What Is a Pilates Cadillac?

Walk into a classical studio and the tallest thing in the room is usually the Cadillac. It looks part bed, part climbing frame. Many makers list it as a trapeze table instead, a name that describes the design more literally.

What is a Pilates Cadillac?

A Pilates Cadillac is a raised, padded mat table surrounded by a tall canopy frame. Bars, straps and springs hang from that frame, so the body can work lying, sitting, kneeling or standing against resistance. It is also called a trapeze table, after the swinging bar suspended from the top.

The main parts of a trapeze table

• Mat table: the padded bed, raised roughly 22 to 25 in off the floor so nobody works down on the ground.
• Canopy frame: the uprights and top rails that carry every attachment.
• Push-through bar: a hinged bar sprung from above or below, pushed or pulled through its arc.
• Roll down bar: a bar sprung from the uprights, used for supported spinal articulation.
• Trapeze: a swinging bar hung from the canopy on straps.
• Leg and arm springs: long and short springs clipped to the frame at different heights for lying and seated series.

How do the Elina, BASI and Peak Cadillacs compare?

They differ most in length, height and spring count. The Elina Cadillac is 98.82 in long and 84.65 in high with 8 springs. The BASI Trapeze Table stands 87.2 in with its tall legs and runs 12 springs. The Peak Pilates Artistry Classic Cadillac is 92 in long and 84 in high.

The detail behind those numbers is where each one shows its character. The Elina Cadillac is maple with stainless steel and anodized aluminium fittings. Its eight springs come as short and long pairs in light yellow and medium green. The push bar sets at 3 heights with a safety strap.

BASI supplies twelve springs in six weights, two each of yellow, long yellow, blue, red, black and purple. Its spring holders slide along aluminium track, so a spring can sit anywhere along it instead of in a fixed hole. Peak builds the Artistry Classic in beech or walnut, with a stainless steel pole system, a galvanized canopy and hardwood bars above a mat 24.75 in high.

Who buys a Cadillac?

Cadillacs are bought mainly by studios that teach the full classical repertoire and by clinical practices. The raised table spares clients the trip down to the floor. Every spring and bar sits within reach, so a teacher can move a client between setups quickly without changing machines.

Home buyers are rarer, mostly because of size. A Cadillac needs its full length plus room to walk around it, along with ceiling height for the canopy and any hanging work. The Elina Cadillac weighs 238 lb and the BASI Trapeze Table 332.1 lb, so plan the room and the route into it before ordering.

Alternatives when floor space is tight

If a dedicated Cadillac will not fit, two routes keep much of the repertoire. Combination units such as the Elina Cadillac Reformer put a reformer carriage inside a trapeze frame. BASI also offers a Trapeze Only Upgrade that turns a compatible BASI reformer into a Cadillac on the same frame. Both save floor space at the cost of flexibility, since only one person can use the machine at a time.

See every trapeze table side by side, with full dimensions and spring sets, in our Cadillacs and trapeze tables collection.