Is Your Reformer Class Truly Strength-Based? - A Pilates Instructors Guide
- Stephanie Neal
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
Many Pilates instructors say they’re teaching strength-based Reformer Pilates.
And often, their classes feel strong:
clients are working hard
muscles are burning
legs are shaking
But here’s the question that matters:
Is your Reformer class actually biased toward strength, or toward endurance or neither?
This isn’t about right or wrong. It’s about awareness.
Because without realising it, many well-designed Reformer classes are heavily endurance-based, even when strength is the intended goal.
Why “Hard” Doesn’t Always Mean It's Building Strength
Reformer Pilates is excellent at creating challenge.
Springs provide resistance.Time under tension is high. Flow keeps the body working continuously.
All of this can make a class feel like it's building strength based adaptations in your body.
But from a training perspective, strength requires specific conditions:
sufficient load
working close to muscular fatigue
appropriate repetition ranges
and enough rest to reproduce force
Without these elements, you may be training muscular endurance — not strength.
A Simple Self-Check for Reformer Pilates Instructors
If you want to know whether your Reformer classes are truly strength-based, try this simple self-check.
Think about a typical class you teach and ask yourself:
Are most exercises programmed for 15–20+ reps?
Do springs stay mostly the same week to week?
Is there little to no planned rest between efforts?
Do clients feel the burn but could easily keep going?
Can clients usually perform more reps than programmed?
Do you usually perform multiple exercises in a row for the same muscle group?
If you answered “yes” to most of these, your class is likely endurance-biased, even if it feels challenging.
That doesn’t make it bad, it just means the adaptation may not be strength itself.
What Strength-Based Reformer Pilates Looks Like
Strength-based Reformer Pilates doesn’t require a total class overhaul.
It’s often about small but intentional shifts, such as:
reducing reps
increasing relative spring load
allowing short rest between efforts
progressing exercises over time rather than adding more variety
For example, shifting an exercise from:
15–20 reps to
6–12 reps with higher effort and a shorter period of rest can completely change the training outcome — even if the exercise itself stays the same.
Strength vs Burn: Understanding the Difference
One of the most helpful reframes for instructors is this:
Burn = muscular endurance, metabolic stress, sustained effort
Strength = force production, higher effort, fewer reps
Both have a place in Reformer Pilates. The key is knowing which one you are biasing, and whether that matches your intention for the class and goals of your clients
Why This Awareness Matters
Clients are increasingly seeking strength from their Pilates practice, for:
daily function
bone and muscle health
long-term resilience
As instructors, this means our role isn’t just to make classes feel hard, it’s to understand what that hard work is actually producing.
When you can clearly identify whether an exercise or class is strength-based or endurance-based, your programming becomes more confident, intentional, and effective.
A Practical Tool to Help You Strength-Check Your Classes
If you’d like help assessing whether your current programming is biased toward strength or endurance (The Burn), I’ve created a free Strength vs Burn on the Reformer cheat sheet.
It breaks down:
reps, sets, rest, and load
strength vs endurance indicators
and simple ways to shift your programming toward strength
It’s designed as a quick self-check for Reformer Pilates instructors, not a complete program rewrite.
Download the free Strength vs Burn cheat sheet by clicking the button below.
If you would like to learn more about how to program your classes towards a strength focus then take a look at my new online course for reformer instructors - Beyond The Burn: Building Strength in Pilates.
