Your first Reformer Pilates class in Zürich: what to expect

What is Reformer Pilates?

The Reformer is the apparatus Joseph Pilates built to teach his method with resistance. A carriage slides on rails. Springs of different strength resist or support the movement. Straps and a footbar give the hands and the feet a place to work from. The springs are the point: they give feedback on every repetition. Too much momentum, and the carriage tells you. Too little control, and it tells you too.

At Anida Lab the Reformer Room on Gotthardstrasse 40 in Zürich Enge holds five Reformers. Five people, one teacher, fifty minutes. The teacher sees every repetition, which is the reason the group stays this small.

How to book a first class in Enge

Booking happens on this website, with your email address and a code. There is no app and no account to set up in advance. The Guest Pass covers one class and is the usual first step. Choose a Reformer Pilates class in the schedule, pick the time, confirm. The place is yours.

Plans change. Cancel in your account up to 24 hours before the class and the credit returns to your pass. Later than that, the place is released and the credit is used. The lab is a few minutes on foot from Bahnhof Enge, with S-Bahn and tram connections to the main station, Paradeplatz and the lake.

What to bring and what to wear

Close-fitting clothes, so the teacher sees the position of your spine and pelvis. Socks with grip are required on the Reformer: the carriage moves, the footbar is smooth, and bare feet or cotton socks slip. Bring your own. A small towel and water are enough.

Arrive ten minutes early. The teacher sets up the Reformer with you, shows you the springs and the straps and asks what the body needs today. A sensitive back, an old injury, a pregnancy: say it before the class starts. The exercises adapt.

The fifty minutes, move by move

A class opens with breath and footwork. You lie on the carriage, feet on the bar, and push out and return against the springs. It looks simple and it organises the whole body: pelvis, ribs, shoulders, the back of the legs. From there the class builds. Arm work in the straps, an abdominal series, side-lying work for the hips, kneeling and standing positions towards the end.

Every exercise has a lighter and a stronger version. The teacher changes the springs for you and corrects by hand and by word. In a group of five that happens every few minutes. Nobody is left to guess.

What the body notices afterwards

Most people describe the same thing: a longer spine, a quieter lower back, an abdomen that feels switched on without a single crunch. The legs feel worked in places that running and cycling leave alone. The second day can bring a mild soreness in the deep muscles of the trunk and the inner thighs. That is normal and it passes.

The walk back to Bahnhof Enge or along the Zürichsee is part of the class. The body is organised. Let it stay that way for a while before the next screen.

Common first-class mistakes

None of these is serious. All of them are easier to avoid when you know them.

• Pushing the carriage with speed instead of control. The springs reward slowness.
• Holding the breath in the hard part. Exhale on the effort.
• Gripping the straps with the hands. The work comes from the shoulder and the back.
• Comparing with the person on the next Reformer. Five people, five bodies, five spring settings.
• Forgetting the socks. Come prepared: the lab does not keep spares.

After the first class: how to continue

Two Reformer classes a week is the rhythm that changes posture within a month. Many people combine the Reformer with Mat Pilates in the Aura Room, where the same principles are learned without springs, or with Pilates Tower in the same room, where the springs hang on the wall. A pack of ten or twenty classes or a Movement membership covers both rooms.

Ten minutes of Red Light Therapy before or after the class fit into the same visit. The cabin is a few steps from the Reformer Room, and the Anida Café is on the way out.