Spine Corrector in Zürich

What is the Spine Corrector?

The Spine Corrector is a curved Pilates barrel, lower and softer in its arc than the ladder barrel. Lying over it, the front of the body opens and the back is supported along its whole length. It was designed to do what its name says: restore the natural curves of the spine, in particular the extension of the upper back that sitting takes away.

Work on the barrel combines three things most training ignores: extension, rotation and side bending, always under the control of the abdominals and the muscles along the spine.

What happens in a Spine Corrector class at Anida Lab

The class in the Aura Room lasts thirty minutes and takes up to ten people, each with their own barrel. It opens with breath over the arc and a slow opening of the chest, then moves through back extension, side bends, rotations and leg work with the pelvis supported. Every repetition is slow; the barrel gives the back a shape to follow and asks the center to control the way down and the way up.

Thirty minutes are enough because the work is focused. Many members pair it with a Reformer, Tower or mat class on the same day.

What changes with regular practice

An open chest and a taller posture, a thoracic spine that rotates and extends again, stronger abdominals in the ranges they rarely work, and a clearer sense of where the back is in space. For people who spend their day at a screen the change in the upper back is often felt after a handful of classes.

Who the Spine Corrector is for

For anyone with a stiff upper back or rounded shoulders, for people who sit for hours, for runners and cyclists whose posture folds forward, and for Pilates regulars who want to work extension, the movement most classes skip. The barrel supports the back and the class is slow, but with an acute back problem see a doctor first and tell your teacher about any diagnosis.

Spine Corrector or Mat Pilates?

Mat Pilates is the full method on the floor, fifty minutes, with flexion, extension and rotation in balance. The Spine Corrector is a thirty-minute specialist class that puts extension and the opening of the front of the body first. If your back is round from sitting, the barrel is the more direct answer; if you want the whole system, take the mat class and add the barrel once a week.

How to start

Book in the schedule on this page with your email address; there is no app to install. The first visit is simplest with the Guest Pass for CHF 40: one class, valid for seven days. After that, a pack of ten or twenty classes or a Movement membership from CHF 370 a month covers every class in both rooms. You can cancel in your account up to 24 hours before the class and the credit returns to your pass. Grip socks and a small towel are the only equipment; bring both.

Where to find us in Zürich

Anida Lab is at Gotthardstrasse 40, 8002 Zürich, in the Enge quarter of Kreis 2. Bahnhof Enge is a few minutes on foot, with S-Bahn and tram connections to the main station, Paradeplatz and the lake. The lab is open Monday to Friday from 06:30 to 21:30 and at weekends from 09:00 to 15:00, which makes a class before work, at lunchtime or on the way home realistic for people who live or work in Enge, Wollishofen, Wiedikon, the city center and along the lake.

Under one roof you find the Aura Room, the Reformer Room, the Red Light Therapy cabin, the analyses of Therapy Base and the Anida Café. A class, ten minutes of red light and a coffee fit into one visit.