The Pilates chair is having its moment - and we're ready

There's a piece of equipment sitting in our studio that I think more of you need to know about.

You've seen the reformers. You've probably tried them. And if you've been with us for a while, you know how completely they can transform the way you move and feel in your body. But we've just added something that I genuinely cannot stop thinking about - the Wunda chair - and we're launching Pilates chair classes in Keyworth here at Rise next week.

Let me tell you why I'm excited. Properly excited, not just "new equipment" excited.

What even is a Pilates chair?

If you've never come across one before, a Pilates chair - also known as the Wunda Chair, same thing, different name - is a compact, upright piece of equipment with a padded seat and a pedal system that you push, pull, and step against using your body weight. Ours has a split pedal, which means each side of the pedal can move independently. That might not sound like much, but it opens up a whole extra dimension of work: uneven challenges, greater range of movement, and exercises you simply can't do on a single fixed pedal. It's smaller than a reformer, takes up much less space, and looks almost deceptively simple.

It isn't.

What it lacks in size, it makes up for in challenge. Because that smaller surface area? It means your body has nowhere to hide.

Balance, control, coordination - everything becomes amplified. Movements you felt comfortable with on the reformer suddenly feel like a completely different conversation.

In the best possible way.

It's not just for the advanced crowd

Here's what surprises most people when they first hear about the Wunda chair: it's not exclusively an advanced piece of equipment.

Yes, it can be seriously demanding - there are exercises on the Pilates chair that will make the strongest, most experienced clients genuinely work. But it can also be incredibly accessible.

Because you can simply sit on it.

That might sound obvious, but it matters more than you'd think. Not everyone wants - or is able - to lie on their back for an entire session. Whether you're navigating a pregnancy, recovering from something, managing a condition, or just more comfortable being upright, the chair offers a different way in.

It meets people at both ends of the spectrum, which is very Rise of it, honestly.

What the chair does that the feformer can't

The Pilates chair opens up a completely different vocabulary of movement.

Stepping patterns. Powerful single-leg work. Pike variations. Dynamic, athletic exercises that feel nothing like anything you've done in a mat class or on the reformer. The upright nature of the chair changes everything about how you have to organise your body.

For anyone who plays sport, runs, dances, or just wants to feel genuinely strong and coordinated in everyday life - this is the equipment for you.

There's also something brilliantly playful about it. Some exercises have you working from the side of the Wunda chair in ways that feel almost acrobatic. It's hard and joyful at the same time, which is exactly the kind of movement I want to offer here.

Why now?

Honestly? The industry is shifting.

For years, the reformer was the piece of equipment everyone wanted - and it earned that status. But there's a growing conversation in the Pilates world about expanding beyond the reformer, about instructors developing real equipment knowledge rather than being one-apparatus specialists.

The Wunda chair is often where that journey begins. And searches for chair training and chair classes are starting to pick up, which tells me people are curious and ready.

We don't want to be the studio that's late to that party.

Come and try It

Our Pilates chair classes in Keyworth launch next week, and spaces are already filling up.

Whether you're curious, a little nervous, or already convinced - come and try it. The worst that can happen is you discover a new favourite piece of equipment. The best that can happen is it completely changes what you thought you were capable of.

That's kind of what Pilates does, isn't it?

Book your spot →

Rise Pilates is based in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire. We offer reformer, mat, Wunda chair, half barrel, and jumpboard classes for all levels - because movement should be for everyone.