• $19.50 for two Reformer Pilates Stretch classes ($94 value)

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Pilates Reformer: Lie Back and Get Fit

The Pilates Reformer can aid hundreds of exercises. Get to know this piece of complex equipment with Groupon’s introduction.

Though its system of straps, springs, and pulleys may seem complex, the idea behind the Pilates Reformer is simple: added resistance. The large rectangular apparatus, created to fortify Joseph Pilates’s body-conditioning regimen, requires its users to simultaneously battle the forces generated by the machine and their own body weight. Its many components, including an adjustable foot bar and interchangeable springs that modify the level of difficulty, assist users as they perform more than 400 distinct exercises from the Pilates pantheon. The carriage—a sliding, cushioned platform on wheels— resides in the middle of the frame, where exercisers stand, kneel, sit, or recline as they push off the foot bar or pull on straps connected to the pulleys. This open design allows for free range of motion during total-body workouts designed to bolster flexibility, posture, and lean-muscle strength.

Reportedly, Joseph Pilates designed his first incarnation of the Pilates Reformer to help bedridden patients work out, outfitting a hospital bed with straps and springs. Since then, his invention has spread far beyond hospital walls and has become a ubiquitous staple in Pilates facilities everywhere.