Ranked: The 8 Best Transformer Pilates Exercises

In short: these are the eight exercises our instructors reach for most on the Transformer, ranked by how much they give you per rep — full-body value first, isolation last. Every one scales through the springs, so the same list works on day one and year three.

1. The lunge (and its spring-loaded variations)

Ranked first because nothing else trains as much at once: quads, glutes, hamstrings and balance, with the moving carriage forcing your core to stabilise every inch. The slow tempo makes a bodyweight movement genuinely hard — and it’s the exercise where members most visibly progress.

2. The plank family — forearm, bear hold and pike

A plank on the floor is a hold; a plank on a moving carriage is a fight. The core fires continuously to keep the carriage still, and progressions from forearm plank to bear hold to pike scale from first-timer to brutal.

3. Seated and reclined strap work

Rows, presses and pulls against the springs — the upper-body strength block. Strap work trains the back and shoulders through full ranges a machine at the gym locks out, and the instability of a cable-like spring keeps the stabilisers honest.

4. The seated core curl

The Transformer version of the crunch, done slowly against resistance with feet anchored — the abdominal work photographed in half our classes for a reason. No momentum, no neck-pulling, just the mid-section doing every rep.

5. Glute kickbacks and bridges on the carriage

Spring-loaded hip extension — the glute isolation block that lunges alone don’t finish. Kickbacks with the strap and carriage bridges load the glutes at their strongest angles.

6. Side plank with oblique work

The rotation-and-side-body block: side planks, dips and reaches on the carriage that build the obliques crunches skip — the difference between a strong front and a strong core.

7. Single-leg and single-arm balance work

Unilateral holds — bird-dog style balances on the moving carriage — that expose and fix the left-right differences every body carries. Humbling, and the fastest route to feeling athletic again.

8. The stretch and cool-down sequence

Last in the ranking, first in how classes end: every KARVE class closes with a meditative stretch and cool-down. It ranks because people skip it alone — and never skip it here.

Try the whole list in one class

Every exercise above appears across a normal week of 50-minute classes — no need to programme anything yourself. Start with the beginners guide, see the machines explained in our Pilates machines guide, or book straight from the live schedule at Kensington, Chelsea or Victoria.