Reformer Pilates puts you on your back, on your side, upside down, and repeatedly lifting your hips off a moving carriage. Clothing that is fine for a walk becomes actively hostile in that context. Here is the practical list.
Bottom half
Leggings, full or cropped, or fitted shorts. Anything you can move in that will stay where you put it. Cycling-short style is fine; loose running shorts are not, because several exercises involve your legs above your head.
Avoid anything with hard seams down the back of the thigh, zips, or pockets full of things. You will be lying on all of it.
Top half
A fitted top. This is the one people get wrong. The first time you bridge your hips up on a reformer in a loose t-shirt, it slides straight over your face, and you will spend the rest of the class holding it down with one hand.
A supportive sports bra is worth it; the work is controlled rather than bouncy, but plenty of it happens with your arms overhead.
Grip socks — not optional
Most studios require them, ours included. Two reasons, both sensible:
- Grip. Bare feet slide on a carriage and a footbar. Sliding is exactly what you do not want when your feet are loaded against springs.
- Hygiene. Ten people a class, all day, on shared equipment.
Any grip socks work — they do not need to be branded or expensive. If you forget yours, most studios sell them at reception. At reef you will be able to buy a pair at reception.
What to leave at home
- Zips and buckles — you lie on them, and they scratch equipment.
- Long necklaces and dangly earrings — they catch, and they hit you in the face.
- Rings with stones — you grip straps and the footbar constantly.
- Heavy fragrance — small warm room, ten people, closer together than you think.
- Baggy hoodies — fine for arriving in, impossible to train in.
What to bring
- Water. Always.
- A hair tie if your hair is long. You lie on your back with your head on a headrest.
- A towel if you sweat a lot — though most studios provide them.
- Nothing else. No mat, no equipment, no shoes past reception.
A note on feeling self-conscious
People worry about turning up in the wrong thing. In practice, a reformer class contains someone in immaculate matching activewear, someone in a decade-old gym t-shirt, and eight people in leggings from the supermarket. Nobody notices, because everybody is on their back concentrating on their own legs.
Wear the thing you can move in. That is the whole standard.
If it is your first class, here is exactly what happens in the hour.
