"I'm not flexible enough for Pilates." That's probably the number one thought that stops women from walking into the studio. Images online of practitioners folding themselves into pretzels reinforce this feeling, which is a shame, because they send the opposite message from the truth.
Reformer Pilates does not require flexibility to start. It builds it. In fact, women with limited flexibility are exactly the audience the method was developed for.
What Pilates Actually Does for Flexibility
Pilates does not work on static stretching like yoga. It works on active movement through the full range your body is capable of today, and builds on it session by session. The springs on the reformer do two things at once, they add resistance and support the movement. That means you can work in a range you would get stuck in on a mat.
Women who arrived at the studio unable to touch their toes were touching them after eight to twelve sessions. It's not magic, it's the result of systematic work on the muscles that limit movement, not on "stretching by force."
Why a Lack of Flexibility Is a Reason to Start, Not to Wait
Stiff Muscles Reveal an Imbalance
If lifting your legs feels heavy, if your lower back is locked, if your shoulders are constantly raised, that isn't "just how your body is." Those are muscles overworking to compensate for muscles that aren't pulling their weight. Reformer Pilates identifies the dormant muscles and wakes them up, and when that happens, flexibility improves on its own.
Long Hours of Sitting Damage Flexibility in a Specific Way
Eight hours a day in a chair shortens the hip flexors, weakens the glutes, and locks the lower back. That's the state most women arrive in. Reformer Pilates works directly on this system, with exercises that open the front of the hips and activate the glutes through ranges of motion your body has lost.
Age and Flexibility, What You Need to Know
After 35, the body loses flexibility unless it's actively maintained. This isn't inevitable, it's reversible. Women who started Pilates after 50 report better flexibility a year later than they had at 40, because Pilates addresses the cause (weakened muscles and limited movement) rather than just the symptom.
What Happens in the First Session If I'm Really Not Flexible
Katrin will do a short assessment, how you bend, how you rotate, where you feel restricted. It's not a test, it's a map. Then she'll choose exercises that suit your body today.
For example, the Foot Bar exercise on the reformer. A flexible practitioner will work through a full range of motion. A practitioner with a shortened Achilles tendon will work through half the range, with a lighter spring, and with a cushion under the heel. Both get an effective workout. Both make progress.
The difference with reformer Pilates is that the machine itself creates the adaptation. There's no need to compare yourself to others, because each woman works at a different intensity on the same exercise.
What Not to Do in Your First Session
- Don't force a stretch. If an exercise feels like an intense stretch that causes trembling or holding your breath, that's a warning, not an achievement. Tell Katrin, she'll adjust.
- Don't be embarrassed about your range. 20 degrees is also a range. Your body will open at its own pace.
- Don't compare. The woman next to you may have been training for two years. You just started.
What to Expect After a Month of Practice
Most practitioners report the same changes after four to six weeks of training twice a week:
- Getting up from a chair without using your hands
- Lowering your shoulders away from your ears without thinking about it
- Walking with a longer stride
- Better sleep because your back is less tight
- Bending forward, your toes feel closer
All of these changes are functional flexibility, the kind that affects daily life. You don't need to do a split to feel the difference.
Myths to Throw Out
"I'm too old, my body won't move anymore." Not true. Muscles respond to training at any age. The process is slower, but it works.
"I have back problems, I can't do Pilates." The opposite, Pilates is one of the most recommended activities for chronic back pain, with adaptations. Read more about Pilates for lower back pain.
"I'm a complete beginner, I don't belong there." Every practitioner in the studio was a beginner once. None of them showed up flexible.
The Next Step
If you're reading this and thinking "this is about me," that's exactly the moment to start. A trial session is the simplest way to see how it feels in your body, with no commitment.
Book a trial session at the studio
The studio in Afula serves the whole Jezreel Valley, Migdal HaEmek, Nazareth, Kfar Tavor, and the surrounding communities.