My health club only offers Pilates mat classes, what is the difference between mat class and equipment?
Mat work is the non-equipment component in the Pilates methodology. It’s a little ironic that many people are first introduced to Pilates through large, impersonal mat classes, as the mat work (at an intermediate or advanced level) is the hardest part of the whole system. Pilates first developed the mat work, and later saw a need to invent some of his equipment to help his clients get strong enough to do a full-blown mat workout. Depending on the exercise and how it’s taught, the springs and straps on the equipment can be assistance or resistance, which is not intuitively obvious at first (yet another reason to work with a comprehensively trained instructor.) TIn some exercises the springs and straps help support and/or lift you against gravity in a more supportive environment than on the mat, where it is literally, only you and gravity. In others, the springs act as resistance making the exercise harder as more springs are added. Additionally, because of the unique design of Pilates e
