Ladder Barrel - traditonal and modern (English)

Pilates Forschung

20. Apr.

Ladder Barrel? What do you do with it again?

I met up with Gianfranco (in the video above) to put our Ladder Barrels side by side.

Why? Because a traditional Ladder Barrel - like the one from Gratz - and modern a Ladder Barrel - like the one from Balanced Body - are slightly different.

But how different are they, really?

As a Pilates trainer, you usually only buy one Ladder Barrel in your trainer lifetime, and if you do buy two, they're usually from the same company. So you might never find out the differences between manufacturers. Dealer show rooms for Pilates equipment do not yet exist and so purchasing decisions tend to remain gut decisions along the lines of "I learned on equipment from XYZ" or brand preferences "well-known company" or, unfortunately often associated with later dissatisfaction, price decisions, "had a great offer from this supplier and the equipment does look high quality."

Gianfranco and I met today to compare our Ladder Barrels and also to swap them for the time being. His yellow Gratz Ladder Barrel will visit our pilates-powers studio and our black Balanced Body Ladder Barrel will stay with him in his home studio in Mönchengladbach.

During our meeting we compared the two Ladder Barrels and put them side by side. You can find out more in the picture series and the captions.

The Gratz Ladder Barrel in front and the Balanced Body Ladder Barrel hidden behind it.

Both Ladder Barrels are pulled out to the maximum. The BB can be extended further.

If you push both Ladder Barrels as close as possible to the ladder, the BB can be brought closer together in that direction as well.

Looking from the direction of the Gratz Ladder Barrel, you can see that BB is slightly higher.

Both Ladder Barrel flush assembled on the left side you can see the Gratz Ladder Barrel is narrower.

Photographed from above, the difference becomes even more obvious.

The BB looks more massive in terms of its circumference.

And if you measure the diameter of the arc ...

... you can see there is at least a difference of one centimeter (0.4 inch).

With exercises like the Side Situp ...

... a relatively large amount of pressure is exerted on the ladder.

Balanced Body has a reinforcement here in the form of a wooden triangle.

Gratz uses a metal angle. It yields perceptibly less and provides a feeling of more security.

For some exercises, such as the Backbend, it is important to hold the Ladder Barrel firmly.

What works without problems with the BB (photographed from below), …

… with the Gratz the grip edge is too wide on the inside.

How serious are such differences in training? Do you really notice them?

Gianfranco, who knows both Ladder Barrel well, says "Yes". My first attempts go in the same direction.

The Gratz Ladder Barrel is now in the studio waiting for you to try it out. I'm looking forward to your feedback. Also very happy for others to follow along below in the comments. Gianfranco and I will also describe what we noticed in the comments after enough experience.

Have fun trying it out.