The Cadillac… no we’re not talking about the American car, but another item of Pilates equipment which Joseph Pilates created himself! Believed to have been designed to help bed-ridden patients exercise, he constructed a firm bed-like frame with a variety of springs and bars attached. The Cadillac has always been pretty large – about 6 feet square – and features leg and arm springs, loops to hang from, a push-through bar for stretching and a trapeze, all of which you can see in this diagram.
Unlike the Reformer, which we wrote about in this blog post and which predominantly allows you to work against resistance in a horizontal plane, the frame on the Cadillac means you can hang from the top, stretching certain areas of the body in a static and gradual way, using gravity to help you along. Clients can also lie, sit, stand and kneel on the bed and perform exercises on the floor using the frame of the bed for support. The strength of the Cadillac also means that more standing-based work is possible and all the options lend themselves well to a lot of challenging leg work!
From a gentle spring-assisted sit up through to advanced acrobatics on the top of the frame, the Cadillac, like all other pieces of Pilates equipment, is helpful for everyone from beginners to those in rehabilitation and advanced Pilates fans. It can isolate almost every muscle in the body to restore or correct the regular movements we make in our daily lives.
When it comes to cross-training for sports, the leg springs, when used with progressively strong resistance, are an excellent way for runners to fully stretch their hamstrings. Golfers can ‘double spring’ their legs at the thigh and lower leg points for more support in order to mobilise their hip flexors, an area put under high pressure thanks to that rotating golf swing movement.
So if you’d like to try Cadillac in one of our studio classes in Farnham or Hampton Wick, please contact us.
