The Micro Pro, the machine of the Lagree method

What the Micro Pro is

The Micro Pro is the compact machine from Lagree Fitness. According to the brand, the method was created by its founder, Sebastien Lagree, in Los Angeles. The machine was designed for one use only: practising the Lagree method in a small space, without taking anything away from the demands of the workout. It is this machine you will find at RYTHM, six of them.

Its structure can be read at a glance. A carriage slides on rails between two platforms. Springs connect the carriage to the frame and create the resistance. Handles, at the front and the back, support the hands and feet depending on the exercise. All the work consists of moving this carriage, or stopping it from moving, with the body placed in a precise position.

According to Lagree Fitness, the machine was designed so that exercises follow one another without getting off: you go from a leg movement to an arm or core movement simply by changing your support.

What variable resistance changes in the effort

The resistance of the Micro Pro comes from springs, not weights. A weight opposes the same load from the start to the end of the movement. A spring resists more the further it stretches: the effort increases as you push the carriage away, then you have to hold it back on the way in. The muscle therefore has no point along the path where it can let go.

That is what the first pillar of the method, rhythm, describes: continuous tension, no jerks, no rest between exercises. The springs make it mechanically possible. They also absorb impact: no load drops, no shock travels up into the joints.

Another, less intuitive consequence: on the Micro Pro, lightening the resistance does not always make the exercise easier. On some movements, the springs hold the carriage and help you control it; removing one hands that control to your deep muscles. The coach will tell you, exercise by exercise, which way to go.

Why slowness is so demanding on it

On a spring machine, speed is cheating. A fast movement launches the carriage, momentum does the work instead of the muscle, then the spring brings the carriage back on its own. Slowing down removes that momentum. Every centimetre of the path has to be produced, then held back, by the contraction.

The Lagree method takes this logic all the way: the movement is performed slowly, sometimes held still, then resumes without a pause. The muscle thus goes through concentric, eccentric and isometric phases within a single repetition. Repetitions are not counted; what is sought is the intensity of the contraction at every moment. That is the second pillar of the method.

In practice, the first minutes are surprising: the legs shake, which is common when a muscle tires. Keep breathing and hold the path.

How the resistance is set, machine by machine

Each Micro Pro is set independently of the other five. The adjustment is made by hooking or unhooking springs, in a few seconds, between two exercises. The coach announces the starting setting for each movement, then lets you adjust it to your level.

That is why one class can bring together a beginner and an experienced athlete. The first will keep a light setting and focus on position; the second will increase the load or slow the tempo even further. The exercise is the same, the intensity is not.

Resistance is not the only lever, either. The coach has several ways of modulating an exercise without touching the springs. In your first classes, better to underestimate the load and take care of the movement.

• The number of springs hooked on, as indicated by the coach.
• The position of the hands and feet on the carriage and the platforms.
• The range and slowness of the movement.
• How long positions are held.

What the coach corrects

Six machines, six people, one coach: this format is not a sales pitch, it is a condition of the method. On the Micro Pro, an approximate position shifts the effort to the wrong muscle or to a joint. The coach moves between the machines and corrects every position, one by one.

What the coach looks at first: body alignment, joint angles, the path of the carriage. Then the core, which must stay engaged from the first exercise to the last, and the breathing, which tends to lock as soon as the effort rises. Finally the tempo: the most frequent correction is simply asking you to slow down. The cues can be given in English: the coach speaks it and can run the whole class in English.

These corrections are the third and fourth pillars of the method, precision and control, applied live. They are not there to make the class more pleasant, but more accurate, and therefore more effective.

The Micro Pro at RYTHM: getting set up and safety

The six Micro Pro machines on which RYTHM runs its Lagree classes in Toulouse are installed at JBM Sports, 32 rue du Languedoc, in the Carmes district, 100 metres from Carmes metro station, ahead of the opening of our own studio in the district. Classes have been running since Monday 14 September 2026.

Two safety rules on the machine: grip socks, essential on the carriage and the platforms (the studio lends them), and ten minutes early to get set up with the coach, who shows you where to put your hands and feet and how to get on and off the carriage. What to wear and how to prepare are detailed in the article on your first class.

If in doubt about your health, ask a health professional before booking, and tell the coach when you arrive: positions will be adapted. To try the machine, the trial class costs €30, to be booked in the Xplor Active app with the studio code Rythmlagree, or through the call-back form on the site.