Is reformer pilates strength training?
The question comes up in every intro class, usually from someone who lifts: is this actually strength training, or stretching with extra steps? Short answer: it is resistance training. Here is the honest long answer.
What strength training actually requires
Muscle does not care what equipment you use. It adapts when three things happen: resistance it has to work against, enough challenge that the last repetitions are genuinely hard, and progression over time. Barbells do that. So do springs.
How the reformer loads your body
The reformer's springs resist you in both directions of every movement: pressing the carriage away is work, and controlling it home is work again. Spring settings progress from very light to heavy enough that strong, trained people struggle. Add the machine's angles, single-leg and single-arm variations, and long levers, and you can load muscles through ranges a barbell never touches.
This is why the fitness world has been drifting toward strength-focused reformer programming: heavier springs, slower tempos, fewer repetitions. Done that way, a reformer class is unambiguously resistance training.
What it does brilliantly
- Deep core and postural strength that shows up in how you stand and sit within weeks.
- Glutes, legs and shoulders worked through full, controlled ranges.
- Joint-friendly progression: load without impact, ideal if lifting hurts something.
- Control and balance, the qualities that make every other sport feel easier.
What it will not replace
Honesty matters here. If your goal is a big deadlift or maximum absolute strength, you still need heavy barbells: springs top out well below what a loaded bar can do. And like all low-impact training, the reformer loads bones more gently than jumping or heavy lifting. The best-built weeks we see pair two or three reformer sessions with walking, hiking or swimming, exactly the life people live here on the coast.
Programming it like training
Treat it the way you would treat the gym: two to three sessions a week, progressively heavier springs as movements get clean, and a coach who knows when to push you. That is precisely the format at Casa Reformer in Nerja: eight reformers, groups of eight, springs set per person. Doors open after the summer of 2026, and founding members book first.
Be first through the door
Free to join, no strings attached. Just first access, opening offers and every update on the way to opening day.