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8 best Pilates rings to shop before they sell out
From just £7.99.
You might know the Pilates ring as a sure-fire way to strengthen your inner thighs, or perhaps as the one bit of kit instructors throw in every now and then to increase the burn. You're right, a Pilates ring is a great way to work on that hard to strengthen inner thigh area, and they can definitely ramp up the heat in your usual mat Pilates or reformer Pilates workout (as well as Pilates balls, Pilates bars, ankle weights and resistance bands), but let's not undersell it. There's a lot a Pilates ring can do.
Best Pilates rings
A Pilates ring is quite literally a small, lightweight, easy to transport and relatively cheap circle with the ability to work a whole range of body parts that can easily be used during both home workouts and gym workouts, and by beginners and advanced exercisers alike. It's not only able to target your arms, abs, inner and outer thighs, glutes, back and pelvic floor, but it can also be used to stretch or to provide useful modifications when an exercise is too difficult or not suited to a person. Hey, it’s not called the Magic Circle for no reason (it’s also called the "Circle of Pain," but we’ll get back to that later).
We’ve spoken to a few Pilates circle experts themselves to present you with everything you need to know about your new-found exercise buddy. And for those who have always known just what a great piece of home gym equipment the Pilates ring is (no need to say I told you so), scroll on down to grab yourself a fresh one before the rest of the world cottons on, from our edit of the best Pilates rings.
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What are the benefits of a Pilates ring?
Before we get into the exercise benefits that these clever circles provide, there are a few other benefits worth mentioning.
- A Pilates ring is rather cheap, with some costing as little as £7.99
- A Pilates ring is relatively small and easy to store
- It's small and lightweight enough to take your Pilates ring with you to the gym or the park to get your sweat on
As for the advantages when it comes to exercising with a Pilates ring, Simone Leask, Senior Trainer at Ten Health & Fitness, sums it up perfectly. “The Pilates Ring can help strengthen or stretch numerous muscles across the entire body - including the smaller muscles we often don’t think about. The extra resistance provided by the ring can also improve our overall stability and balance, as well as switching on our core stabilising muscles. The ring can be used to aid mobility and is a great tool for those who are less flexible.”
All very well, but if you don’t know how to use a Pilates ring properly how can you hope to benefit from one? Hold on, we’re getting there…
8 best Pilates rings for 2024
Courtney Smith is Fashion Assistant at Cosmopolitan UK and Women's Health UK, where she works across both print and digital. She has been in the fashion industry for over nine years, initially as a model and later as a fashion assistant and writer in media. When she is not assisting on shoots with the likes of Tom Daley and Raye or bringing about a surge in online hula hoop sales, she can be found at the ponds getting in some quality time with her one true love: swimwear.
Bridie is Fitness Editor at Women's Health UK. She spends her days sweating over new workouts, fitness launches and the best home gym kit so you have all that you need to get fit done. Her work has been published in Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and more. She’s also a part-time yoga teacher with a habit of nodding off mid savasana (not when she’s teaching, promise).
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