This Workout Recreates Your Favorite Reformer Pilates Class at Home

There's a reason reformer Pilates classes are primarily taught in studio: It's pretty hard to get that exact set-up in your home. For starters, reformer machines are pretty expensive and take up a lot of space, so you may not want to buy one for your living room, either.

But even if you aren't able to attend a reformer class, you can still reap the low-impact, core-strengthening benefits of the springs and straps of the machine to sculpt and tone your entire body.

"Pilates builds not only excellent core strength, but it helps build bone density without impact, builds full-body strength without straining the joints, and emphasizes strong alignment and moving correctly more than anything else," says Kat Wiersum, certified Pilates instructor at Amplified Pilates and interval instructor at Studio Three, both in Chicago.

So why not re-create your beloved reformer Pilates class right in your living room using items you already have on hand?

"A huge part of working on the reformer is the moving carriage on the frame working against the spring tension, or using a stable surface to anchor yourself while moving the carriage," Wiersum says.

You can mimic the action of moving your whole body on the carriage with by using towels, sliders or gliders, paper plates or even socks while doing moves like sliding forearm planks, plank-to-pike, glute bridge hamstring slides and sliding push-ups, she says.

"Resistance bands are another great option to mimic reformer work. You can have bands that are a long straight band or bands that are a small circle/loop (referred to as a mini band)," she says.

Mini bands are great for adding extra work and resistance when you're doing glute bridges, side-lying glute work, clams/fire hydrants and other hip work, as well as a few upper-body exercises, like triceps extensions.

Long resistance bands can be looped around your feet, shoulders or even a doorknob. That way, you can do strap work, kneeling/standing rotation work and shoulder work, like raises and presses, biceps curls and even stretching once you've finished your session, Wiersum says.

"The key with all of these props is to move slowly and deliberately. Imagine you are trying to move through a full swimming pool, [where] the water is pulling against you and you have to fight to just move," she says. That slow pace is a key part of Pilates work and how you can fatigue your muscles without huge movements or high cardio impact.

Looking for a killer reformer Pilates workout to do at home? Try these exercises — courtesy of Wiersum — use towels, sliders and bands.