What does your Pilates Reformer Futuristic Model look like?

Have you ever wondered what a futuristic Pilates Reformer would look like? Okay, we are all good with our Allegro II’s for the moment but what comes next?

Well, may we present the Frame by Frame Fitness. At first glance, it still looks like the Pilates Reformers that we know. It has a sliding carriage that slides back and forth, then there’s the foot bar and also the foot platform. So what’s the difference? The biggest is the visible screen at the end of the Reformer that acts as your personal Pilates Instructor. So this is bringing tech onto the Reformer. Here we look at the pros & cons of the Frame Pilates Reformer and see if it’s all that it rocks up to be.

The Frame

The first thing that stands out to us with the Frame Reformer is the modern and sleek craftsmanship of the frame. Think where cars have come from, the boxed version to streamlined, molded edges of the chassis, and then apply this to the Reformer. We don’t see any edges on this baby. This Reformer looks modern and looks like it would fit into anybody’s modern day core with ease.

The next thing that stands out to us is the second platform that is on the carriage and there’s no longer the headrest. We get this if you are standing on the carriage but we are still working out how this would feel if you want to traditionally lie down on the carriage. Let us know your thoughts! The manufacturer does state that you can lie down, sit, kneel on the carriage, so all the traditional things that we do on a carriage.

The third thing that is really quite obvious is the disappearance of the springs! This has been replaced by push button technology, which adjusts the level of resistance. The buttons are different colors, albeit all grey. This would definitely make for a smooth ride up and down the carriage, with no clanging together of springs.

Finally, we have the computer monitor at the end of the machine. A 24” swivel display, touch screen monitor which is

We are also missing the risers at the end and the straps, so this takes away some of the arm work exercises and abdominal exercises. But without the risers it does make this machine more portable and lower to the ground. You should be able to pack it up with reasonable ease to be stored away. So that’s come a long way from previous larger Reformer models.

You also have two different colors to choose from, sunrise and midnight, which are appropriately colored. Another good marketing ploy. Are you a morning Pilates person or evening?

Pros

We think the biggest pro to the Frame is bringing tech onto the Reformer, with the touch screen, which personalizes your Reformer session just for you.

It also scores points in portability, which is very important to storage conscious people. Reformers are big machines and take up a lot of space, so when not in use it’s good to be able to store them away. However, you do need to think about where you can store them too!

We like the innovation of going spring less. This definitely means less clunkiness of the carriage as it moves up and down the railing.

Cons

One that we can see is that the screen is really limited to one end of the Reformer, so any exercises facing away from the screen and using the foot bar at the other end of the Reformer, you aren’t going to view the screen.

We are still interested in how you lie down on the Reformer with the second platform on the carriage, or even how comfortable this would be.

Also, without the straps you aren’t going to be able to do some of the arm and abdominal exercises, that we are used to on current models.

This baby isn’t cheap to take home, with the current take home price advertised on the Frame Fitness webpage at $2,999. You are also going to be encouraged to sign up for the online subscription for your personalized Pilates instruction at $39 month. For this, you get an extensive library of live and on-demand classes. Or you can elect to pay $400 yearly. We guess this is cheaper than a gym subscription but you still need to take this into account when considering the overall cost of the machine.

Conclusion

We think Frame Fitness has done a pretty good job in bringing us the next Pilates Reformer. They’ve considered important elements such as design, storage, tech in this new machine. It will certainly still be a bit pricy for some and especially with the subscription, but then if you start using this home Reformer all the time, it could just be the best investment yet!

We wonder what Joseph Pilates, the man himself, would think!