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The Pilates Ladder Barrel at A Room For Pilates Studio, Sebastopol!

 

On Saint Nicolas’s Day 2017 a delivery was made to “A Room For Pilates” Studio in Sebastopol, CA. (I must have been a very good girl.)

The Pilates Ladder Barrel was in the larger of the two boxes that arrived. The Ladder Barrel is now a permanent part of what is offered at the studio.

This ladder barrel is another one of Joseph Pilates classical pieces of equipment and it is used for a wide range of exercises.

The exercises vary in what they emphasize. Some use the ladder barrel as support during stretching. Others require great strength as you pull yourself up from handing upside down. Still other exercises gift us a unique ability to explore how flexible we can be as we shift our body positions from side to side and front to back.

Flex

The shape of the barrel provides a surprisingly comfortable support for the spine. Clients love to lie on their front in a flexed pose over the barrel in order to release back tension and stress on the spine.

Extend

The ladder barrel also provides a stable surface on which to explore lying facing upwards in what is called an “extension”. Many people have never arched backwards and this stable cushion invites the experience.

Side Sit-ups

It is also one of the best pieces of equipment for side strengthening and flexibility such as side sit-ups.

The ladder rungs beside the barrel are used to either grip onto with your hands as you hand upside down on the barrel. The ladder can also be transformed into steps on which your feet stabilize as you lay over the barrel on your sides or on your front.

The ladder barrel and the wunda chair(create link to wunda chair blog) both are wonderful additions to a regular reformer lesson and allow for all dimensions of exercise to be addressed in one session.