The spring-based Pilates reformer features a gliding platform, a set of cables, shoulder and neck supports, and a foot bar. Joseph Pilates, who created and developed the reformer, worked with professional dancers and athletes, and added a removable jump board to the reformer, which allows clients to practice jumping and other plyometric movements from a supine position. Stamina Products designs Pilates reformers for home use. Its AeroPilates machine is a reformer with a jump board designed to enhance cardiovascular fitness.
Cardio Workout
Cardiovascular workouts require rhythmic, large-muscle movements that are sustained for at least 20 minutes, and that elevate your pulse to 64 to 94 percent of your maximum heart rate, explains the American College of Sports Medicine. To find your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from the number 220, then calculate 64 and 94 percent of that number to determine your target range. The cardiovascular benefits of the AeroPilates workout are relative to your current level of aerobic fitness.
Considerations
The AeroPilates machine uses large motor leg movements in a rhythmic manner. This fulfills one of the requirements of aerobic exercise, but poses other concerns. The AeroPilates reformer only facilitates supine position movements. While this might benefit someone who does not perform any type of aerobic exercise, the workout might lack intensity for a skilled runner accustomed to running outside on hilly terrain, or a cyclist used to mountain biking or racing.
Research
Neil Wolkodoff, director of the Center for Health and Sport Science at the Rose Medical Center in Denver, conducted a Stamina Products-sponsored study to explore the cardiovascular benefits of AeroPilates' training programs. The 13 sedentary subjects exercised for eight weeks, alternating jumping and Pilates toning exercises. During the jumping segment, the research team advised them to perform 40 to 46 jumps per minute. At the end of the eight weeks, the subjects showed significant improvements in aerobic fitness, as well as decreased body fat and increased lean muscle mass. These results suggest that AeroPilates might offer aerobic benefits for those who lack exercise conditioning.
Potential Benefits
Jumping in the supine position, while not as intense as jumping upright, puts less stress on the joints, while allowing you to maintain correct postural alignment, explains kinesiologist and certified Pilates instructor Barbara Wintroub in the Spring 2006 edition of "Balanced Body Pilates COREterly." Fitness novices might find AeroPilates effective for introducing them to aerobic exercise while helping them maintain their alignment. Those who practice intense forms of aerobic exercise can use AeroPilates in lieu of a rest day, or as cross training while injured.
Bottom Line
Neil Wolkodoff is a highly respected exercise physiologist, but his study is the only one of its kind. Because Stamina Products, the AeroPilates manufacturer, sponsored his research, it does pose some credibility problems because as of April 2011, nobody has performed an independent study on the product. Because aerobic response to different types of exercise depends on your level of personal fitness, use a heart rate monitor when using the AeroPilates machine. If the exercise brings you into your target zone, it might be an effective cardio workout.
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