The Hard-Core Circuit: A New Twist on Pilates Training Adds in an Extra Cardio Benefit

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ONE EXERCISE IS good. Two exercises are better. And a whole slew of exercises strung together with just short breaks in between? That's the best — because with circuit training, you're engaging more muscles and elevating your heart rate, which ups your calorie burn and results in a superior overall workout. This theory is nothing new, but combine it with another familiar method, and the result may just be revolutionary: Pilates circuit training.

» What It Is
The Pilates studio at Adams Morgan's Mint Fitness is plenty big for private lessons, but when it comes to group sessions, the cozy space has been limiting. Joseph Pilates' full system relies on a series of often-bulky devices and accessories, and when there's not much room for duplicates, it's practically impossible to keep students in synch. So Pilates director Timea Presley was stuck with only one group offering, a class using reformers (bed-shaped machines with a sliding padded board and two straps).

But that changed recently when Presley came up with the notion of rotating her pupils through several apparatus one at a time. As she sets up each of four students on a piece of equipment, the others watch to see what they'll be doing when it's their turn.

Then, they can complete the entire cycle before getting instruction on something new.

"This is a nice way of using the whole studio, and it lets you do more of the repertoire," she says. "You can do some inner thigh on reformer, but on the chair, you can do something unique."

» Lingo
To clarify, she doesn't mean a regular seat. The chair (aka stability chair or Wunda chair) is more of a box with one side that can be manipulated up and down by using resistance. The spine corrector, another Pilates invention, is not the torture device you might be imagining. Rather, it's a half-cylinder connected to an angled step.

» Moves
First stop is almost always a reformer outfitted with a jump attachment, a board for your feet to leap off of as you lie on your back, so you're flying horizontally rather than vertically. "Jumping is normally hard on the knees. This isn't," Presley explains. Really get into straightening your legs, while alternating feet and adding in arm movements with weighted balls, and it's certainly hard, though.

Next up might be a spine corrector visit — perhaps laying face down over it and elevating your chest — then, a reformer station with your feet in the straps performing leg circles. And, finally, you could use a chair to attempt to do "elephant," in which you place your hands on the top of the chair, put your feet on the swinging pedal and try to pull your body up almost as though you're starting a handstand.

Then, it's time to head into another round.

» Workout
The jump board puts a smile on everyone's face — for the first 10 or so jumps. Then, they get tired. "And it's not like you're just chill-axing the rest of the time," says regular Talia Borodin, 30, who says the new classes have boosted her cardio. "It made me sweat more, breathe more heavily," agrees Stephanie Fauver, 27, who calls the circuit training a "more dynamic" form of Pilates. And although Presley can't hover over each student constantly to check form and harp on proper breathing, the group is still small enough that it feels like she is.

» Crowd
While both Borodin and Fauver have oodles of Pilates experience, it's not necessary to participate place. Pros know how to adjust the springs to increase resistance, so for the newbies, Presley makes sure to set the levels low. That way, they can focus on how their bodies should feel and align during the movement. The classmates can also bond over the fact that they're getting a better deal — it's $52 to $62, depending on the package you purchase, per class versus $88 to $100 for private training.

Photo by Lawrence Luk for Express