If you don't really understand Pilates it is easy to make sweeping statements about the appropriateness or inappropriateness of exercises and their order.
For instance, I've heard the appropriateness of the Overhead exercise on the Reformer challenged, especially as the third exercise following Footwork and the 100.
If you recognize that the Mat is the method and the Reformer sequence is derived from the Mat you would see that after 100s come the Roll Up, but the Roll Up doesn't fit on the Reformer. After the Roll Up on the Mat comes Roll Over (naturally, more weight, further away from the center).
The Overhead is the Roll Over on the Mat. And just like Roll Over on the mat, you wouldn't do Overhead on the Reformer unless you had the strength to accomplish the movement. On the Mat you leave out or modify the Roll Over. On the Reformer you do the same thing with the Overhead. Instead of stabilizing through the shoulder girdle by having the hands in the straps, you support the weight of the body by putting the straps on the feet and do Short Spine. (If the body isn't ready for Short Spine, you back up even further to doing Leg Circles and then Frog.) If ever there were an exercise that illuminated the function of the Reformer, is it the Short Spine. The Short Spine is the Roll Over on the Mat with the assistance of springs to support the weight of the body to get the legs over the head. What is impossible on the Mat, is easy with the Reformer. Allowing the body to not only achieve the desired movement pattern but without pushing out in the stomach to accomplish the feat. Once you do a good Short Spine, you can change to the Overhead, and all of that leads to a good Roll Over on the Mat.
By the way, for beginners, Short Spine comes after 100s, and you practice Overhead usually after Tendon Stretch (which is the culmination of the Stomach Massage series only turned over--like Leg Pull Front being followed by Leg Pull)
It all fits together into one comprehensive whole. Once you understand that, the pieces are more easily identified, and their connection to each other more quickly recognized.
