How to Prepare for Your First Reformer Class: A Beginner Guide

How to Prepare for Your First Reformer Class: Everything You Actually Need to Know

From a Pilates instructor who’s guided hundreds of beginners through their first session.

You signed up. Maybe you’ve been staring at a booking page for weeks, or a friend finally convinced you. Either way, you’re here — figuring out how to prepare for your first reformer class. And I’m glad you are, because walking in even slightly prepared changes the entire experience. I’ve seen it hundreds of times at my studio along the Wasatch Front. The clients who take five minutes to read something like this? They breathe easier. They move with more trust. They actually enjoy it. So let me walk you through everything — the practical stuff, the mental stuff, and the things no one tells you.

Why “How to Prepare for Your First Reformer Class” Is Even a Question Worth Asking

The reformer looks intimidating. I won’t pretend otherwise. It’s a piece of equipment with springs, straps, a gliding carriage, and a footbar — and for someone who’s never been on one, it can feel like walking into a room full of machines you weren’t taught to use. That discomfort is normal. Joseph Pilates designed the reformer in the early 20th century to help rehabilitate injured soldiers, so at its core, this machine was built for people starting from scratch.

But preparation isn’t just logistics. It’s mindset. And that’s what I want to help you with today — the whole picture. If you want an even deeper look at what to expect during the session itself, check out my complete beginner’s guide to your first reformer Pilates class.

What to Wear to a Reformer Pilates Class

This might sound minor. It’s not. What you wear directly affects how you move and how safe you feel on the machine.

Here’s what works:

• Fitted tops and leggings. Loose fabric catches on springs, bunches under straps, and distracts you from the work. You don’t need anything expensive — just clothes that stay close to your body.
• No zippers, buttons, or hardware. These scratch the reformer carriage and can dig into your skin during exercises. Leave the hoodie in the car.
• Grip socks. Most reformer studios — mine included — ask you to wear grip socks (or go barefoot on clean equipment). Grip socks give you traction on the footbar and the platform. If you don’t own a pair, we sell them at the studio, and most Pilates studios along the Wasatch Front do too.
• Hair pulled back. If you have longer hair, tie it up. You’ll be lying down, sitting up, kneeling — hair in your face during a hundred is not fun.

I see clients walk in wearing running shoes and basketball shorts. There’s no judgment — but I always gently steer them toward something more streamlined next time. You’ll feel the difference immediately.

How to Prepare for Your First Reformer Class — The Night Before and Morning Of

Good preparation starts before you arrive. Here’s my honest advice, drawn from years of teaching in my Utah studio:

The Night Before

• Hydrate well. Dehydration shows up as cramping and fatigue during Pilates. Start drinking water the day before, not the morning of.
• Get decent sleep. I know this sounds obvious, but reformer work demands concentration. You need your nervous system relatively rested to learn new movement patterns.
• Set out your clothes. Remove one more decision. You’ll thank yourself at 6 AM.

The Morning Of (or Hours Before)

• Eat something light — a banana, toast with peanut butter, a small smoothie — about 60 to 90 minutes before class. Reformer Pilates involves a lot of core engagement and spinal movement. A heavy meal will make you uncomfortable. An empty stomach can leave you dizzy.
• Skip heavy lotions on your hands and feet. Sounds strange, but lotions make you slip on the footbar and inside the straps. Save the moisturizer for after.
• Arrive 10–15 minutes early. This gives you time to fill out any waivers, use the restroom, meet your instructor, and take a breath. Rushing in at the last second sets a stressed tone for your entire session.

You can book your first session here — and when you do, I’d recommend choosing a time when you won’t feel rushed before or after.

What to Expect on the Reformer — So You Don’t Spend Energy Worrying

The best way to prepare is to dissolve the unknown. So here’s what will actually happen when you walk into a reformer studio.

The machine has four main parts:

1. The carriage — the padded sliding platform you sit, lie, or kneel on.
2. The footbar — a bar at one end used for pressing, pulling, and balancing.
3. The springs — color-coded resistance that your instructor will set for you.
4. The straps — attached to ropes for arm and leg exercises.

Your instructor will walk you through each component before you start. In my studio, I always spend a few extra minutes with new clients explaining how the carriage moves, what the springs do, and how to safely get on and off. You don’t need to memorize anything. You just need to listen and ask questions.

A typical beginner reformer class includes footwork (think leg presses on your back), arm work with straps, core activation, and some stretching. It’s controlled. It’s slower than you think. And it’s more challenging than it looks — because the challenge comes from precision, not speed.

The Mental Side of Preparation — What I Wish More Beginners Knew

Here’s the truth: most people over-prepare physically and under-prepare mentally.

I’ve had clients in Sandy apologize for not being flexible. Clients in Draper who say sorry for shaking during a plank. Clients in Lehi who whisper “I’m so bad at this” while doing something they’ve literally never done before.

You don’t need to be flexible, strong, or coordinated to start Pilates. You need to be willing to try something unfamiliar and let it be imperfect.

A few mindset shifts that help:

• This is practice, not performance. No one is watching you. Everyone is focused on their own carriage.
• Shaking means your muscles are working. It’s not weakness. It’s your neuromuscular system figuring things out.
• You will not break the machine. I promise. Reformers are built to handle movement. Let yourself move.
• It’s okay to stop. If something doesn’t feel right, pause. Tell your instructor. Good teaching means adapting, not pushing through pain.

Reformer Pilates is not a “grit it out” modality. It’s a thinking practice. You’re building body awareness, spinal mobility, deep core strength, and joint stability — and all of that requires presence, not aggression.

Common First-Class Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

In my years of teaching here in Utah, I’ve noticed a few patterns among first-timers. These aren’t shameful — they’re just things that make the experience harder than it needs to be.

• Gripping too hard. Your hands don’t need to white-knuckle the straps. Soften your grip. The springs are doing most of the work — you’re there to guide it.
• Holding your breath. This is the single most common thing I correct in my studio. Breath is a core component of Pilates. If you can’t remember the breathing pattern, just keep breathing. In and out. That alone is enough.
• Comparing yourself to someone on their 200th class. It’s human. But it steals your experience. Stay on your own carriage.
• Not speaking up about injuries. Whether it’s a cranky knee from hiking the Cottonwood Canyons or a chronic low-back issue — I need to know. Every exercise can be modified. But only if I know what’s going on.

Browse our class options to find the right fit for your experience level. We offer sessions designed specifically for people who are brand new to the reformer.

After Your First Class — What Happens Next

You might feel muscles you’ve never felt. Inner thighs. Deep abdominals. The small stabilizers around your shoulder blades. That’s normal. Light soreness for 24–48 hours is typical after your first reformer Pilates experience.

What helps recovery:

• Gentle walking or light stretching
• Hydration — more water than you think you need
• A warm bath or shower
• Patience with yourself

Most of my clients in Salt Lake City and Utah County tell me the same thing after their first session: “That was harder than I expected, but not in the way I thought.” The difficulty isn’t about heavy weights or cardio exhaustion. It’s about slowing down enough to be precise. And that’s a skill. One that builds over time.

I usually recommend committing to at least three to five sessions before deciding if reformer Pilates is for you. The first class is about survival and curiosity. The third is where things start clicking.

A Quick Checklist: How to Prepare for Your First Reformer Class

Knowing how to prepare for your first reformer class is really about setting yourself up to be present — not perfect. You don’t need athleticism. You don’t need experience. You just need to show up, listen, and let the machine teach your body something new. I’ll be right there guiding you through it.

— Bianca

About Bianca

Bianca is the founder and lead instructor at Alchemize Pilates, a boutique reformer Pilates studio in Utah. With comprehensive Pilates certification training and years of hands-on teaching experience along the Wasatch Front, she specializes in helping beginners build confidence, body awareness, and deep functional strength on the reformer. When she’s not teaching, you’ll find her hiking the Cottonwood Canyons or dreaming up new ways to make Pilates more accessible to everyone.