Outside The Box with The Gratz Reformer Box

Written by Alia Staples

If you’re the proud owner of a Gratz Reformer, you are lucky enough to also have a Reformer Box. This simple auxiliary piece is often overlooked in a fully equipped studio, yet it can add immense value to workouts for both instructors and clients.

The Reformer Box adds height and versatility to the main carriage of the Pilates Reformer. Its integration can serve a wide range of purposes from challenging advanced practitioners to offering essential feedback and support for beginners. The elevated surface creates a smaller base than the Reformer carriage itself, intensifying powerhouse engagement during exercises such as backstroke and teaser.

Why Use the Reformer Box in Pilates Practice?

You may already be familiar with exercises that utilize the box on the Reformer from the traditional repertoire: pulling straps, backstroke, teaser, the short box series. But there are some outside of the box ways you can use this tool that can add variety to an exercise, or serve as a steppingstone or learning opportunity. I want to share some of these with you today.

Supporting Both Beginners and Advanced Practitioners

My studios operate with a mix of private sessions and group classes, including small Reformer group classes. I find that the Reformer Box can be especially useful in mixed level groups where some clients may be more familiar with exercises than others. It’s also hugely beneficial in private sessions with beginners who might need the box as a source of extra stability or support. As an instructor, sometimes the box can serve as an extra set of hands to reiterate your verbal cues when you can’t touch and spot every person in a group during an exercise.

It is important to note that all Reformer Boxes are not created equal. The precise proportions and angles of the box are critical to providing the right type of feedback for the body. The Gratz reformer box integrates seamlessly with the carriage and allows for the ideal distance from the footbar, angle of the Leather Straps, and relationship to the Reformer frame to challenge your client to deepen their connection to their powerhouse. Coupled with just the right amount of cushioned upholstery and soft curved edges, the box by Gratz is the perfect Reformer accessory.

Classical Pilates Exercises Using the Reformer Box

Below are descriptions of just a few of the exercises I like to use the Reformer Box to support my clients. Next time you are in the studio, give them a try yourself or with a group or client who could benefit from them. I hope you find them useful!

Backstroke and Teaser

Two of my favorite exercises using the box. A traditional pair of exercises challenging breath, coordination and powerhouse connection. How seamlessly can you get on the box to start these exercises? How stable can you keep your center as your limbs move through the exercises

Stomach Massage Series with Box Behind

Using the Reformer Box behind a body to work through the stomach massage series allows the body to feel the spine in various shapes against the box. It helps them feel when they’ve created a c-curve versus lifting up straight and tall against the box.

During twist, having the box highlights where in the spine the twist should come from.

Prep for Balance Control Using the Reformer Box

This advanced exercise is traditionally done with the hands on the Shoulder Blocks. Try using the Reformer Box as shown in this image for a bigger base with softer edges. This is also great for clients that have a difficult time staying out of their wrists. Use the box with clients to help them learn the choreography of pressing out the carriage and moving the legs without the added stress of being on the small shoulder blocks.

Using the Reformer Box on the Cadillac

The Reformer Box isn’t limited to the Reformer. On the Cadillac, placing the box beneath a client’s feet helps establish grounding and even pressure. Beginners can practice marches or leg extensions, while more advanced clients can explore movements such as Mermaid with the push-through bar.

Positioning the feet on the box and the hips on the Cadillac encourages length through the waist and improved spinal organization.

Knees Over Reformer Box on Cadillac Roll-Down Bar

Credit to one of my mentors, Brett Howard for showing me this use of the box many years ago. For those with tight lower backs, try placing the box against the Cadillac uprights and draping the knees over the box to create a little more space in the lower back. I find an increase in articulation of the lumbar spine when the box is placed here.

When used with intention, it supports clarity, challenges control and deepens a client’s understanding of their powerhouse across a wide range of exercises. Whether you are working with beginners or advanced practitioners, the Reformer Box offers opportunities to refine movement and build confidence.

About the Author

Alia Staples has been teaching Pilates for 15 years. She was first introduced to the method in 2010 and quickly saw results from a consistent Pilates practice. As a teenager, Staples underwent major spinal fusion surgery to correct severe scoliosis and struggled to find an exercise program that strengthened her core until discovering Pilates. She decided to pursue teacher certification through US Pilates LLC and completed 700 hours of extensive training with Jennifer O’Mara, Teacher of Teachers for U.S. Pilates® LLC, Brett Howard and David Freeman, Directors of U.S. Pilates® LLC.

Staples has served as a Center Director for US Pilates LLC since 2014 and was invited to be a Teacher of Teachers for the program in 2020.

Alia holds a BA in Communications and English from Virginia Tech, and earned an MBA from the University of Central Florida. She is also an AFPA Certified Prenatal and Postnatal Fitness Specialist and is passionate about empowering women to feel strong throughout their motherhood journey.

Alia has owned and operated The Pilates Loft in Virginia since 2014. In ten years, she grew the business from a small one-woman studio to a regional brand with three locations and over 30 classical Pilates instructors in Northern Virginia. She has trained hundreds of clients, along with dozens of apprentices to become Certified Pilates Instructors; one of the most rewarding aspects of her career. Alia lives in Arlington with her husband and three young daughters. When she’s not in the studio, Alia can be found on the tennis courts and chauffeuring her children around town.

Website: www.pilates-loft.com
Instagram: @thepilatesloftvirginia