Reformer Pilates class levels: Foundation, Elevate, Power

Three tiers, one method. Foundation, Elevate, Power. They aren't three separate workouts — they're the same Strength Pilates, run at three different amounts of load. You don't pick a level to suit a personality. You pick the one that matches how much the work should ask of you today, and you move between them as that changes.

One method, three amounts of load

Every class runs on the Powerformer™ and uses the same principles — control, form, precision, under real load. What changes across the tiers is how heavy the work gets, how much rest sits between efforts, and how far the progressions go. Foundation, Elevate, and Power are points on one line, not three different rooms.

That matters because it means nothing is wasted. The control you build in Foundation is the control that lets you load heavy in Power. You're not starting over each time you move up — you're adding to the same base.

Foundation: where you start, and where you come back to

Foundation is for all levels. If you've never set foot on a reformer, you start here and you're fine. If you've trained for years, you still come back here — to slow down, reset your form, and work the movements clean before the load climbs again.

It's paced for technique. You're shown the carriage, the springs, and the positions before anything gets heavy, and the instructor has the room to correct form properly. The work is still real — you'll feel it — but the priority is moving well. Get Foundation right and everything above it gets safer and more productive.

Elevate: where the work picks up

Elevate is the step up in load. More resistance, less rest, and the progressions that only make sense once the fundamentals hold. The movements are the ones you already know from Foundation — the class just asks more of them, and more of you.

This is where most regulars spend a lot of their week. It's demanding without being the hardest thing on the timetable, which makes it the tier you can do often. If Foundation is where you learn the work, Elevate is where you build on it.

Power: the heaviest tier

Power is the highest-load tier. Heavier springs, harder progressions, and the least rest of the three. It's the class you book in advance, and it's the one that asks the most of your strength and your focus.

Power isn't a different style of training and it isn't there to catch you out. It's Foundation and Elevate with the load turned up as far as it goes. You come to it when your form holds under real weight and you want somewhere to keep pushing. Everyone works to their own springs in the room — the tier sets the ceiling, not a single pace everyone has to hit.

How you move between them

You move up when the work is ready for it — not on a timetable, and not after a set number of classes. When a tier stops being hard, that's the signal to add load, either by loading heavier within the class or by booking the next tier up. Your instructor will tell you straight when you're ready; ask them if you're not sure.

And you don't graduate out of the lower tiers. The strongest people in the room still book Foundation — because clean technique is the thing that lets them load heavy everywhere else. A good week usually mixes the tiers: Foundation or Elevate for steady work, Power when you're fresh and want to push.

Which one should you book?

If you're new, book Foundation. If you've trained on a reformer before and want more load, start at Foundation once to meet the Powerformer, then move to Elevate. Power comes when your form holds under weight and you want the heaviest work we run.

The three tiers

The class tiers page spells out what each involves, and the timetable shows which tiers run when — so you can build your week around the classes and instructors that fit your days.

Where to start

Three classes is enough to feel how the tiers fit together: one to learn the Powerformer, one to settle, one where it starts to click.

Stronger when you leave. Better when you come back.