(Bloomberg) -- Editor’s note: Now that vaccination and mask mandates have been lifted in New York, we’re testing a variety of group exercise classes every month to recommend the best ones and also see how they’ve changed in the two years since Covid-19 forced gyms across the city to shutter. Previously, we focused on building muscle. This month, it’s Pilates.

If there were such a thing as a perfect workout for all ages, it’s Pilates. It’s where everyone—ballerinas, NFL players, ordinary exercisers, and injury rehabbers—converge. Scalable to any fitness level and suitable for sensitive joints, this low-impact workout makes the small, injury-proofing muscles in your body more robust by using a medley of spring-based equipment including reformers, springboards, and “chairs.”

Pioneered in the 1920s by a German trainer named Joseph Pilates to aid in injury recovery, Pilates has roots in yoga, gymnastics, and physical therapy. By emphasizing controlled, slow movements with resistance, it challenges your strength and flexibility—especially through your core. Instead of the body thrashing to which some high-intensity workouts subject you, Pilates can alternate between painstakingly slow and deliberately fast movement, with muscle-quivering pulses in between.

Over the past few weeks, we tested dozens of Pilates classes in NYC to find the ones that hit all the right marks: good community, welcoming space, and effective routine. They fell into three distinct subsets—classic, intense, and restorative—so you can choose exactly what your body needs. They also fill up quickly. Plan to book a day or two before the class is scheduled, but don’t be surprised if some of them require scheduling a week in advance.

Something to know before you use the reformer: In most cases, Pilates isn’t a particularly sweaty workout, so studios are not likely to have showers; but they do often have changing rooms and grooming products to freshen up post-workout. You’re sometimes required to wear grippy socks (often available for purchase) for hygiene as well as better traction on the reformer. Most are simply barefoot.

And if you’re new to a space, or Pilates in general, arrive early so the instructor can walk you through what’s unique to the equipment, especially the reformer, which is not as torturous to learn as it looks. 

A Classic Approach

Club PilatesBest for: Personalized attentionA lying glute bridge series on the reformer burns a little less when you’re looking up at skylights and exposed wood beams across vaulted ceilings. We visited the Park Slope location’s bright, airy space, but Club Pilates has studios peppered throughout other neighborhoods in Brooklyn, as well as Manhattan, Queens, and New Jersey (and the rest of the country, too).

After picking your station, you can write your name and any injuries on its accompanying whiteboard, so your instructor can address you by name and provide modifications, if necessary. No two classes are the same, and there are a bunch—cardio boot camps, dancer-inspired standing sessions, and TRX-based suspension training, in addition to traditional reformer flows, all at varying intensity levels. Fees and membership: A drop-in class is around $45, but price varies by location. Memberships include four classes per month for $149 and unlimited classes for $299. Something of note: If you’re brand-new to Pilates, a 30-minute intro class here is free. 

Fort PilatesBest for: An inspiring space to enhance your practiceLooking to hone your skills? Book a private or duet session at Fort Pilates’s DeKalb Avenue studio in Brooklyn. The second-floor space overlooks Fort Greene Park and the historic district’s iconic brownstones. But the real highlight inside is the Gyrotonic, an innovative piece of equipment similar to a pulley tower. Inspired by the fluid movement of dance, swimming and tai chi, the sweeping, circular exercises incorporate complementary breathing patterns to deepen flexibility, alignment, and strength.

Our private session unfurled tension and unlocked so much spine stiffness from sitting that we left standing taller by the end. (Yes, we checked.) If you prefer group sessions, Fort Pilates’s second location is a short walk away and equally tranquil. We chose one of eight reformers at the end of the studio nearest the garden. With a squishy spike ball under our ribs and a yoga block supporting our head, we stretched out our arms to open the chest and loosen tension through the back—all while soft jazz played and a thunderstorm rolled in. Fees and membership: Drop-in classes start at $25; two private sessions are $140.Something of note: Fort Pilates also has streaming classes through its virtual studio. At the time of our testing, all guests were required to wear a mask at both locations.

A-line PilatesBest for: Group classes that feel like private sessions Since Carey Macaleer founded A-line Pilates in 2016, the studio has been open every day. “We never closed down for teaching during the pandemic,” she says. “We just went online.” But it’s impossible to replicate the in-person experience—the studio is set on the second floor of a brownstone in an old parlor in Carroll Gardens, near Brooklyn’s famed pizza joint Lucali; it’s a unique and intimate setting—pumping your arms through hundreds while staring at a marble fireplace.

In a tower class, we worked on a cushioned platform using the different components of the reformer equipment. Macaleer’s attention to detail helps you gain greater awareness and muscle engagement. She had us wrap our toes around the push-through bar to articulate the ligaments in the feet, involving every part of the lower body, and offered tailored cues such as, “Imagine dipping your toes in water. Now flick!” while doing a lying leg series with feet in spring-resisted straps. It ended with meditation and eucalyptus and citrus essential oils. Fees and membership: A drop-in class is $48; a five-pack is $225.Something of note: As a small, women-owned business, A-line supports a number of not-for-profit organizations through its Parlor Series, wherein the studio welcomes local residents for events, talks, complimentary classes, and consultations.

Westside PilatesBest for: A crash course in classical trainingWestside Pilates, as the name suggests, is on the Upper West Side. It opened in 2013, then expanded to Long Island City, Queens, in 2017. Even though classes are capped at three or four people, we highly recommend a private session. After you’ve detailed your athletic background, current fitness level, and any chronic or acute pain, you get a bespoke workout in which the spring load matches your ability.

We worked on almost every piece of equipment in the Long Island City location: reformer, tower, chair, and ladder barrel. If you’re a runner, your workout might center around heavy resistance on the jumpboard and tower to strengthen the hamstrings and adductors (inner thighs) with complementary stretching on the ladder barrel to mobilize the low and middle back and hamstrings. This session was the most comprehensive, ideal for better understanding your anatomy. Fees and membership: A drop-in class starts at $40; a five-pack starts at $185.Something of note: Currently the flagship location at West 97th Street is closed because of Covid-19, but it’s slated to reopen in the fall. The Long Island City studio is right over the Pulaski Bridge, a short walk from the G train. 

The Intense Version

SolidcoreBest for: Barry’s die-hards who want to try PilatesSome Pilates workouts are pretty sedate, but Solidcore, founded in 2013 in Washington, D.C., doesn’t even call itself Pilates, technically. It borrows the boot camp mentality to deliver better results in less time. All studios are dimmed at the onset of class; you lunge, curl, and pulse under blue lights with thumping music. The atmosphere motivates you through an intense body-burner on Sweatlana, the franchise’s custom reformer, that loads springs with heavier resistance, making this one of the most intense Pilates classes we tested.

The best part is how targeted the classes are. Even though you’re working your entire body, the emphasis is on fatiguing paired muscle groups such as inner thighs, hamstrings, or outer glutes. This is truly “a 50-minute, full-body, strength-training workout,” says Solidcore Chief Executive Officer Bryan Myers. “Our clients see real results from the work they put in.” With about 15 to 25 sweating, panting people in each session, these group classes were also the largest we tried. But instructors made a point to call out everyone’s name at some point.

Fees and membership: Drop-in classes start at $25; an unlimited monthly membership (one class per day) is $349.Something of note: A monthly membership gives you early access to your home studio’s schedule, discounts on retail, and a complimentary guest pass for a friend once a month.

SLTBest for: A serious challenge—with strength gains to show for itSLT, which stands for “strengthen, lengthen, and tone,” has earned its reputation for being the toughest Pilates class in NYC. That’s because it infuses cardio and strength training into the traditional modality. Almost every class begins with a core scorcher (think elbow plank crawls on the carriage) to rev your heart rate and body temperature. Like Solidcore, the franchise has its own version of the reformer, called the Megaformer, that increases the intensity.

“The Megaformer is bigger, offering a larger range of motion for deeper muscle activation, and has a wide array of handle bars, straps, and indentations,” says Amanda Freeman, founder and CEO of SLT. “That enables a whole library of moves designed to be practiced slowly, for a long period of time, with no breaks in between.” The pace is quick in these classes, but numbered lines on the carriage help clue you in on foot and hand placement. Expect quick planks and pikes and agonizingly slow squats straddling the carriage and platform.Fees and membership: A drop-in class is $42; a monthly unlimited membership is $440.Something of note: If it’s your first time, don’t hesitate to look for guidance from your neighbors. 

BodyrokBest for: Getting into a flow state and burning out There’s something about a dimly lit studio that lets your confidence grow. At Bodyrok, custom reformers are lined up against a mirror so you can check your form, and a specialized three-stage lighting system is synced to the beginning, middle, and end of class. In this hybrid Pilates format, you jump, squat, lunge, row, and push your body through a 40-minute, total-body burner. Bursts of cardio are mixed in to help you torch more calories (especially if you book Cardio Sculpt). You might do burpees and mountain climbers in between strength sequences, which go beyond basic (but challenging) lunge and squat pulses. We did scooter lunges—standing leg to the side of the machine, opposite foot against the shoulder rest, arms out in front—that burned the outer glutes to the high heavens. Expect the spring resistance to be more challenging and for modifications to be made available for beginners and more advanced clients.

Fees and membership: Drop-in class is $36; a five-pack is $17; unlimited classes per month is $349.Something of note: Bodyrok has three locations in Manhattan, but there are 21 studios in total across California, as well as Chicago, Nashville, and Tampa Bay, with more to come nationwide. 

The Restorative Alternative

ChaiseFitnessBest for: Private sessionsLauren Piskin has been teaching Pilates on the Upper East Side for more than 15 years. In 2012 she and her daughter, Rachel, co-founded ChaiseFitness. The space is a two-story operation; upstairs has a row of reformers where private sessions can be booked. Upbeat group classes—limited to five people—are held on the first floor and include BandSculpt, which uses three levels of resistance bands on a mat for a burn that sneaks up on you.

The studio’s signature workout is called Reinvention. It uses the pedal, springs, and platform of a Pilates chair with an overhead bungee system to continually engage your core. Fees and membership: Single classes are $50; private sessions are $125. A 10-pack of private sessions is $1,140.Something of note: ChaiseFitness fits into the restorative category primarily for its low-key vibe. You feel as if you’re part of a family—a very toned, athletic family. 

Flow PilatesBest for: Calming, spa-like ambienceThe Clinton Hill studio sits on the corner of a sleepy, tree-lined street in one of Brooklyn’s quieter neighborhoods, and it’s definitely got local charm. Although small, the space is welcoming, awash in natural light with snake and monstera plants and candles giving it a comforting mix of sandalwood, vetiver, and amber. A glass wall separates the area for intimate group classes—there are six Balanced Body reformers in total—and private sessions, which offer clients more high-end equipment.

In the jumpboard class, you engage in low-impact jumping while lying on the carriage, on your back and either side, jumping off one leg or both. The resistance is very light, so it works ankle mobility and feels more restorative than, say, the cardio workout we were anticipating. Not all workouts are deemed good if they leave you spent. Sometimes the mindful slowdown is what the body needs to recuperate, but it’s always good to remember to make your workout work for you and add more or less resistance.Fees and membership: A drop-in class is $38; a five-pack set is $175.Something of note: Prenatal classes are also available.

IM=X Pilates & FitnessBest for: Injury rehabilitation Not many workouts begin with a questionnaire, but your body’s history is taken seriously at IM=X, a franchise with locations across the country. At its East Midtown studio, there’s even an (unaffiliated) chiropractor’s office inside. There was a range of ages at the class we tried, and many had clearly been attending for a while. 

The emphasis is a classic one: The precise placement of your feet on the bar and carriage was often scrutinized and amended; and the teacher’s prompts were centered around minuscule-seeming adjustments to hand placement and breath. Fees and membership: Introductory private sessions are $65, and 12-month unlimited memberships are $249 per month.Something of note: This was the only studio we tested that has showers on-site—two of them, in fact. It also has separate changing rooms for men and women. 

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