Arm Chair vs. Wunda Chair Guide for Pilates Lovers
Hi, have you ever wondered what the difference is between an Arm Chair vs. Wunda Chair? And maybe, like, should you have both? Should I just get one? What if you can only get one? What if you have specific goals? Well, we’re going to dive into all of that so you can make the best decisions for your studio or your home.
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I’ve been doing Pilates since 2005 and teaching since 2008 and I fell in love with the Wunda Chair when I got on it, it made me feel like the most powerful person. There’s some really cool moves you can do on it. And the first year I went to that had equipment, didn’t have an Arm Chair, and where I did my teacher training didn’t have an Arm Chair. And then I saw an Arm chair, and I was like, where has it been all my life? So I’m kind of obsessed with both, and it’s and I promise I will help you figure out which one to get if you’re only going to get one, but the reasons they exist are to help you with parts of the connections that you might be missing in your body. So you can do your Mat practice, and you can go do the things you want in your life. So we have to remember that every piece of equipment that Joe created after the Mat was to help you with the Mat, because the Mat is kind of– the Mat is really resembling what your life is going to include, staying up, sitting down, being on your stomach, being on your side, grabbing for something tall, right? So these two chairs have different uses and different needs, but all going towards the same goal, which is you doing your life better.
The Pilates Arm Chair or Baby Chair: All the Benefits
So let’s talk about the Arm Chair first, also known as the Pilates Baby chair. It is really quite unique and wonderful. You can see that this chair does move. Not every Arm Chair or Baby Chair out there, made by different brands, does move like this. You want to make sure that yours does. If you’re wanting to do the exercises that Joe had created or that I have in my flashcards or my videos, also it just makes it– it allows you to understand how to move with the equipment. Gives you feedback on your body. It’s incredibly helpful for understanding the Pilates tall back connection. So if you’ve seen my videos, we’ve talked about the five spine shapes in Pilates and the tall back is a difficult one for many people. Also, it helps you understand what your shoulders are doing as you move around. So it’s a great use, a great tool for helping you prepare for rowing on the Reformer, other exercises like that, but then also helping you do your roll ups from your center and not having your shoulders come forward, right? You’ve got handles here that provide great feedback. Allows you to keep a long strong wrist.
If you get the Contrology Arm Chair, you actually can make the back go further back. So when you put that in, then the back can go all the way to what we call the way back. The way back. This is going to definitely challenge your core even more, challenge how you move your body. So if you’re looking to connect your arms to your back, yes, if you’re looking for that tall back connection, absolutely. And it’s also a great use for other exercises like swakatee on the Reformer, that can be a very challenging exercise for most people. I love that you can learn it here. So especially if you’re wanting to advance your Pilates practice, the Arm Chair is going to give you those connections that you need. It also doesn’t take up a lot of space. If you want to see an Arm Chair workout, we have a 15-minute video that will take you through a full body Arm Chair workout. And it will show that you can get a full body workout in 15 minutes with a small piece of equipment like this.
All the Benefits of the Pilates Wunda Chair
Let’s talk about the benefits of Wunda Chair, the wonder chair, right? Wonder is what Wunda means in German. So this is really a great chair, obviously, you know, if you’ve been following me for years, you know, I’m obsessed with it. It was the first piece of home Pilates equipment I ever treated myself to. And Joe had originally intended for it to also double as an actual chair. Because of that, people are pretty obsessed with wanting their Wunda Chairs to double as an actual chair. I have been in a 500 square foot apartment. It is not the most comfortable chair that you would use. We definitely toughed it out. But I will say, like, I love my Controlology Chair, just the way it is, sitting up like this, because you’ll use it more, right? But it was one of the first pieces of home gym equipment. And I say that because I just read get to know Joe by Kathy Strack, and we talk about her book, and our video about the books and Pilates. And Joe actually did sell his Reformers first for people’s homes before the Wunda chair. Oh, no one talks about that. You’ve heard it here first, folks. Well, if you read her book, you’ve heard it there first.
But at any rate, the Wunda chair, it is going to it has way more exercises than the Arm Chair does for more of the average person doing it the Arm Chair, there are significantly more exercises than depending on what you needed, but this is going to be where you’re going to get more dynamic exercises. I shouldn’t say it’s not that there’s only dynamic exercise in the Wunda chair. You’ll see that on the Arm Chair as well, but the Wunda chair does take you into this, do three reps, move on. Three reps, move on. Because it’s supposed to challenge your stamina, your balance, your coordination. As exercises get more possible, you can easily change the spring weight to make it lighter so it’s less helpful, which is going to challenge you even more. I call it like an advanced piece of equipment, because it is. The surface area is quite small, and the help that it gives you can change to make it even more difficult. So if you are wanting a full body workout, wanting connections and wanting to challenge your heart rate and endurance, the Wunda chair is going to have your back. And if you’d like to explore what a Wunda chair workout looks like and feels like. We have a 30-minute Wunda Chair workout here for you that will get your heart rate up and feel like a little cardio at the end.
Which One Is Best for You?
Well, let’s talk about a couple different scenarios. If you are looking for in your home and you can only choose one, then I would absolutely get the Wunda Chair it has a lot of versatility. It will meet you where you are. You have you can do Mat exercises on it. There’s a lot you can do with it, and it doesn’t take a lot of space. It’s not that expensive. If you already go to a studio that has a Wunda chair, then I would get yourself an Arm Chair at home, because that could be your Pilates practice when you’re not in the studio, and you can take advantage of their chair. Of course, everyone should have both. If you’re looking at for your own Pilates studio and you can only have one, you’re going to get a lot more action out of the Wunda chair.
Choosing Between Arm Chair vs. Wunda Chair
Now, if you happen to have a High Chair in the studio already, and you are like, I have space for both, but I can only afford one now, and you have a High Chair, then I would get an Arm chair until you have the money to get the Wunda Chair, because then you can use the High Chair and the Arm Chair in combo, and then you’ll get that Wunda chair later on. So big fan of both. But if you can only get one, it really depends on what you have access to already, so you don’t have redundancy in your practice. Because truly, I want people to explore all the different apparatuses that Joe Pilates has created for us. In fact, it’s why I say, if you go to a studio for Reformer classes, you should do Mat and at home, right? If you go to a studio that has Mat classes, you could do Spine Corrector at home. The more that you can provide yourself that you have. You know, your classes that might be an hour long, but your personal practice that’s 15 or 20 minutes on a chair or Spine corrector, or the Mat, you’re going to get the benefits of Pilates much quicker, and they’ll be more long lasting. You’ll have a lot more fun. It will just be more amazing.
So Wunda Chair, if you can only have one. Arm Chair, if you have access to Wunda Chair somewhere else. Both, if you can do it. Look. We leave this out in the living room all the time, and you’d be surprised how many guests come and just sit down on this chair. And everyone has better posture because of it. And if you’re like, High chair, Baby chair, Wunda chair. Well, hold on. Now which one do I need? We actually have a video that discusses all three chairs. Watch it here to compare them and find the best fit for you.
Pilates Chair Exercises Made Simple for Everyone
Thank you so much for watching. If you are curious about these exercise on these chairs feel free to ask in the comments below. We have exercise tutorials for each piece of equipment, so you don’t have to go, Oh my God, I’ve never been trained on this. I wouldn’t know what to do. We’ve got your back between workshops, free tutorials and our flashcards, plus our classes here on OPC, we truly do have your Pilates back covered. So check us out at onlinepilatesclasses.com/youtube we actually do release a new one to chair class every single month. Over on our OPC membership site, we also do provide feedback on exercises, even if you don’t have a class for it, if you’re on your Arm Chair and your wondering if you’re doing it right, you can send a video. And if you are a member, and I’m happy to give you feedback on how to use it, exercises that you might feel are the best for you. So check us out at OPC YouTube. In the meantime, share with friend who needs to hear it and have an amazing day.
