The table, the rack, the Cadillac.
It’s a raised upholstered bed, a four-posted frame with springs, bars and fluffy cuffs… mmmm.
The thing is… It’s truly the most gentle apparatus for a new client. Patented (I think) in the US of A in 1948 … The Cadillac is all bark and no bite. The framed bed (Cadillac) is actually one in a series of beds Joseph Pilates invented … have a google of ‘The Bednasium’.
It’s features include the roll-up or roll-back bar (a piece of rolling dowel connected to two springs and then the frame) and the Push through bar (a timber square bar connected via an axel to the frame itself and then sprung from above or below). Plus, it is covered in hooks to attach springs to do various arm, leg and full body exercises on and around the frame. Springs are made for the Cadillac in four weights, light (roll up bar), medium (‘arm’ springs), heavy (‘leg’ springs) and BRUTE (trapeze bar and push through bar).
For some though, the best feature is the frame itself. It offers a place to stretch, hang, invert, flip and split from… and if nothing else, a great place to stand while dusting the light fittings.
How it helps you
It’s a nurturing apparatus when you start slowly and gently. I select movements from the mat sequence and add a spring here or there to help a client understand their spinal curves and weight transference. It’s crucial to know how to stay centered before dazzling the world with the leg spring series. On this apparatus our clients learn about their body and advance through the method when they understand how to hold their leg with their core instead of their peripheral joints or to move the push through with the weight of their body instead of their hands and arms.
I progress clients from lying on their back, to kneeling or side lying before heading in to standing exercises for the arms, legs and mind. In this way a client’s body will reveal a few things about their posture and function which will inspire me to re-calculate the route and find a more accommodating way for their body to reach their goals.
That’s the thing about the Cadillac, when you are well-trained in the method, the body and know your client … it’s probably the most versatile apparatus in the studio. This is why our studio features the tower/wall unit in so many classes, it’s your companion in the early days and a challenger when you hit the progressive level classes too.
My favourite exercises on the Cadillac for client triumph
- Push through sitting
- Leg spring side lie (so much information to play with here)
- Kneeling mermaid
- Tower or Monkey
- Standing arm series – especially squats
- Rolling in and out
- Roll backs – plain and simple but add the kayak version for some groove
See you on the rack,
Nicholas