It’s Lagree: Stop Calling it Pilates?!

Lagree vs Pilates: they're not the same thing. Here's why it matters.

If you've heard of Lagree and assumed it was just another name for Pilates, you're not alone.The machines look similar. The movements look similar. Both happen in a studio with small groups and an instructor who corrects your form. From the outside, it's an easy mistake. But if you've ever done both, you know within the first ten minutes that they are completely different experiences.

This is not a post about which one is better. Both methods have real value. This is a post about what makes Lagree distinct, because if you're considering trying a Crush class and you're coming from a Pilates background, you deserve to know exactly what you're walking into.

Where the confusion comes from

Lagree was created by Sebastien Lagree in Los Angeles in the late 1990s. Lagree himself was a bodybuilder who shortly worked as a Pilates instructor, and the method he developed uses a machine: the Megaformer, that is visually similar to a Pilates reformer. Both have a sliding carriage, springs for resistance, and straps and bars for different movements.

That visual similarity is where the comparison ends.

Lagree built his method specifically because he felt traditional Pilates wasn't intense enough to produce the cardiovascular and muscular results his clients wanted. He didn't create a harder version of Pilates. He created something new that uses a similar-looking machine to achieve very different outcomes.

The science behind the difference

The core distinction between Lagree and Pilates is the type of muscle fibre each method targets, and how it targets them.

Traditional Pilates primarily recruits fast-twitch muscle fibres. These are the fibres responsible for explosive, powerful movements. Pilates exercises tend to involve controlled movement through a full range of motion, often with rest between exercises.

Lagree is built around slow-twitch muscle fibres. These fibres are responsible for endurance, stability, and sustained effort. They are far harder to exhaust than fast-twitch fibres, which is why Lagree uses slow, continuous movement with no rest between exercises and constant spring tension. The goal is to keep the target muscle under load for long enough that the slow-twitch fibres reach complete fatigue. In practice, this means a Lagree exercise might last 90 seconds to two minutes on a single movement.

You are not resting. You are not transitioning. You are holding a plank variation on a moving carriage trying not to shake yourself off the machine. By the end of that movement, the muscle should be completely spent. This is what people mean when they describe Lagree as "the slow burn." It is not a metaphor. It is a physiological description of what is happening to your muscles.

What a Pilates class feels like vs what a Lagree class feels like

In a reformer Pilates class, you will typically move through a sequence of exercises with clear transitions between them. The instructor will guide you through footbar work, strap work, and box work. The pace is measured. There is intention behind each movement and attention to form, breath, and alignment. For many people, a good reformer Pilates class feels challenging and restorative at the same time.

In a Lagree class on the Megaformer, there are no breaks. The class moves from one exercise directly into the next for the full fifty minutes. The transitions themselves are part of the workout. The resistance is heavier than a standard reformer. The movements are slower than you expect them to be, deliberately, because slowing down increases time under tension, which is the whole point.

Around the ten-minute mark of your first Lagree class, your legs will start to shake. This is not a sign that something is wrong. It is the sign that the method is working. The shake is the slow-twitch fibres reaching fatigue. It means you have found the edge, which is exactly where Lagree is designed to operate.

The Megaformer vs the reformer

The Pilates reformer was designed by Joseph Pilates in the early twentieth century. It is a beautiful, effective piece of equipment that has barely changed in its fundamental design since then.

The Megaformer is a different machine built for a different purpose. It is larger than a standard reformer, with handles and platforms positioned to allow for a wider range of movement patterns, including standing exercises, pushing movements, and full-body compound work that a standard reformer was not designed for. At Crush, we use the MegaPro, the current generation of the Megaformer and the machine that Lagree himself trains on. It is the only machine the method was designed for.

Studios that offer "Lagree-inspired" classes on smaller or modified machines are offering an approximation. The MegaPro is the real thing.

The honest answer to "which one should I do?"

If you are new to structured movement, recovering from injury, or looking for something restorative and mindful: start with Pilates. It is a brilliant foundation and one of the most intelligently designed movement systems ever created.

If your goal is building strong muscle, visible definition, and a stronger core: Lagree. The method was built for exactly that outcome.

If you want to improve your posture, move better, and build a body that functions well for the long term: both. They are not rivals. Many people who do Lagree regularly also do Pilates, and their Pilates improves because of it.

If you want to find out what your body is actually capable of: try Lagree. Give it three classes before you decide.

The first one will be humbling.

The second one will be hard.

The third one is where you understand what all of this is about.