Reformer school

GINA DAUGHERTY | CIN WEEKLY

Pendleton Pilates owner Stacy Sims instructs students on the Pilates Reformer, a device that helps build core strength. (Photo by Leigh Patton/CiN Weekly)

JUST THE FACTS

WHAT: Pilates Reformer workout, as well as Pilates mat classes, private instruction and teacher training, plus Yogalates and Anusara yoga.

WHEN: There are classes daily.

WHERE: Pendleton Pilates, 500 Reading Road, downtown and 4404 Brazee St., Oakley

PRICE: $150 for four private or semi-private introductory reformer sessions; $50 for private single session after introductory sessions; $30 for group instruction; $10 single-session mat classes. Yogalates is $10 per class and Anusara yoga is $12 per session. Session cards are also available.

CONTACT: Call (513) 333-0191 or visit www.pendletonpilates.com for a complete class schedule and prices.

OTHER CRAZY CONTRAPTIONS

BUN AND THIGH ROLLER
Featuring a basic bridge position, this contraption holds your back in place as you roll your way to tight buns and awesome hams.

THIGHMASTER
This one works because of Suzanne Somers. By picturing her head in the bend of the ThighMaster, you can silence her squeak while firming your thighs.

AB ROLLER
Comparable to having your stomach surgically split open, intestines swished about and then replaced. That's one hard-core ab workout, eh?

Look Better Naked is what it says on the back of Stacy Sims' tank-top.

The prospect is enticing.

Sims is co-owner of Pendleton Pilates, where six Pilates Reformers fill a studio and the mind with the possibility of a bewitching body - or at least the body you're meant to have. Sims has that body, as do several of her students and instructors on this day.

The Pilates Reformer looks like a medieval torture device, with a padded sliding board, springs, hand grips, leg straps, foot bar and shoulder rests. It's an intriguing contraption of wood, metal and padding.

But under Sims' direction, it's a device of vast potential. Long. Lean. More muscle. More flexible. All would be descriptions of a nicer naked body.

Sims got started on her own naked body in 1998 when she first climbed onto a Reformer. She was instantly hooked, and she eventually became an instructor and quit her full-time job to write and teach. (Her first novel, Swimming Naked, in bookstores now, has received critical acclaim in the national press.) When she opened Pendleton Pilates in 2001, she started with only two Reformers in a small studio. It's grown to six Reformers and a three-room studio. Certainly, the promise of looking better naked is popular.

Sims is a hands-on Reformer instructor, and by hands-on, I mean she didn't hesitate to move my feet or hands or touch my stomach to guide me into position or illustrate my breathing. And she didn't hesitate to push me, either. After an hour, she had guided me through exercises involving the major muscles in my arms and legs, as well as my abdominals.

But what I took from it more than anything (other than sore abs the next day), was realizing how I carry my body outside of Pilates. Specifically, the way I stand and how I sit at my desk. My posture in both cases has a lot to be desired. I stand with one hip out and usually with my arms akimbo. My knees hyperextend and my back is swayed. And I'm no better at my desk, leaning over my keyboard with my shoulders hunched.

Sims directed me to be more conscious of how I stand and sit, and the workout on the Reformer worked those muscles that stabilize my back, stomach and greater movements. I left feeling taller and more aware of my body in space. This must be what people go on about when they talk about how much they love the Reformer. For its intimidating look, it is indeed reforming.