After 13 years of teaching Pilates, I have a confession to make.
For a long time, when people asked me what the most underrated piece of Pilates equipment was, I'd talk about the Reformer. And the Reformer is extraordinary — I built an entire studio around it, moved it across the Algarve, and have watched it change hundreds of bodies and lives. I will never stop believing in it.
But the honest answer now, the one I give without hesitation, is the Tower. If you haven't trained on a Pilates Tower, you are genuinely missing something. And that is exactly why I added it to the studio.
What Is the Pilates Tower?
The Tower — sometimes called the Cadillac, or the Trapeze Table — is a vertical frame of springs, bars, and straps that attaches to the wall or stands independently alongside a mat or a Reformer. It looks, at first glance, like something you might find in a very elegant gymnasium from another era. It has a slightly theatrical quality to it. Clients often walk past it and ask what on earth it is.
What it is, is one of the most complete pieces of movement equipment ever designed. Joseph Pilates — the man who created the entire method — developed the Tower as part of his original system. It was not an afterthought or an add-on. It was central to his vision of what a complete Pilates practice looked like.
Why I Added It to the Studio
Adding the Tower wasn't a business decision. It was a teaching decision. After 13 years of working with bodies — all kinds of bodies, at all stages of life, with all kinds of histories and goals and limitations — I know what works. I know what creates lasting change. And I know that the Reformer alone, as brilliant as it is, doesn't tell the whole story.
The Tower adds a vertical dimension to the practice that the Reformer cannot replicate. It allows for a completely different relationship with gravity. Springs that pull from above rather than from below create a different kind of resistance, a different kind of challenge, and a different kind of release.
What the Tower Does That Nothing Else Can
For the spine: The Tower offers unparalleled spinal articulation work. The push-through bar allows for traction, decompression, and deep mobilisation of the spine in ways that are simply not available on any other piece of equipment. For clients with back pain, stiffness, or a history of spinal issues, this alone is worth the price of admission.
For the shoulders and upper body: The arm springs on the Tower create resistance in multiple planes of movement, building the kind of functional shoulder strength and stability that protects against injury and improves posture in ways that are directly transferable to everyday life.
For the hips and legs: The leg springs allow for work in positions and ranges of motion that the Reformer cannot access. Hip mobility, hamstring length, glute activation — the Tower addresses all of these with a precision and depth that consistently surprises clients.
For the whole body: Perhaps most importantly, the Tower demands a different kind of full-body integration. Because the springs pull from above, the body has to work in a fundamentally different way — challenging the nervous system, the stabilising muscles, and the coordination in ways that create a new layer of body awareness.
What Clients Say After Their First Tower Session
The response I hear most often after a client's first Reformer and Tower class is some version of: "I had no idea."
No idea that their hips were that tight. No idea that their shoulders were that restricted. No idea that their spine could move like that, or that it would feel so good to let it. The Tower has a way of finding the places in the body that need the most attention and addressing them directly.
What 13 Years of Teaching Has Taught Me
I've worked with beginners and athletes, people recovering from surgery and people training for marathons, clients in their twenties and clients in their eighties. And what I know with complete certainty is this: the Reformer and the Tower together are more powerful than either one alone.
If you haven't tried the Tower yet — come and find out what you've been missing. Our Reformer and Tower class is suitable for all levels and you don't need any prior Tower experience. Just come with an open mind. I promise it will surprise you.
