Strength days are the anchors
A heavy lifting session needs you rested, because the loads only go up when you arrive with fresh legs and a fresh back. A reformer class is easier to adjust on the day: the instructor can change the springs, and you can choose a class with a different focus. So the lifting goes in the diary first and the classes fill the gaps around it.
RPM's reformer Pilates page explains the machine and what a first session involves. Whether the pairing is worth your time and money is weighed up in reformer Pilates alongside lifting. This page starts after that decision, with the week itself.
What a class loads, and where it can sit
Class content changes from one session to the next, so ask the instructor what a class will emphasise when you book. As a rough guide:
| Class emphasis | Main demand | Sits well | Keep it away from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leg springs and footbar work | Thighs, calves and hips over many repetitions | The day after an upper-body session | The day before heavy squats or deadlifts |
| Hip lifts and glute work | The glutes and the back of the thighs | After a pressing or pulling day | Either side of a session built on hip hinges |
| Arm and back springs | Shoulders, upper back and arms | Next to a lower-body day | The day before heavy pressing |
| Abdominal series | Trunk control and endurance | Most days, at an easy setting | Right before a heavy session on the same day |
| Stretch-led class | Range of movement at low effort | A lighter day, or the day after your hardest session | Rarely a problem |
If you are pregnant, postnatal, injured or managing a medical condition, get clearance from your doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before planning any of this, and tell the instructor.
Week layouts for three to six training days
Each layout runs Saturday to Friday, so the weekend carries a session and Friday's shorter opening hours can be a rest day.
| Days a week | Strength | Reformer | One way to lay it out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three | Two full-body sessions | One class | Saturday strength, Monday class, Wednesday strength |
| Four | Two full-body sessions | Two classes | Saturday strength, Sunday arms or stretch class, Tuesday strength, Thursday leg-focused class |
| Five | Lower, upper and full-body sessions | Two classes | Saturday lower, Sunday arms or stretch class, Monday upper, Tuesday leg-focused class, Thursday full body |
| Six | Three or four sessions | Two or three classes | Only after a month in which five days felt easy, and always with one full rest day |
WHO's 2020 guidelines advise adults to do muscle-strengthening activity that works all the major muscle groups on two or more days a week. Every layout above keeps at least two strength sessions, with the classes added around them.
Counting a class in your weekly load
A simple method many coaches use is to rate each session's effort out of 10 when you finish, then multiply that number by the minutes. A 50-minute class you rate 5 scores 250. A 60-minute heavy session you rate 8 scores 480. Add every session in the week, classes included, and you have one figure for how hard the week was.
- Raise the weekly total gradually. If it jumps when you add a class, ease off elsewhere for a fortnight.
- Note soreness before each session on a scale of 1 to 5. Two 4s in a row before a leg session is a reason to swap that day's class.
- Write down the spring settings the instructor gave you, so you can see the class getting harder over the months.
- Compare four-week blocks, not single days. One bad session tells you very little.
Lighter weeks, test weeks and missed sessions
- A lighter week in the strength plan: keep your classes, but pick stretch-led or abdominal ones, or ask for lighter springs.
- Testing a lift: no leg-focused class in the two days before it.
- A missed strength session: move it to the next open day. Stack it on top of a class only if that class is a light one, and lift first while you are fresh.
- A missed class: let it go, unless Pilates is the priority in your plan. The strength days carry the progression.
- Period weeks or short nights: lower the effort through springs and loads before you cancel anything. Severe or disruptive symptoms are a question for your doctor.
- Ramadan: many women hold one strength session and one class a week, with loads kept steady rather than raised.
Worked example: a teacher's four-day term-time week
Take a secondary-school teacher who lifts twice a week and has just added reformer classes. Weekday afternoons after school are hers, and so are weekends. She uses the four-day layout: Saturday strength, a Sunday arms class, Tuesday strength and a leg-focused class on Thursday.
Her two lifting sessions last about an hour and she rates each a 7, so each scores 420. The classes score 250 and 300. That makes a weekly total of 1,390, against 840 from lifting alone before she added Pilates. Because the jump is large, she keeps her lifting loads where they are for the first three weeks and lets the classes settle in.
In exam-marking weeks the Thursday class goes first. In the school holidays she adds a third lifting day, and the weekly total climbs again over a few weeks, not overnight.
Running the week inside RPM's Ladies section
At RPM the reformer studio sits inside the Ladies section, which is for women only and has its own strength and cardio equipment. Reformer classes are held there, and the studio photos show reformers, a few with towers, alongside trapeze-table frames and a ladder barrel, so ask which apparatus your classes use. On the roster, Giana Suleiman Daqnoush is the Pilates and aerobic coach, and Coach Maria holds the strength and conditioning role.
- Ask which tier covers the Ladies section, and whether reformer classes come with it or are sold as packages.
- Ask whether classes are described by focus when you book, so you can place them in your week.
- Ask whether one coach can see both your lifting log and your class bookings.
The studio is closed to men, who train in the Mixed section.
Sources
Questions, answered.
Should I lift or take the class first when both fall on one day?
Lift first while you are fresh, then choose a class that works different muscles from the ones you just trained. If the class is the priority that day, reverse the order and keep the lifting lighter.
Can a reformer class replace one of my strength days?
In a busy week it can stand in. Over months, though, springs offer a narrower range of resistance than weights you can keep adding to, so keep two strength days if getting stronger is the goal.
How long should I leave between a heavy leg day and a leg-focused class?
Many women leave at least one full day. If soreness is still there when the class starts, ask the instructor for lighter springs or swap to an upper-body or stretch-led class.
What if a class turns out harder than I planned?
Log it with the effort score it really earned, not the one you expected. If the total for the week has jumped, push your next heavy session back a day.