How to get a reformer Pilates body without the expense – 9 moves you can do at home to tone all over

IF there’s one workout that’s taken centre stage this year, it’s reformer Pilates.

Loved by some of showbiz’ most svelte celebs - including Margot Robbie, Selena Gomez and Meghan Markle - reformer involves slow, controlled movements on a machine which uses cables attached to pulleys and a carriage operating on spring resistance.

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Reformer Pilates studios are popping up across the UK.

But with some classes costing upwards of £30, and an at-home reformer machine costing upwards of £5,000, it isn’t accessible for everyone.

Luckily, you can perform many of the exercises in the comfort of your own home using your own bodyweight and smaller pieces of equipment. 

and are both chartered physiotherapists and Pilates instructors at . 

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They’ve shared some popular reformer Pilates exercises and their floor-based equivalents so you can achieve the same results at home, without the expense of a reformer carriage. 

Explaining the key benefits of Pilates, Susie says: "Pilates offers a full-body strengthening workout.

"If you’re someone who spends much of the day sitting down in the same position, then you may end up with a weak core and back muscles.

"Pilates can really help to improve abdominal and back strength as well as spinal mobility and flexibility."

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Plus, Pilates is also ideal for injury prevention and recovery.

Susie adds that whilst doing Pilates once a week can lead to benefits, doing the below exercises two to three times a week can too.

Be sure to move slowly to really feel the burn.

Follow the assigned timings and sets, allowing yourself time in between to recover, and shake out your body.

1. Feet in straps

• You’ll need: a long resistance band 
• 1 minute, 2 sets

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Place the middle of your feet into the band, keeping your feet and legs together.

Stretch the other end of the band overhead using your hands, keeping them just wider than shoulder width apart.

Keep your arms straight overhead, or if you find this too difficult, hold your arms up straight over your chest.

Then, bend your knees slowly in and out. 

Susie says: "This exercise looks deceptively easy, and you might be fooled into thinking this is all about stretching your legs, but really this exercise is all about the lower abdominals."

2. Supine series 

• You’ll need: a long resistance band 
• 1 minutes, 2 sets 

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Wrap your band around a sturdy object such as a heavy table leg or pole and then sit in front of the band, with your back flat on the floor.

Put your hands in the band with your arms up above your chest, keeping your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.

There should be resistance in the band.

Next, slowly move your arms down to the side of your body, before slowly lifting them back up.

You should feel even more resistance from the band as you do this. 

Susie says: "This series is a progression on 'feet in straps'.

"The legs are unsupported here, but working the arms against the resistance of the band engages the abdominals.";

3. Abdominal series (optional)

• You’ll need: a long resistance band 
• 30 seconds, 2 to 4 sets 

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Following on from the above, if you want to progress the move, lift up your chest slightly as you bring your arms down to your side.

You could also extend your legs as you lower your arms down to your side, quickly separate them, and then return them to the start position.

The 5 best exercises to lose weight

By Lucy Gornall, personal trainer and health journalist

EXERCISE can be intimidating and hard to devote yourself to, particularly at this time of year, when the rain is as relentless as your craving for carbs.

So how do you find the right workout for you?

As a PT and fitness journalist, I’ve tried everything.

I’ve taken part in endless fitness competitions, marathons and I maintain a regime of runs, strength training and Pilates.

Fitness is so entrenched in my life, I stick to it even at Christmas!

The key is finding an activity you love that can become a habit.

My top five forms of exercise, especially if you're trying to lose weight, are:

1. Walking
2. Running
3. Pilates
4. High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
5. Strength training

4. Bridging with extension 

• You’ll need: a gym ball
• 30 seconds, 2 to 4 sets 

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Lie with your back flat on the floor, arms by your side and the heels of your feet on the ball.

Lift your hips up slowly, keeping your ball as still as possible. 

"A bridge on the reformer is performed with the feet elevated, which challenges your hamstrings," says Susie.

"We can recreate this on a gym ball, which is harder due to its unstable nature.";

To challenge yourself further, extend the legs and slowly roll the ball away, before returning to the start.

5. Side-lying gluteal series

• You’ll need: a long resistance band 
• 30 to 45 seconds of each variation 

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Susie says this series of exercises target the lateral gluteal (bum) muscles, which are important for stabilising the pelvis, especially during single leg tasks. 

"The support of the reformer straps or resistance band helps to take some of the weight of the leg so that we can focus on performing the exercise with good form - which makes it more effective than struggling through unsupported repetitions," she says.

Lie on your side, with your knees stacked and bent.

Place your top foot in one end of the band and hold the other end of your band in your top hand.

Extend your top leg so it’s straight, lengthening against the resistance of the band.

Then, slowly return to the bend position.

If you’re comfortable progressing this move, when your leg is straight, slowly glide your leg forward, keeping your pelvis as still as possible.

Then glide it back. This is variation two.

Another progression involves lifting your leg up and down slowly whilst it’s in its lengthened position.

As you do this, aim to keep your pelvis as still as possible. This is variation three.

6. Scooter 

• You’ll need: a mat
• 1 minute, 2 sets

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"Continuing the theme of pelvic stability, we now take the exercises into standing,"; Susie says.

"The scooter is a great exercise for targeting all the gluteals together and its mat counterpart is just as effective."

For this, stand upright with your feet hip-width apart.

Tilt your torso forward and place your hands on your hips.

Slowly step your right leg behind your and then back in. Keep repeating this move. 

"The important thing is to keep the weight over the front leg and keep the back flat and straight whilst leaning forward," Susie says.

"This is a great exercise for runners."

7. Pike

• You’ll need: a gym ball 
• 30 seconds, 2 to 4 sets

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"The Pike on the reformer is a great exercise for challenging upper body strength and core together," explains Susie.

"The mat variation is performed on the gym ball, with the added challenge of instability."

Get into a high plank position with your shins on top of your gym ball.

Then, drive your hips up and slide the ball forward so that only the tops of your feet are resting on the ball.

Keep your shoulders above your hands the whole time.

Then reverse the move and slowly return to the start position.

8. The swan 

• You’ll need: a foam roller
• 30 seconds, 2 to 4 sets 

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"The Swan on the long box on the reformer is a great exercise for working on your back mobility," Susie says.

"It’s perfect for desk workers with stiff backs.

"The variation on the reformer uses the recoil of the springs to assist you up into this cobra-like exercise, whilst in this mat variation, we use arm strength and the roller to press up into the Swan."

Lie on your front on the roller; your hips or the tops of your thighs should rest on the roller.

Place your hands flat on the floor, arms straight and wide.

Then, slide your body forward, lifting your chest to the point where your shoulders are stacked above your hands.

Your foam roller will rest further down your legs.

Then, slide back to the start position.

9. The mermaid

• You’ll need: a foam roller
• 1 minute each side 

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Sit on the ground with your knees at 90-degree angles; your left leg should rest behind you and your right leg should rest in front.

Place your right hand on the roller, then glide the roller out to the side, bringing your left hand overhead as you do so and feeling a stretch down your left side.

Then slowly glide the roller back to the start position and sit up straight again.

"This is a fabulous exercise for stretching out the sides of the body, and is often really helpful for reducing low back aches," explains Susie.

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"You'll need lots of hip joint mobility for this variation.

"The reformer variation uses the flow of the carriage to assist us into the stretch, whereas on the mat, we can use the roller to guide the body into the side stretch."

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