Get your springs sorted on the Allegro II

The Allegro II by Balance body comes with 5 spring set. The colors that you will find on the machine are Red, Blue and Yellow.

Red = heavy spring
Blue = medium spring
Yellow = light spring

The standard setup is 3 red springs, blue spring and yellow spring.

The red spring is usually used for heavy leg work or for moves that you want more resistance on the carriage. The lightest spring is yellow; with a yellow spring on you will find the carriage slides away without much effort. Yellow is usually reserved for arm work or core work. However, just because you are on a lighter spring don’t be fooled that every movement will be easier, that’s not true, for example when you are working the core. Core work is actually harder on a lighter spring where you need to ‘switch on’ the core to stabilize yourself. However, don’t worry if you start to wobble a bit with a lighter spring on, this shows you are working and finding it challenging!

We review the Allegro II by Bodyblance here.

When do we use the top spring set?

The Allegro 2 spring set has a top level and is used when we want to add another ½ load to the spring resistance, this is because the spring is now stretched just that little bit further. If you are doing arm work and you want a bit more of a work out, then you can move this yellow spring up to the top row. You’ll notice it won’t quite be dead set vertical and it will be pulling a little bit horizontal.

Switching between different strength springs

Switching around the spring strength keeps the body guessing and makes sure that the muscles don’t just get used to one particular spring tension. A good example of this is for lunges. I like to mix lunges up a bit, some with the light yellow spring and others with the heavier red spring. The lighter spring can be a lot of work too! You’ll find yourself needing to stabilize yourself as the carriage is very light. Alternatively, when you are using a heavier red spring, then this movement is going to require more leg power and strength.

You can switch between different spring tensions with more cardio exercises as carriage throws. Start with straddling the carriage facing towards the back of the carriage, with your hands on top of the shoulder blocks and heart center lifted. Start off with a very heavy spring tension of red + yellow, with carriage throws for 30s. Change down the spring tension to a blue + yellow springs for another 30s and finally down to just a blue spring for the last 30s. Now, who said that Reformer couldn’t be a cardio workout too!

The different spring tensions is what makes the Reformer, don’t be scared to play around with them. Just because you are instructed in class to use certain springs, doesn’t mean that you can’t then change them to your liking.

We have a full review on the Allegro II by Balancebody.