SRSC to invest in Pilates machines

The room was calm and meditative as the women glided seamlessly back and forth, barefoot and tranquil.

IU Campus Recreational Sports recently purchased six new Pilates Reformers and is currently offering free trial classes at the Student Recreational Sports Center until spring break.

The Pilates Reformer is a specialized piece of pilates equipment, usually taught in a smaller class setting, said Kim Gray, director of marketing and
sponsorship for RS.

The machine allows for controlled and focused yet low-impact exercise that is effective, but more relaxing and meditative than traditional exercise classes, Gray said.

The Pilates Reformer classes focus on strength training and cardio but also teach muscle control to improve balance and posture.

Pilates leader Emma Shansky said pilates was originally developed in internment camps and Joseph Pilates designed the exercises horizontally to assist in rehabilitating injured people.

Shansky explained that the Pilates Reformers give resistance support the weight of the limbs, which can make the exercises more effective than traditional mat training.
“The Pilates Reformers provide resistance training that the mat just can’t give you,”
Shansky said.

Joellan Muyskens-Chang, assistant director of fitness and wellness, said RS has been teaching mat pilates and yoga for more than a decade.

She said they have wanted to purchase the Pilates Reformers for several years but they wanted to make sure that the classes weren’t just a fad.

“We came to the realization that pilates is here to stay,” Muyskens-Chang said. “And it’s always been a dream of ours to be more like a pilates studio.”

Most pilates studios would have many pieces of specialized equipment, Muyskens-Chang said, and RS decided that the Pilates Reformer is the most versatile and important piece for pilates exercise.

Muyskens-Chang said she hopes students see the Pilates Reformer classes as an opportunity to do something different and as an alternative to
traditional weight training.

“I hope that the classes can offer an opportunity to students who may not have been captured yet by anything else we offer,” Muyskens-Chang said. “Pilates Reformers can do total-body strength training and are different than any other equipment we currently have.”

The free trial classes are being offered until March 11, and a seven-week registration-based series will begin March 21.

For more information or to reserve a spot in a free trial class, visit www.iurecsports.org.