Twelve reformers. Twelve people. You say "take one spring off" — three take the wrong one, one asks which colour, and the momentum you spent ten minutes building is gone.
Spring settings are the part of group teaching nobody rehearses. Which is odd, because they are the single biggest difference between a class that flows and a class that stalls.
The short answer: stop setting springs exercise by exercise and start programming them. Group your class into spring blocks, keep total changes under eight, cue every change in the same order, and use load — not choreography — to handle mixed levels. Springs are a teaching tool, not a difficulty dial.
What Springs Actually Do
Most of us learned springs as weight: more springs, more effort. That is only true for half the repertoire.
A spring always pulls the carriage in one direction — back toward the footbar. Whether that feels hard or easy depends entirely on where your client is going.
- Working against the spring — footwork, stomach massage. The spring is resistance. More springs, more work.
- Working with the spring — the return phase of feet in straps. The spring is assistance. More springs, less work.
- Holding against the spring — long stretch, knee stretches, plank work. The spring is support. Fewer springs, much more work.
"The spring isn't the weight. The spring is the direction the challenge comes from."
Once you can name which of the three is happening, you can set springs for an exercise you have never taught before.
Why Lighter Is Often Harder
This is the idea that changes how you teach, and the one your clients find most surprising.
Take long stretch. On two springs the carriage holds you; the plank is stable and you can lean into it. Take a spring off and the carriage wants to run away — now the core has to do the entire job. Same exercise, much more demand.
The same logic applies to knee stretches, arms in straps, pulling straps and anything performed in a long line. So when you want an exercise to be harder, the first question isn't "more springs?" — it's "is this a push or a hold?"
Say it out loud in class: "I'm taking a spring off — this isn't getting easier, it's getting different. The carriage is going to help you less."
Colours Don't Travel — Loads Do
Spring colours are not standardised. They mean different things per manufacturer, and plenty of studios run two brands in the same room.
- Balanced Body: red is a full spring, blue roughly half, yellow around a quarter to a third.
- Merrithew/STOTT: red is the heavy spring, blue the medium, yellow the light one.
- Other brands: their own systems, sometimes numbered rather than coloured.
So write your plans in light, medium and heavy — never in colours. Your plan then survives a cover class at another studio, and you don't have to re-translate it under pressure. If you teach somewhere new, sit on the machine before class and do two footwork reps on your planned setting. Ten seconds, and you know whether your plan holds.
Programming, Not Setting: Build Spring Blocks
Private sessions and group classes are different sports here. In a private you change the springs yourself. In a group of twelve, every change costs time, attention and energy — and someone always ends up on the wrong load.
The fix is to stop planning exercise by exercise and group everything that runs on the same load. A 50-minute class might look like this:
| Block | Load | Content | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heavy | Full footwork series | 8 min |
| 2 | Light | Feet in straps, arms in straps | 10 min |
| 3 | Carriage locked | Short box series | 7 min |
| 4 | Medium | Long stretch series, knee stretches | 10 min |
| 5 | Medium to heavy | Standing work, running | 9 min |
| 6 | Light | Mermaid, close | 6 min |
Five changes instead of fifteen. That's the whole technique. If you want the surrounding structure to hang this on, the free class plan template already has a springs column built into every phase.
How to Cue a Spring Change
Use the same word order every single time and the room learns it within two classes: new setting first, action second, next exercise third.
"We're going to one light spring — heavy off, light stays on. Then lie down long on the carriage."
Not the other way around. If you name the exercise first, everyone starts moving before they know what load they're on, and you spend the next minute walking the room fixing springs.
Three more things that keep changes tight:
- Show while you say. Stand at a machine and physically move the spring as you announce it. People copy faster than they parse.
- Use the change. Thirty seconds of resetting is your window for a water reminder, a preview of what's coming, or a quiet correction for one person. Don't stand there in silence.
- Never change springs mid-flow. If a transition needs a change, it isn't a transition — it's a new block. Plan it as one.
More on keeping a full room moving in teaching reformer groups.
Springs as Your Mixed-Level Tool
The most elegant use of springs in a group: everyone does the same exercise, but not everyone is on the same load. The class looks unified, and each person gets the right challenge.
- Resistance exercises (footwork, stomach massage): lighter for beginners, heavier for experienced clients.
- Support exercises (long stretch, knee stretches): the other way round — heavier for beginners, lighter for experienced clients.
- Straps work: light for everyone. Here quality of movement is the level, not the load.
Get that direction flip right and you stop needing two separate class plans. More on that in mastering mixed-level classes.
Three Mistakes Worth Dropping
1. Going heavy in the warm-up. Cold muscle plus heavy load equals compensation patterns you then correct for the rest of the hour. Start light — see how to build a reformer warm-up.
2. Treating springs as a reward. "Add a spring if you're feeling strong" turns a programming decision into a competition. Say what the extra spring changes, then let people choose.
3. Never explaining the change. When a group understands why the load moves, they set it correctly on their own. One sentence per change is enough: "Lighter, because now your core is doing the holding."
Frequently Asked Questions
What Spring Setting Should I Use for Footwork?
Heavy — around 3 to 4 springs, or 2.5 to 3 full loads. The legs are strong and the resistance keeps the carriage controlled. Lighter doesn't make footwork harder, just less stable.
Do More Springs Always Make an Exercise Harder?
No. On pushing exercises, yes. On holding exercises — long stretch, knee stretches, arms in straps — fewer springs means less support and significantly more work.
How Many Spring Changes Should a Group Class Have?
Six to eight in 50 to 60 minutes. Each change costs 30 to 45 seconds in a full room, so plan in blocks where several exercises share the same load.
Can Everyone Use a Different Spring Setting?
Yes — that's the cleanest mixed-level tool you have. Just remember the flip: lighter for beginners on pushing exercises, heavier for beginners on holding exercises.
Springs Belong in the Plan, Not in the Moment
Pilates Plans gives you a complete reformer class every week — with the spring setting written next to every exercise in light, medium and heavy, so the plan works on any machine in any studio. Theme, phases, cues and level variations included.
There's a full plan available for free.
