Mat and Reformer – 2 peas in a pod

“I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life. The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They’d be happier.” ~ Joseph Pilates

In honor of March MATness, I’m going back to the 34 original Pilates mat exercises, from “Return to Life” written by Joseph Pilates. These are the original exercise names that Joe writes in a specific order to move on your mat. What are some of the differences you see from the usual mat sequence we follow in regular classes? Also, note the differences in the exercise names.

March has 31 days, and with 34 original mat exercises, there are some days where two exercises are combined. High scissors and bicycle, leg pull – front and back, and seal and crab. If you’re familiar with the exercises, you can see how closely related they are, right?

In this blog, I want to explore the relationships of the exercises between the mat and the reformer, and how well they go together to inform and teach an exercise to get more connected or to challenge. As we all know, Joseph Pilates came up with the mat exercises first. Then came the apparatuses, and the reformer was the first of many. We can use the reformer either to help you find connections to the mat exercise, or to up-level the mat exercise on the reformer. I’m learning the history and the original intention of the apparatuses, and Joseph Pilates built the apparatuses as TOOLS to help you do the mat exercises better. In fact, to even say “props” in Pilates is a misnomer – like the spine corrector, arc barrel, foot corrector, toe corrector, neck stretcher, the (in)famous Magic Circle – these are examples of the “SMALL” tools vs. the “BIG” tools that we all know and love – like the reformer, ladder barrel, Wunda chair, everyone’s favorite (and the biggest tool of them all) – the Cadillac. As you all know, this is not an exhaustive, nor comprehensive list of TOOLS, big or small.

So, let’s explore the mat exercises! The origin story if you will. There are some mat exercises for which there are 2-3 reformer exercises that would support and give your body feedback of connections, or challenge the connections that you’re slaying. Remember the reformer is a TOOL so I’m after connections in your body. I tried to pick one reformer exercise that I think will teach (or challenge) those connections, and I tried not to repeat a reformer exercise. Ready?

Date	Mat Exercise	Reformer Exercise
March 1	The Hundred	The Hundred
March 2	The Roll Up	Stomach Massage series
March 3	The Roll Over	Long Spine Massage
March 4	One Leg Circle	Frogs and Leg Circles
March 5	Rolling Back	Coordination
March 6	One Leg Stretch	Knee Stretch series (1 leg prep and 1 leg off)
March 7	Double Leg Stretch	Backstroke
March 8	Spine Stretch	Elephant
March 9	Rocker with Open Legs	Tendon Stretch
March 10	Cork-Screw	Cork-Screw
March 11	Saw	Short Box series (twist and reach)
March 12	Swan-Dive	Swan on the Long Box
March 13	One Leg Kick	Hamstring curls
March 14	Double Leg Kick	Grasshopper on the Long Box
March 15	Neck Pull	Rowing 1 & 2
March 16	Scissors and Bicycle	High Frogs
March 17	Shoulder Bridge	Semi Circle
March 18	Spine Twist	Short Box series (twist)
March 19	Jack Knife	Overhead
March 20	Side Kick	Side Sit Ups on the Short Box
March 21	Teaser	Teaser on the Long Box
March 22	Hip Twist	Snake and Twist
March 23	Swimming	Swimming on the Long Box
March 24	Leg Pull — Front and Back	Long Back Stretch
March 25	Side Kick Kneeling	Side Splits
March 26	Side Bend	Mermaid
March 27	Boomerang	Long Stretch series
March 28	Seal and Crab	Short Spine
March 29	Rocking	Rocking on the Long Box
March 30	Control Balance	Control Balance Off/Arabesque
March 31	Push Up	Control Balance Push Ups (front and back)

NOTE: This list was purely an academic exercise in finding the relationships between mat and reformer exercises, similar shapes, to see how the mat informs the reformer, and how the reformer can be used as a TOOL to help a body get more connected when practicing mat exercises without the feedback a reformer gives you. Not included as part of the reformer exercises are the spring settings, the use of handles/foot loops/leather straps/extender straps, the settings for the foot bar/gear bar/headrest, how to set up the long box and short box, how to get set up for the exercises, how to execute the exercises, and how to end the exercises, the contraindications, the number of reps, exercise name differences, exercise variations, etc. Please work with your teacher if you have questions on the mat or reformer exercises, whether they are appropriate for you, and how to perform them safely.