Cadillac, Reformer, Chair, and Tower: a guide to the Pilates apparatus

Mat work is where the Pilates method begins, but Joseph Pilates also built a set of spring-loaded apparatus to help people move with better alignment, strength, and control. The springs are the key. Depending on the exercise, they add resistance, offer assistance, or do both within a single movement.

The Reformer

The Reformer is the piece most people picture: a sliding carriage on rails, attached to a set of springs, with a footbar at one end and long straps at the other. You push and pull the carriage lying down, seated, kneeling, or standing. Changing the springs changes the exercise, which is why the Reformer suits a first class as well as an advanced one.

At Naya, the Reformer anchors our Mixed Equipment Apparatus classes, alongside the Half Tower, Chair, and Mat. A box placed across the carriage adds exercises that work the core, back, and hips from new angles.

The Cadillac

The Cadillac, also called the trapeze table, is a raised mat surrounded by a frame of bars. Springs, a push-through bar, a trapeze, and straps attach at different points, so you can hang, roll, push, and pull. The story often told is that Joseph Pilates first rigged springs to hospital beds so bedridden patients could exercise, an idea that grew into the Cadillac.

Few studios teach the Cadillac in a group. Naya offers dedicated Cadillac classes across three levels: Cadillac Essentials, Cadillac Flow, and Cadillac Progressions.

The Half Tower

A tower is an upright frame with springs and a push-through bar, mounted at the end of a Reformer or mat. It brings many Cadillac-style exercises into a smaller footprint, so they fit naturally into a mixed class.

The Chair

The Chair, sometimes called the Wunda Chair, is a compact box with a spring-loaded pedal. Working from a small base of support, you press the pedal with your hands or feet while seated, standing, or lying across the top. It's famously demanding on balance and control.

The Mat

Mat work uses your body and small props such as balls, rings, and light weights. It's the original Pilates repertoire, and every apparatus exercise traces back to the same principles: breath, centering, control, and precision.

The props

Small props make familiar exercises new. Expect soft balls to squeeze or balance on, a Pilates ring (sometimes called a magic circle) for resistance through the arms and inner thighs, and light hand and ankle weights to add load without changing the shape of a movement.

Which apparatus should you start on?

Any of them, in the right class. Naya Essential introduces the Reformer, Half Tower, Chair, and props, and Cadillac Essentials does the same for the Cadillac. If you'd like one-on-one time on the equipment first, a private session covers the whole studio. Before you go, read what to expect at your first class.