On a reformer, the carriage is the whole conversation. It rolls along its rails under a body that may be pressed against the frame one moment and lifting off it the next, and a teacher who knows the machine can read the spacing, the springs, and the set of a pelvis before saying a word. In Dianne Bondy's video "Reformer for Larger Bodies," she walks through the adjustments she makes when students in larger bodies step onto the carriage: how she spaces the machine so a belly isn't crushed against the chest, how she talks about the abdominals without shaming anyone, why bridging may need more resistance, and why a tabletop position that suits one person can strain the low back of another. Her core argument is simple and practical. The reformer is adjustable equipment, and the teacher's job is to adjust it to the body in front of them rather than asking that body to fit the default setup.
Bondy is candid about where she stands. She says she has been practicing Pilates since 1999 and teaching it since 2002, but that reformer teaching is newer to her, and that she had been at it only five or six months when she recorded the video. She teaches 11 reformer classes a week, and she credits repetition for most of what she has learned. Before that, she owned a yoga studio and taught 22 classes a week. That period, she says, is where her interest in variations, modifications, and equitable practice took root, because teaching that many classes made her see what people needed and how to work with different bodies. "I'm seeing that same thing here now," she says in effect, carrying the lesson from one room to the next.
That frankness is part of the value. This is not a theorist describing a machine she has only read about. It is a teacher who has logged a lot of hours in front of a lot of bodies, and who admits that some of what she offers is still being tested in her own classes.
Bondy starts with language, because she notices that a cue can land very differently depending on the body it is aimed at. Students carrying a lot of adipose tissue at the belly, or extra skin there, may be sensitive about that part of their body, and drawing attention to it can make them feel watched. So instead of asking students to pull their belly button into their spine, she prefers a different image:
"I want you to draw into your center, draw into your core, pull your belly button into your body as you give yourself that internal hug."
— Dianne Bondy, "Reformer for Larger Bodies," 1:21
She describes the internal hug as language that helps people make peace with a part of the body they may otherwise be braced against. Her point is not that the mechanics change, since the abdominal engagement is still the work, but that the words can keep a student's attention on what the muscles are doing rather than on how the belly looks. She is also honest that the instinct to judge one's own body is not limited to large bodies. "Everybody has a part of their body that they feel some kind of way about," she says, adding that she wishes culture would get past that, and that it is "a work in progress for all of us."
The most controversial recommendation in the video is also the most mechanical one. Bondy says that for people with a larger belly or a lot of adipose tissue, the machine often needs to be geared out for comfort, and she flags that this may draw pushback from other teachers. Gearing out means increasing the distance between the foot bar and the carriage. On her machine, the adjustment is straightforward: she lifts the gear and pedals it out, making more room in the space she is working with.
The reason is compression. Bondy describes what happens when the carriage sits too close: the belly pushes up against the breast, the breast pushes up against the neck, and the whole exercise becomes unpleasant. Her own words are blunt: "I'm completely unhappy on the reformer."
"For some people even though they might not be over 5'5 or 5'7 or whatever the proper height is to gear out, we need to gear them out to make space, and they will still have their knees over their hips."
— Dianne Bondy, "Reformer for Larger Bodies," 2:41
That last clause is the one to hold onto. Gearing out is not a way of changing the exercise or lowering its difficulty. The goal is that the knees still stay over the hips, so the student is not put into a compromised position, but that the body has enough room to do the movement correctly. She also notes that moving the foot bar to a different location can create similar relief, so the setup is a set of options rather than a single fix. The lesson for teachers is that spacing is a decision made for the body on the carriage, not a sizing rule that applies to everyone of a given height.
Bondy points out that getting on the reformer is awkward for everyone, regardless of body size. Students have to lower themselves onto a moving platform, find their position, and settle in, and she tells them that this awkwardness is normal and that it is fine to take their time. She treats the entry itself as part of the practice, a moment to bring concentration to the body before the springs are loaded.
She also frames the session around focus. She says she picks three of the six principles of Pilates to emphasize in each class, and she lists them as breath, centering, concentration, control, precision, and flow. She admits that she always forgets one when she recites them, which is a useful reminder that these principles are tools to choose from, not a checklist to recite. Footwork is another place where she adjusts for space. She asks students to take their feet out a little wider, again to make room for the abdomen and to avoid the sense of being squeezed.
Bondy notes that some students need more springs for more resistance, depending on their size or what they are feeling. Her most specific example is bridging. Lifting the hips and the lower body in a bridge is heavy for a larger body, so the student may need "a little bit more support to push into," which means adding springs to the carriage. She is careful about scope. More springs are not a blanket change for every exercise; she says it might be something to do in bridging, and not in everything.
"Lifting this part of your body if you're in a bigger body is super heavy as opposed to a lighter body where it's not going to be as heavy."
— Dianne Bondy, "Reformer for Larger Bodies," 4:59
The principle underneath this is that resistance is a support for the movement, and a body that needs more to push against should get it. Teachers who only add resistance for strength, or only remove it for ease, may miss this more nuanced use of the springs.
The most detailed part of the video concerns the lower back, and Bondy speaks from experience. She describes herself as having a very flexible low back and a pronounced curve, which she calls a lordotic spine, and she says that when invited to articulate, she tends to go too far, pushing her sit bones toward the carriage and creating a deep arch. Because she can do it, she has to watch for it, and she cues her students to notice that tendency in themselves.
"I have a very flexible low back and I have a very big curve in my back almost a shelf there, and sometimes when I'm invited to do any kind of articulation I have a tendency to go overboard."
— Dianne Bondy, "Reformer for Larger Bodies," 5:18
Her cue for this is precision and concentration: notice what you are feeling, and do not push all the way out or arch the back all the way out, because that creates strain. The attention is on the sensation of the movement rather than on the depth of the range.
Tabletop is the position in which the hips and knees are bent and the lower body is held in a shelf-like shape against the carriage, and Bondy says it changes most with students who carry weight in their legs and thighs. She describes a moment in her own class when a teacher adjusted her toward a more traditional tabletop, and her low back began arching away from the reformer in a way that was uncomfortable for her. As she tried to engage her transverse abdominis, she felt pressure, and the arching kept increasing as she got tired. Then the springs were loaded, and she calls it "not a fun place to be in."
Her teaching response is to watch the whole picture rather than the ideal shape. She cues tabletop with the toes pointing to where the ceiling meets the wall, or to a point across the room, and for students with a pronounced low-back curve or a heavier lower half she may allow a different angle. When she sees legs tiring and the lower body getting heavy, she asks the student to draw in more, rather than letting the pelvis and back take over.
"That's me, it's going to be different from teacher to teacher or client to client."
— Dianne Bondy, "Reformer for Larger Bodies," 7:55
This is the closest the video comes to a rule, and it is a rule about humility. What counts as the right tabletop depends on the body's curve, flexibility, and strength, and a teacher who insists on one shape for everyone is likely to be wrong for someone.
Bondy closes the technical section with the upper body, using a vivid image. If a student's head becomes a 30-pound bowling ball, she says, the abs have "left the party." Her fix is to have students tuck their shoulder blades underneath them so they can lift that weight, rather than letting the neck take the load. She also points out that reformers have an adjustable headrest, and she encourages students to use it to support the head in a way that suits their body.
"If your head becomes this 30 pound bowling ball your abs have let go and have like left the party."
— Dianne Bondy, "Reformer for Larger Bodies," 8:11
The image is funny, but the logic is serious. The head, the shoulders, and the abdominals are connected on the carriage, and if one lets go, the others tend to compensate.
Bondy's approach is less a list of modifications than a way of looking. Speak to the body with language that does not shame it. Set the machine so the body has room to move. Give resistance where the body needs support. Watch the low back and the abdominals, and let the cue be different for each person. The six principles she names, from breath to flow, are the frame. The adjustments are how the frame gets fitted to real people.
- Watch the full video "Reformer for Larger Bodies" by Dianne Bondy on her YouTube channel, paying close attention to the sections on gearing out and tabletop, which contain the most specific observations.
- If you teach on a reformer, try gearing out and moving the foot bar on your own machine, and notice how the belly, chest, and neck feel with more space.
- Experiment with the internal-hug cue and compare it with the way you currently describe the abdominals. Notice which words help students focus on the work.
- Choose three of the six principles of Pilates for a single class, as Bondy does, and see whether a narrower focus changes how students settle onto the carriage.
- Test the tabletop position with students who have different curves and leg weight, and be prepared to adapt the cue rather than enforce one shape.
