Pilates Tower Exercises: Push-Through, Roll Down and Springs
A tower turns the head end of a reformer into a compact vertical spring station. Its repertoire looks sprawling at first, but nearly every tower exercise belongs to one of four families, each defined by what the body holds or pushes against. Knowing them makes setup faster. Exercise selection and progression should still come from a qualified instructor.
What are the main families of tower exercises?
There are four: push-through bar work, roll down bar work, arm spring work and leg spring work. The push-through bar is a hinged bar loaded from above or below. The roll down bar hangs from springs for spinal articulation. Arm and leg springs clip to handles or loops for supine, seated and kneeling series.
Push-through bar: top loaded or bottom loaded
With the springs attached above the bar, it rests high and the body draws it down or presses it away against their pull. With the springs attached below, the bar is drawn toward the mat and the work becomes pushing it up and forward. The same seated reach or supine press feels completely different depending on which way the bar is loaded.
Spring choice depends on the tower. The Peak Pilates MVe tower uses a single push-through spring alongside two arm and two leg springs. Elina tower sets carry eight springs in short and long lengths, in light yellow and medium green. The push bar on the Elina Cadillac Reformer sets at 4 heights and on most Elina tower reformers at 3, which changes the starting angle before any spring is touched.
Why does a push-through bar need a safety strap?
The safety strap stops a bottom-loaded bar from swinging down unchecked. Springs below the bar pull it toward the mat, so if hands slip or a foot comes off, the bar travels toward the person lying underneath it. The strap limits that travel. BASI supplies one with every apparatus that has a push-through bar.
- Fit the safety strap whenever the bar is bottom loaded, before anyone lies under it.
- Check the strap holds the bar well above the body at its lowest point.
- Keep hands on the bar until the exercise is finished and the springs are at rest.
- Replace a frayed or stretched strap straight away. BASI and Peak both sell it as a separate part.
Roll down bar work
The roll down bar hangs from springs fixed high on the tower. Seated facing the tower, the body rolls back one segment at a time while the springs share the load, then curls forward again. Lighter springs give less help, so the movement asks for more control through its middle range. Peak's Studio Roll Down Bar is a capped wooden bar 30 in long. Elina tower reformers use solid maple bars.
Arm springs and leg springs
Arm springs are the shorter pair and work with handles for pulling, pressing and circling. Leg springs are longer so loops can reach the feet during supine circles, presses and side-lying work. On Peak's Metal Line towers the arm spring measures 18.75 in and the leg spring 24 in.
Elina HL towers use height-adjustable spring hitches. The numbered uprights on the Elina Master Instructor and Mentor towers let an instructor record the exact hook position for each client and repeat it next time. Before any tower session, cover the carriage with the mat or twin mat conversion supplied with most tower reformers, check that every spring hook is closed and confirm which way the push-through bar is loaded.
Towers for this repertoire, from folding steel frames to numbered aluminium uprights, are collected in tower systems. For a complete station on a single frame, look through our reformers with tower.
