises twice a week.

Depending on the move, Reformers can make it easier or harder, because the combination of pulleys, springs and bars can add resistance and offer assistance, Harris said. For example, she said, when doing leg lifts on a Reformer, straps help pull legs up, but this assistance is not available when doing leg lifts on the floor.

Shuck, 50, said she finds mat work more difficult and prefers Reformers because they are better for overall body conditioning.

Lori Bremer, who lives in Fayetteville, also thinks mat work is more difficult and said Reformers better assist with balance. “I can feel my core being stabilized and working,” Bremer, 41, said. “There’s no other form of exercise that’s that apparent.”

BEDRIDDEN SOLUTION

The Reformer was invented by Joseph Pilates, who also invented the Pilates exercise system. His inspiration came while working with injured prisoners of war during World War I. He reassembled the springs on hospital beds to set up resistance exercises for patients.

Pilates Reformer classes in Arkansas tend to be small because studios have only a few machines available. Because of this, studios don’t take drop ins; individuals must sign up for classes ahead of time.

At IM=X and Pilates of Central Arkansas, classes are capped at eight. Pilates Plus, which opened about two years ago, limits classes to four. All the studios also offer private and small-group Reformer training for all levels.

IM=X’s beginner class, called Basic Xercizer, is a nonstop, hour-long Reformer class with a little mat work thrown in, said Burkett, who opened the state’s only IM=X franchise four years ago.

“We can accommodate a total novice to a professional athlete,” Burkett said. “I love that I can offer something to anyone in the same class using different modifications to the machines.”

ONE-ON-ONE ATTENTION

Burkett, Grant and Harris suggest that newcomers schedule a one-on-one introduction to the Reformer before signing up for a class. This acquaints individuals with the machine. Grant said it is also an opportunity to discuss any health issues the student may have and allows the instructor to teach that student personal modifications.

While no one denies the effectiveness of Reformer workouts, most agree there is a learning curve and the machines can seem very intimidating at first.

“There are lots of jokes about it looking torturous,” Grant said. Even Harris regularly describes Reformers as “medieval torture devices.”

“I know it looks like it will rip you apart,” Harris said. “Most are intimidated at first, but once you get on one, you realize you’re not going to fly off.”

In fact, Harris said Reformer workouts can even be relaxing: “It brings awareness to yourself because we encourage you to focus on your breath. You feel better and less anxious.”

Erin Johnson, of Fayetteville, who attends Pilates Plus,said when she first saw a Reformer, she thought, “Oh no, I can’t do that,” but she felt more comfortable after watching others in class.

“Physically, I didn’t have that confidence,” she said. “The person next to me had perfect form, so I watched her out of the corner of my eye. Now, I close my eyes and try to get more in touch with myself. I can’t think about anything but Pilates. It’s nice to go somewhere and lose yourself. All the stress floats away.”

BREATH SUPPORT

Burkett said the biggest challenge for newcomers is learning the Pilates breath, which is “forced exhalation,” in which the abdominal muscles are pre-contracted and the spine stabilized on the exhale.

“People have the tendency to hold their breath, so it takes a while to get used to it,” particularly coordinating breath with movement, and learning where to put hands and feet on the Reformer, Burkett said.

Harris said her students often say, “there’s so many things to remember,” especially “when I tell the class to hold your legs up, curl into a ball, slide your shoulders away from your ears, and by the way, exhale.”

The Pilates breath is an energizing, more efficient way to breathe during exertion, because “you breathe into your rib cage, inhale and expand the ribs laterally. You pull in the abs on the exhale,” she said.

LEARNING CURVE

Mary Millsap, who lives in Little Rock and attends classes at IM=X, said she was “shy at first” when doing the exhalations, but understands its importance. At first, she said using Reformers was very difficult and she found herself straining. Now, she loves it.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done for full body,” she said.

Bremer said she started attending Reformer classes because of issues with flexibility and coordination and made a commitment to try it multiple times to see how her body adapted. She has stuck with it for five years.

Johnson, 37, said she was surprised at how much concentration was needed in Reformer training: “It’s just as mentally taxing as physically. I like the challenge.”

Soreness, especially in the torso, gluteals and hips, is a common aftereffect of using Pilates Reformers. Burkett calls it “a good kind of sore.”

“It means you used muscles you haven’t felt in a long time,” she said.

Even after attending classes for more than 2 1/2 years, Millsap said, she still gets sore sometimes, but that’s how she knows “it’s still working.”

“I was sore from my neck to my toes,” Shuck said. “It hit every single muscle in the body, even ones I don’t think I’ve ever used.”

PHYSICAL REHAB

Many students turn to Pilates as a way to ease into exercise when they are out of shape or have health problems, said Harris, who is also a physical therapist.

People of all fitness levels can benefit from Reformer exercises because they are slow, controlled and low impact, Burkett said. The machines can accommodate invalids and people with impaired function.

Grant said most of her clients come in with some type of neck or back pain, and almost always see a decrease in pain, as well as an increase in strength and flexibility. Reformers teach individuals to move properly while holding the back stable during the movement, she explained.

Grant, a nurse for 21 years, opened her studio in 2007. She began doing Pilates after suffering chronic back pain incurred while lifting a patient.

Millsap, 53, has arthritis in her hip and one of her legs is longer than the other. She said that after about six weeks, she noticed her clothes fitting differently. But mostly, she said, she feels generally fitter and has seen improved flexibility in her golf game and strength in her legs when riding her road bike.

“I feel better about my body in general,” Millsap said. “I feel stronger, and more in control and aware of my whole body.”

Burkett, who estimates that a Reformer class can burn 400-500 calories, said she has seen many clients lose several inches, mostly from the waist and hips.

For Shuck, who lives in Springdale, the biggest result is improved posture, stronger core and more “stamina during the day,” she said. She said she loves Reformers and is always encouraging friends to try it.

“Give it a whirl,” she said. “You’ll either love it or hate it.”

ActiveStyle, Pages 23 on 01/07/2013