Peak Pilates, Life Fitness team up: first foldable Reformer

Life Fitness will be the exclusive distributor for the industry’s first foldable and upgradeable Pilates Reformer.

Made by Peak Pilates and unveiled in private showings at the IHRSA show in San Francisco, the Reformer maintains the solid commercial quality that is Peak Pilates’ hallmark but includes several patent-pending twists that are brilliant.

• The Peak PilateSystem Reformer comes in two versions, one of which is a combination unit that includes the Cadillac apparatus on one end.
• In a first-of-its-kind, the Reformer has a top that can be disconnected from the tables and flipped over so the headrest is hanging down and the surface is then flat, allowing a cushioned top that doesn’t slide to serve as a cushioned surface for mat Pilates exercises.
• Both Reformers — with or without the Cadillac attachment — can be folded easily in half using hydraulics and a hinged carriage so four units can be stored in the footprint normally required by one. Folded they look much like a rollaway bed folded and standing upright.

Since the system is primarily intended for commercial and light commercial use, it also maintains what the company calls “personal trainer height,” meaning it is not floor level but rather 15 1/2 inches high for easier access by a trainer or instructor to the user. With a list price of $2,600 ($3,000 with the Cadillac attachment), it will also target the high-end home market.

The equipment will remain branded by Peak Pilates, but may be co-branded with Life Fitness since the company has the exclusive right to distribute it to commercial health clubs and vertical markets worldwide. It will be available by late third quarter. Peak Pilates will continue to provide training. For more information, go to www.peakpilates.com.

SNEWS View: This is the first really different item introduced recently by a Pilates company and is a grand one at that. Most just tussle over whose has the best wood or is the least wobbly. This took a problem (space demands) that has perhaps kept Pilates from growing more broadly and solved it in one fell swoop in a way that makes you slap your forehead and say, “Now why didn’t I think of that?” The next step will be to come up with a similar unit that is lower priced to make the beauty of Pilates workouts even more accessible to other markets. We bet that will come soon, too. We also bet that Peak Pilates (with the help of busy Life Fitness attorneys) will soon be fending off knockoffs.