Dreaming of a home Pilates studio?

“I want one of these at home!!!!”

We hear this all the time from people who are using the studio equipment, and we totally agree — having a home Pilates studio would be amazing!! If your budget has the room for it, go for it and live your dreams! Joe himself dreamed of everyday people owning Pilates equipment in their homes, and heput out manuals and instructions for people to learn how to do exercises with their own equipment at home. He actually designed some specific pieces of equipment for people to use in their houses, even making some of them turn into furniture!

To be totally frank, a lot of modern Pilates equipment is prohibitively pricey (a studio reformer tends to go from anywhere like $5,000-$12,000 Canadian… our condolences if your dream is crushed), and there is a dizzying array of options (and opinions) out there. We’ve had the chance to try a variety of brands and styles, which has been helpful in figuring out what we like best — and we recommend doing the same if you get the chance!

Here’s what we might recommend for home Pilates apparatus:

1. A barrel or spine corrector (strongly recommend this!!! You won’t regret it!!!)

2. A spring board or springs for the wall

3. A really nice mat (like a Pilates high mat with a

strap and dowels)

4. A toe corrector

5. A foot corrector

6. A Wunda chair (or something similar)

We will just make one quick little note though… A lot of the equipment can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, which is why we go through so much safety training as teachers. We’re all for empowering people to take care of their health, but messing around with things like weighted tension with a spring board or a Wunda chair when you’re unprepared and without a spotter could be sketchy. So live your dreams with confidence, but please use common sense and be careful! If you know you want to purchase some home apparatus, why not ask your teacher extra questions when you’re using the apparatus in the studio and find out what types of things they’re watching for and the safety measures they’re taking?

If you’d ever like recommendations for brands or models, we’re happy to give you advice and assistance! And if you ever come across a listing on Kijiji or Amazon and you want to find out if it’s a good deal, we’re here for you!

And for fun, here's a clip of Joe demonstrating how to use the home Wunda chair from a 1930s video!