The Pilates Mat Exercises in Classical Order

Hundred
Roll Up
Roll Over
One Leg Circle
Rolling Back (rolling like a ball)
One Leg Stretch
Double Leg Stretch
Spine Stretch
Rocker with Open Legs
Cork-Screw
Saw
Swan-Dive
One Leg Kick
Double Leg Kick
Neck Pull
Scissors
Bicycle
Shoulder Bridge
Spine Twist
Jack Knife
Side Kick
Teaser
Hip Twist
Swimming
Leg Pull - Front
Leg Pull
Side Kick Kneeling
Side Bend
Boomerang
Seal
Crab
Rocking
Control Balance
Push Up

Pelvic Curl
This exercise if often used in Pilates classes as a gentle warm-up for the spine and abdominal muscles. It
also works the lower body and helps coordinate breath and movement.

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 minutes

Here's How:
1. Set Up
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Make sure that your
feet, ankles, and knees are aligned and hip-distance apart.
This exercise starts in neutral spine. In neutral spine, the natural curves of the spine are
present so the lower back is not pressed into the mat.
2. Begin Sequential Breathing
Inhale. Bring your breath into your chest, then belly, and down to the pelvic floor.
Exhale. Release the breath from the pelvic bowl, the belly, and then the chest.
Inhale.
3. Exhale
Do a pelvic tilt by engaging the abdominal muscles and pulling your bellybutton down
toward your spine. Let that action continue so that the abs press the lower spine into the
floor.
In the pelvic tilt position, your back is very long against the floor and the pelvis is tilted
so that the pubic bone is a little higher than the hip bones.
4. Inhale
Press down through your feet allowing the tailbone to begin to curl up toward the ceiling.
The hips raise, then the lower spine, and, finally, the middle spine. Keep your legs
parallel all the way through.
You will come to rest between your shoulder blades, with a nice straight line from your
hips to your shoulders. Do not arch beyond this point. Be sure to support this movement
with the abdominals and hamstrings.

5. Exhale
As you let your breath go, use abdominal control to roll the spine back down to the floor.
Begin with the upper back and work your way down, vertebrae by vertebrae, until the
lower spine settles to the floor.
6. Inhale
Release to neutral spine. Prepare to repeat the exercise by initiating the pelvic tilt on the
exhale.
Repeat this exercise 3 to 5 times.

Tips:
1. If you have upper back or neck problems, you may want to practice engaging and
releasing just the pelvic tilt portion(through step 3), or roll up just part way.
2. Your shoulders and neck remain relaxed throughout the exercise.
3. A nice counter stretch for pelvic curl is spine stretch.
4. All you need is an exercise mat.

The hundred is a classic Pilates mat exercise. You will be asked to perform it during the beginning of
almost any Pilates class you take.
The hundred is a dynamic warm-up for the abdominals and lungs. It requires that you coordinate your
breath with the movement, and be strong and graceful at the same time. It is challenging, but the
hundred is an easy exercise to modify. See the tips at the end of the exercise description for
modification ideas.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 1 min.
Here's How:

Lie on your back with your legs bent in tabletop position with your shins and ankles parallel to
the floor.
Inhale.
Exhale: Bring your head up with your chin down and, using your abdominal muscles, curl your
upper spine up off the floor to the base of your shoulder blades. Keep the shoulders sliding
down and engaged in the back. Your gaze is down into the scoop of the abs.
Stay here and inhale.
Exhale: At the same time, deepen the pull of the abs and extend your arms and legs. Your legs
reach toward where the wall and ceiling meet in front of you. You can adjust them higher if
need be, or lower for more advanced work.
Your legs only be as low as you can go without shaking and without the lower spine pulling up
off the mat.
Your arms extend straight and low, just a few inches off floor, with the fingertips reaching for
the far wall.
Hold your position.
Take five short breaths in and five short breaths out (like sniffing in and puffing out). While
doing so, move your arms in a controlled up and down manner - a small but dynamic pumping
of the arms.
Be sure to keep your shoulders and neck relaxed. It is the abdominal muscles that should be
doing all the work.
Do a cycle of 10 full breaths. Each cycle is five short in-breaths and then five short out-breaths.
The arms pump up and down -- about a 6-8 inch pump -- in unison with your breath.

Keep your abs scooped, your back flat on the floor, and your head an extension of your spine,
with the gaze down.
*Breathing big is important. Breathe into your back and sides.
Learn about lateral breathing
To finish: Keep your spine curved as you bring your knees in toward your chest. Grasp your
knees and roll your upper spine and head down to the floor. Take a deep breath in and out.
Now that you've given it a go, refine your form with 10 Ways to Improve Your Pilates Hundred

Tips:

To modify the hundred: You can keep your legs in tabletop position. You can also do the exercise
with your knees bent and the feet flat on the floor, lifting only the upper body.
People with upper back and neck issues can do this exercise with the legs extended or tabletop
but the head down on the floor.
To make the hundred more challenging: Lower your legs. Do not lower your legs past where you
can control the movement (the photo is an advanced version with the legs very low). Don't let
your spine peel up off the floor as you lower the legs.

The roll up is one of the classic Pilates Mat exercises. Roll up is a great challenge for the
abdominal muscles, and is well known as one of the Pilates flat abs exercises. It has been said
that one Pilates roll up is equal to six regular sit ups, and is much better than crunches for
creating a flat stomach.
This is a quick reference for roll up. If you would like more detailed instructions, please see: roll
up instructions in detail.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 5 min.
Here's How:

Lie on the floor with your legs straight. Let your belly drop down toward the floor and make sure
your shoulders are relaxed and away from your ears. Take a few deep breaths as you check your
alignment and tune in to your body.

When you are ready, leave your scapula anchored in your back and your ribs down, as you bring
your arms straight up over your head and back so that your finger tips are pointing to the wall
behind you. This will be your beginning position.

See arms over for more on this beginning move.

Inhale: Leave your scapula down as you bring your arms up over head. As your arms pass your
ears let the chin drop and head and upper spine join the motion to curl up.

Exhale: Continue in one smooth motion to curl your body in an "up and over" motion toward
your toes. This is the "moment of truth" for many. Pull in your abs in and deepen the curve of
the your spine as you exhale. That's what gets you up (not momentum).

Finally, keeping the head tucked, the abdominals deep, and the back rounded, reach for your
toes.

Ideally the legs are kept straight throughout this exercise, with energy reaching out through the
heels. However, a modification would be to allow the legs to bend, especially as you come up
and reach toward the toes.

Inhale: Bring the breath fully into your pelvis and back as you pull the lower abs in, reach your
tail bone under, and begin to unfurl - vertebrae by vertebrae - down to the floor.

The inhale initiates this motion until you are about half way down.

*Be sure to keep the legs on the floor and don't let them fly up as you roll down. Check that
your shoulders are relaxed and not creeping up.

Exhale: Continue to set one vertebrae after another down on the floor.

Keep your upper body curve as you roll down slowly, with control. The arms are still
outstretched and following the natural motion of the shoulders as you roll down.

Once your shoulders come to the floor, the arms go with the head as you continue to roll down
to the mat.

Do up to six repetitions. The roll up is one continuous, controlled, flowing motion. Try to
synchronize with the breath. If you do this exercise with full attention, six repetitions will be
sufficient.
Next, try roll up with magic circle
If you have trouble with roll up (you're not alone), please read: Tips for Mastering The Roll Up.

Tips:

You may find that you don't have enough strength to curl all the way up off the floor without
your legs flying up. If this is the case, begin developing your skill and strength with chest lift, wall
roll down, and supported roll back

Roll over is all about control. It will give your back and hamstrings a good stretch, and make
your abdominal muscles work very hard as well.
One of the keys to this exercise is to remember that it is roll over, not flop over. We've all seen
someone, usually a very flexible woman, waltz into a studio and immediately get down on the
floor throwing her legs over her head in a big ol' back stretch. Well that's fun if you can do it, but
it is not a great way to develop core strength (it is a great way to hurt your back and neck.)
Warm up before you do this exercise. You may also want to review my extra Tips for roll over.
If you have back or neck issues, be careful with roll over -- it might not be right for you.
Beginning Position:

Lie on your back with your arms along your sides, palms down. Your neck is long with
lots of space between your shoulders and ears, and your chest is open.

With your legs together, extend them straight up toward the ceiling at a 90-degree angle.

Exhale: Lower your legs slightly.

Inhale: Using your lower abs, return you legs to 90 degrees.

Exhale: Continue using your abdominal muscles and draw your hips and legs over until
your legs are parallel to your chest.
This part of roll over requires a release of the lower back along with lifting support from
the abs.
Keeping your chest open and using pressure from the backs of your arms and your hands
will help you over and stabilize the movement. Few people can do roll over without some
assistance from the arms, but the emphasis is on the abs.

Continue the deepening of the abdominals as you roll onto the broad part of your
shoulders. Do not roll on to your neck.
If you are very flexible and stable here, you can take your feet all the way to the floor.
This is similar to yoga's plow pose

Inhale: Flex your feet, lengthening the back of the legs and sending energy out through
the heels.

Take your legs to shoulder width apart.

Exhale: Allow your legs to lower toward your chest as you use abdominal control to
slowly lengthen your spine as you place each vertebrae down on the mat, one at a time.
Roll down until your legs are at 90 degrees.
Continue to send energy out through your heels; doing so will help you control the
movement and get a good stretch. This is a good place to notice where you might go
weak in the abs and let a section of your back go down to the floor all at one time. Also,
beware of any tendency to overwork the back or neck muscles.

Inhale: Bring your legs together and lower them slightly to begin again.

Repeat roll over 6 times.

The Leg Pattern: 3 going over with legs together, then opening the legs and flexing the
feet to roll down; and 3 times going over with legs apart, feet flexed, and coming down
legs together, feet softly pointed.

One leg circle is one of the best pilates exercises for testing your core strength. The abdominal
muscles must work hard to keep the shoulders and pelvis stable despite the movement of the
leg in the hip socket. One leg circle also tones and stretches the thighs.
This is a focus exercise -- meaning, it's a great opportunity to work the abdominals while keeping
the Pilates principles of centering, concentration, control, precision, breath, and flow in mind.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 min.
Here's How:
Preparation

Lie on your back with legs extended on the floor, arms by your sides. Take a moment to feel the
weight of your body on the floor.

Try to balance the weight of the shoulders and the hips on each side.

You may want to do some sequential breathing to help drop the breath into the body and
encourage the weight of the ribs to rest on the floor.
Engage Your Abdominals

Pull your abdominals in, anchoring the pelvis and shoulders. Extend one leg toward the ceiling.

If your hamstrings are stretched, go ahead and lengthen the leg all the way up toward the
ceiling. Do not lift your hip in the process.

You may leave the knee slightly bent if your hamstrings are tight. It is more important that your
hips stay stable and grounded on the mat than it is for your leg to be straight.
The Leg Circles

Inhale: Cross the extended leg over toward the opposite hip.

Exhale: Drop the leg a few inches. Use control as you open the leg out and then sweep it around
in a small circle back to center.

Be sure to keep your shoulders and pelvis level. This is more important than extending the leg
fully or making big circles. It is in keeping the pelvis stable that your abdominals get their
workout. No Rockin' or Rollin'!
The Breath and Movement Pattern

Do five circles in each direction with each leg.

First set of 5:
Inhale to cross the body and circle down.
Exhale to open the leg and circle up.

Second set of 5:
Exhale to open the leg and circle down.
Inhale to cross the body and circle and up.
Tips:

Modify this exercise by keeping the non-working leg bent with the foot flat on the floor. This will
provide more stability for the pelvis.

As your core strength increases, you will be able to increase the size of the circle you make with
your leg. Start small and work up.

If you have an exercise band you may want to try One Leg Circle with Exercise Band.

A classic Pilates exercise, rolling like a ball is is almost always included in Pilates mat classes.
Some people can roll up like a pill bug and have lots of fun with this exercise right away. For
those of us with low backs that don't round as well, rolling exercises are a little more
challenging, though they are worth the effort to develop. Rolling exercises stimulate the spine,
deeply work the abdominals, and tune us into the inner flow of movement and breath in the
body.
Before You Begin
Supported roll back is an excellent preparation for this exercise. If you have not done rolling
before, you might want to do supported roll back first. If you have back or neck problems, stick
with supported roll back and not do the full rolling exercises.
See Supported Roll Back
Some things to keep in mind:
Keep your rolled position throughout the exercise.
Use your breath to keep this exercise controlled and flowing.
Never initiate the roll by throwing your upper body backward! This is a very common mistake.
Make sure that you are on a surface that is padded. A thin mat on a hard floor is not enough
padding for the spine. Read about Pilates mats.
For a more in depth look at doing this and other rolling exercises, read Tips for Doing Rolling
Exercises.
Instructions for Rolling Like a Ball

Sit on your mat and clasp your hands over your shins, just above the ankle.

Drop your shoulders, widen your back, deepen your abdominals, and make a nice curve of your
spine. Don't tuck your head, your neck is part of the long curve.
You may want to review the C-Curve.

Lift your feet off the mat and balance on, or just behind, your sit bones. (see fig. 1 in image box)

Inhale: Pull the lower abs in and up to get yourself going and roll back on your inhale. Roll only
to the shoulders. Do not roll onto the neck.
Pause. (see fig. 2 in image box)

Exhale: Stay deeply scooped with your spine curved. Use your exhale and abdominals to return
to upright.
Balance

Repeat 5-6 times.

Single leg stretch is all about learning to move from center. It trains the abdominals to initiate
movement, and to support and stabilize the trunk as the arms and legs are in motion. Many
people find it especially helpful in targeting the lower abs. There is an element of coordination
to this exercise as well.

Prepare: Lie on your back with your knees bent and your shins parallel to the floor. This is
tabletop position for the legs.

Take a few moments to breathe deeply into the back and lower abs. See Sequential Breathing
for more on working with the breath.

Inhale

Exhale: Pull your abs in, taking your bellybutton down toward your spine, as you curl your head
and shoulders up to the tips of the shoulder blades. As you curl up, your left leg extends at a 45degree angle.

The right leg remains in tabletop position with the right hand grasping the right ankle and the
left hand moving to the right knee.

You will maintain your upper-body curve throughout the exercise. Be sure to keep your
shoulders relaxed and your abdominals deeply scooped.

Inhale: Switch legs on a two-part inhale. Bring air in as the left knee comes in, and bring more air
in as you gently pulse that knee toward you.

Now the left hand is at the left ankle and the right hand at the left knee.

Exhale: Switch legs. Bring the right leg in with a two-part exhale/pulse and extend the left leg.

The hand to leg coordination continues with the outside hand of the bent leg going to the ankle
and the other hand moving to the inside of the knee.

Repeat: Switch legs up to 10 times. Release the exercise if you are finding tension in your
shoulders and neck or if your lower back is taking the strain.
It is possible to get a good abdominal workout while protecting your neck and back.

You can do this exercise with your head down.

If the small of your back is starting to come off the floor, or you are feeling back strain, then
your legs are too low. Raise your legs so that you are working your abs and not your back.

1. Exhale: Curl Up

Lie on your back with your shins in table top position, parallel to the floor.
Inhale
Exhale: Pull your abdominal muscles in to curve your upper body up off the floor. Deepen the
abs, bringing your forehead toward your knees.
Grasp your shins or ankles.
Your lower back is on the floor, not in neutral spine.

2. Inhale: Reach Long

Inhale: Your shoulders stay away from your ears, and your abs stay pulled in, as you
simultaneously reach your arms and legs in opposite directions. Extend as far as possible while
keeping your abs pulled in and the lower back on the mat.
Your upper body stays lifted as you reach -- do not let the extension of the arms drop the level
of the chest.
You might need to adjust the height of your arms and legs as you reach. The lower they are, the
more difficult it is to keep your lower back on the mat.

3. Exhale: Pull In to Center

Exhale: As you sweep your arms out to the sides and reach around to grasp your shins, your abs
deepening and pulling the legs in to center.
Do not drop your upper body curve. Your chest and head remain lifted for the duration of the
exercise.
Repeat the extension 6 - 10 times

4. Tip: Keep to the Center Line

Double leg stretch is great for working from the core as you use your abs to extend from, and
return to, center. But there is another way to work with center that is highlighted by this
exercise, and that is to work along the center line. In this, and many other Pilates exercises, it is
helpful to focus on staying very narrow. Keep your legs tightly together as they extend, think of
the abs and ribs moving toward the center line, and use the image of the sit bones coming
together. All of these will help you track the center line as you move.
If the full double leg stretch feels a little too hard, build abdominal strength with double leg
stretch prep

Pilates mat exercise, spine stretch, is useful anywhere in a workout. It is a great stretch for the
back and the hamstrings, as well as a moment to center oneself before moving on to more
challenging exercises.

Sit up tall on your sit bones.

Your legs are extended about shoulder width apart, and your feet are flexed.

Reach the top of your head to the sky but let your shoulders stay relaxed. See image at right.

Inhale and extend your arms out in front of you, shoulder height.
A modification here would be to place the fingertips on the floor in front of you between your
legs.

Exhale as you lengthen your spine to curve forward. You are going for a deep C-Curve. (Click the
image to your right, and click "next" to see image two of the c-curve.)

Allow a deep release in the hips as you keep your shoulders down and reach your fingers toward
your toes.

Inhale and reach a little further as you enjoy the fullness of your stretch.

Exhale and initiate your return by using the lower abdominals to bring the pelvis upright. Roll up
through the spine to sitting.

Modifications for Spine Stretch

If your hamstrings are tight, sit on a little lift, like a folded towel. You can also try this exercise
with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor (click on the photo above to see a demonstration
of this).

It also works quite well to do this exercise with the fingertips running across the floor in front of
you. This variation will take some pressure out of the shoulders and upper back.

Open Leg Rocker is a great abdominal workout. This exercise provides an opportunity to practice
using sequential control between the upper and lower abdominals. You will need to keep your
abdominals engaged in a deep scoop, and use the breath, to keep this rolling exercise flowing
and controlled.
*If you have back or neck problems, or tight hamstrings, use this exercise as a balance exercise
(see Open Leg Balance) and do not do the rolling.
You may want to review Tips for Rolling Exercises before doing open leg rocker.
To Do Open Leg Rocker:

Prepare: Sit up tall on your sit bones with your knees bent so that you can grasp your ankles.

As you balance between your sitbones and tailbone, keep your abdominals activated as you lift
and extend one leg, then the other, to shoulder width apart.

Balance.

Inhale and Roll: On an inhale, use a deepening scoop of the abdominals and the fullness of your
inhale to propel your roll back onto your shoulders.

Stay in your C-curve as you roll, leaving your head and neck off the mat.

Pause.

Exhale and Return: Remain in your C-curve and use your abdominal muscles, along with a strong
exhale, to bring yourself back to an upright balance.
Tip: Rolling exercises are initiated and controlled by the deepening of the abdominals, the
breath, and expansion of the back in relation to the breath. They are never accomplished by
throwing oneself backward from the shoulders and head. Stay in the C-curve until you come up
for your balance!

A classical Pilates mat exercise, the corkscrew offers a great challenge for shoulder stability and
abdominal work as you rotate the legs opposite a still, calm upper body. It is an especially good
exercise for the oblique muscles.
Corkscrew becomes an advanced exercise, but it is a good one to build up to. The exercise
instructions I give here are an intermediate version.
The plan: Your legs are going to make a half moon arc from center, to the side, dipping down in
the middle, and then scoop up the other side returning to the start position. Let's break this
move down:
Corkscrew Set-up

Lie on your back with your shoulders away from your ears and arms along your sides, palms
down.

Extend your legs up to the ceiling. Keep them together, hugging the midline of the body.

Before you begin the exercise, take a few deep breaths allowing your belly to deepen down
toward your spine, and your spine to lengthen out along the mat. Your lower back will be on the
mat. This is not a neutral spine exercise.

Your abdominal muscles are going to get a workout but you want your upper body to stay as
relaxed as possible throughout the exercise.
Legs to the Side

Inhale: Keeping your belly scooped in, use abdominal control to take your legs to the side. The
legs stay together.

Make this a small move at first, keeping the hips on the mat. As you get stronger, let just the
hips tip slightly with the move as shown. (Eventually this exercise takes the hips all the way off
the mat.)

Your upper body will remain calm and stable. It does help to lightly press the backs of the arms
on the mat.
Legs Circle Down

The legs circle down and move through a low center. Don't take your legs so low that your lower
back comes off the mat.

Your legs can be lower than what is pictured if you can do it without straining your low back or
neck. Again, the upper body is still. This is all ab work.
Legs Complete the Circle

As your legs begin to move to the other side of your arc, use your exhale to take them around
and up. You should feel a strong deepening scoop of the lower belly as you bring your around
and up to start position.

Do another arc in the other direction. Continue until you have done 3 to each side.

Though we broke the exercise into separate moves, call on your Pilates principles and put this
one together with a lot of breath and flow.
In Joseph Pilates' sequence of mat exercises, corkscrew is followed by an upper body twist, the
saw.

Saw is an intricate back and hamstring stretch. I like it a lot because it is a wonderful way to
experience oppositional stretch - with the chest and upper back pulled open by the front and back
arms reaching in opposite directions. As you become more familiar with the exercise, the
oppositional dynamic between the front shoulder and the opposite hip is also very interesting.
Saw is an important lesson in pelvic stability as well. While there is a lot of activity in the upper
body, the abdominals keep the hips still and even throughout the exercise.

Saw Preparation:

Sit up straight on your sit bones. Send energy down through the mat and up through the
top of your head.

Your legs are extended in front of you, about shoulder width apart. If you have tight
hamstrings you may need to prop your hips up on small lift, like a folded towel.

Arms are stretched out to the side, even with your shoulders.
Inhale: Get taller as you turn your whole torso, but use your abs to keep your hips even
with each other.

Exhale: Let your gaze follow your back hand as you turn and spiral your upper torso so
that you are almost curling into yourself. This takes a lot of support from your abs.
That action will lift your back arm further.
Allow the stretch to take you forward as you reach the pinky finger of your front hand
across the outside of the opposite foot.

Exhale a little more as you reach a little further.

Once your reach extends to its furthest point, maintain your turned position as you inhale
and return to sitting.

Exhale and undo your turn, coming to the starting position.

Repeat this exercise 3 times to each side.

Swan is an extension exercise. It is one of the best exercises you can do as a counter stretch for
the many forward flexion exercises in Pilates mat work.
Swan opens the front-body, expands the chest and stretches the abdominals, hip flexors and
quadriceps.
Swan also strengthens. Throughout swan, the abdominals stay engaged and the shoulders, back,
inner thighs, pelvic floor, glutes and hamstrings are at work.
See the tips below for modification ideas for this exercise.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 5 minutes

Here's How:
1. Lie on the mat face down.
Keep your arms close to your body as you bend your elbows to bring your hands under
your shoulders. Shoulders should be away from the ears.
The legs are usually together, but it is acceptable to do this exercise with the legs
shoulder-width apart.
2. Engage your abdominal muscles, lifting your belly button up away from the mat. The
abdominals remain lifted throughout the exercise.
3. Inhale: Lengthen your spine, sending energy through the top of your head as you press
your forearms and hands into the mat to support a long upward arc the upper body.
The elbows are close to the body, the head stays in line with the spine, and the hips stay
on the mat.
Protect your lower back by sending your tail bone down toward the mat.
4. Exhale: Keep your abdominals lifted as you release the arc, lengthening your spine as
your torso returns to the mat in a sequential way: low-belly, mid-belly, low-ribs and so
on.

5. Repeat Swan 3 to 5 times using an even, flowing breath to support the movement.
6. The next steps are to try swan with neck roll and then on to swan dive.

Tips:
1. It is best to do swan after you have warmed up the spine with a few forward flexion
exercises, such as spine stretch and the hundred.
2. Do not raise your torso up too high. Protect your back by keeping your abs lifted, your
tail bone moving toward the mat, and the hips on the floor.
3. Engaging the pelvic floor, inner thighs, hamstrings and glutes will also help support the
low back.

This Pilates exercise focuses on the hamstrings, but it is also a great way to practice keeping
your abdominals lifted, chest open, and shoulders stable.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 minutes
Here's How:

Lie on your stomach with both legs together, extended behind you. Activate your inner
thighs and hamstrings to keep your legs from splaying out.

Lift your upper body so that you are supported on your forearms.
Check points:
Keep your shoulders and scapula (bony wings of the back) down, chest broad.
Your elbows will be directly under your shoulders.
Hands can be clasped together on the floor in front of you or fisted as pictured.
Gaze down or slightly forward so that your neck is a long extension of your spine.

This step is very important for the safety of your back:

Send your tailbone down toward the floor as you pull your abdominals up away from
the mat.

Sending the tailbone toward the floor will lengthen and protect your lower back. Also,
doing this exercise with your abs well pulled in adds stability and makes it a better
workout for your core.

Inhale.

Exhale and bend your right leg to a 90-degree angle. Then, pulse it twice toward your
butt with the foot lightly pointed. Use two sharp exhales to pulse the leg.

Protect your knees by keeping the hamstrings engaged and not kicking too hard.

Inhale to switch legs, extending the right leg as you bend the left.

Exhale, performing two pulses with the left leg.

Repeat 6 to 8 times.

Tips:

If you are strong through center and your lower back is lengthened, not crunched, try
this exercise with the both legs lifted off the floor slightly when they are extended. This
is a lengthening and lifting of the legs out from the hip. Keep the tailbone moving down
toward the floor.

Some people do this exercise alternating the position of the foot -- flex kick, point kick.

Double leg kick is a powerful back extension exercise. It targets the back extensors and the
hamstrings, but you will find it requires support from the whole body as well.
This is an intermediate level exercise. You may want to work up to double leg kick by practicing
single leg kick and some of the other back extension exercises such as swan and swimming.

Preparation

Lie face down with your head turned to one side. Keep your legs together.
Clasp your hands together behind your back, placing them as high up on the back as
possible. Interlocking the thumbs will help keep your hands together when you move. Let
your elbows fall toward the floor.
Inhale: Pull your abs in, lifting your belly away from the mat. As you do so, lengthen
your spine, anchor your pubic bone down to the mat, and create as much space as
possible along the front of the hips. Extend the feeling of length through your body,
lifting your legs slightly off the floor.

Kick Toward Your Sitbones

Exhale: Keep your legs together, and on a three-part exhale, kick your heels toward your
hips in a three-part pulse-kick (each pulse is part of the exhale). To kick, emphasize using
your hamstrings to pull your heels as close as you can to your sitbones.
As you kick, your hips stay down. It is tempting to allow the hips to move up away from
the mat. Do not let this happen. Also, refrain from allowing the pulse-kick to rock your
body forward and back.
If you experience knee pain or difficulty keeping your form (if your hips pop up, for
example), try developing the kick with the alternate kick pattern shown at the bottom of
the page.

Create a Long Arc

Inhale: Keep you hands clasped and extend your arms behind you, lifting your upper
body high off the mat. At the same time, stretch your legs out straight, just above the mat
Protect your lower back by keeping your spine long and pubic bone anchored into the
mat. This part of the move is a wonderful stretch for the chest and shoulders but move
slowly and use control as it can be intense.

Exhale: Return to the starting position with your head turned to the opposite side.

Repeat: Do this exercise twice to each side.

Since double leg stretch is such a powerful extension exercise, it is a good idea to follow up with
a counter stretch from a forward flexion exercise like spine stretch or single straight leg stretch.

Alternate Kick Pattern

Traditionally, the kick is taught as I have above, where all three pulse-kicks come as close to the
buttocks as possible. An alternative is to develop the kick in three levels: low, medium, high. This
is a helpful technique for learning to engage the hamstrings to pull the legs in, and for keeping
good alignment throughout the exercise.

Let me give you some important exercise instructions for neck pull: It is: an abdominal muscle
strengthening exercise, a spinal articulation, a hamstring stretch, and a back strengthening exercise. But
it is not a neck pull, really. Neck pull is an advanced classical Pilates exercise that builds on the roll up.
1. Begin

Start position is on your back with your hands behind your head.
Take a moment to release tension in your hip flexors and feel you whole back-body against the
floor.
Let the back of your lower ribs release toward the floor.
Legs can be shoulder distance apart or together. Find out what works best for you. Even if your
legs are apart you have to engage the inner thighs and inner hamstrings and connect to your
midline.
If your legs are apart, the feet are flexed. This is the way Joseph Pilates shows it in Return to Life.
Some people like to work with legs together, feet softly pointed. This position can help you work
your midline.

2. Head and Shoulders Curl Up

Inhale: Leave your shoulders down as you lengthen along your spine and out the top of your
head as curl your head and shoulders off the mat.
Let your chest be wide but also soften back as you go.
Knit your ribs together in front as you engage your abs to come up.

3. Continue the Curl Up

Exhale: Pull your abs in deeply to continue your roll up.

Notice there is no neck pulling going on here... at least not by the hands. If you think of your
head reaching through your shoulders and leading the movement it can have a neck pull feeling
- in a good way. Basically, it's all abs allowing the length through the spine and neck.
Your legs are engaged and so is your whole powerhouse. Press the backs of your legs down to
the mat, energy through the heels.
(If you have trouble getting up, try a few roll ups with bent knees, feet on the floor and hands
assisting behind the thighs)

4. Arc Over Your Legs

Continue the exhale to take your curved spine/lifted abs all the way over your legs.
Make sure your chest has stayed open and your elbows are back

5. Roll to Upright

Inhale: Bring your pelvis back to upright and then begin stacking your spine from the bottom up
until you are sitting straight up on your sitbones with your head floating easily on top. Shoulders
have stayed down away from your ears the whole time, right?.

6. Optional - lean back

This part is optional. If you feel strong and you are comfortable with the exercise, do it. If the
exercise is fairly new to you, skip to step 7.
Continue the inhale and tip back with a flat back, increasing the angle between your thighs and
torso beyond 90 degrees. Don't go too far. Control the move and be sure your legs don't fly up.
The point is to lengthen your spine in both directions - connect to the floor and use that to get
an amazing lift through your back-body to take you up and back. Don't just lean the upper body
back so that your ribs pop open.
Keep the connection down the back of the legs and through the heels.
From the lean back you go into the roll down of step 7.

7. Roll Down

Exhale: Roll your spine down onto the floor.

Think of your low abs first all the way down behind your pubic bone and continue lengthening
your spine as you unfurl along the mat.

8. Complete and Repeat

Continue to exhale until you are all the way back to the start position.
Inhale: Repeat the exercise 3 more times.
This exercise is difficult. You can also take a breath cycle or two to collect yourself, find your
scapular stability, re-engage with your midline and then repeat the exercise 3 more times.
At this level, the Pilates principles have to be working for you. If you can get the flow of the
exercise going with the breath it is going to feel a lot better.

Scissors is an advanced Pilates exercise that calls for tremendous shoulder and pelvic stability,
hip flexibility, and the ability to get your mind around really lengthening through the
powerhouse - upside down.
Sound like too much? Try side scissors
Difficulty: Hard
Time Required: 2 min.

Here's How:
1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Take a moment to breathe
deeply. Feel the weight of your shoulders on the mat and lightly press the backs of your
arms into the mat. Here you initiate the open chest and shoulder stability you will need
later.
2. Bring your knees toward your chest and roll your hips up off the mat so that you are in an
upside down ball position, resting on your shoulders. Cup the back of your pelvis with
your hands and have your elbows directly under your hips.
3. Extend your hips and your legs so that you are on a long diagonal. The legs are together.
Your lumbar area is not flexed, it is slightly extended making this is a little bit scary
position. This is the part that makes this exercise more advanced and different than just
supporting yourself upside down. You will be most successful if you think of lengthening
and narrowing through your whole powerhouse.
Before moving on, make sure your chest is still open and your neck long. Drop your
shoulders if you need to, and get support from the backs of the upper arms.
4. Scissor your legs open, equally away from each other. The tendency is to bring the
overhead leg back too far, and not take the risk of extending the leg that is moving away
toward the floor. Work on that gently over time.
5. Pulse the legs twice in the open position and switch legs. Only the legs move. The pelvis
stays absolutely stable.
Repeat the scissor action 6 times.
6. Bring your legs together overhead and roll down with control, as you would return from
roll over.

Tips:

1. As with all Pilates exercises, practicing with good, safe form is more important than repetitions.
If you don't feel strong in the extended position, come down and try it again.

One might think that I am making a very familiar exercise sound special by calling it "Pilates"
Bicycle, but the fact is that this is different than what you may have done before. In Pilates, we
move the legs in the opposite way than one would normally to create a pedal action, and it makes
a big difference in the level of the workout.
This version of Bicycle is intermediate. If you have neck problems you will want to try this
exercise with your back on the floor. You can put your hands under your hips to get a little lift.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 5 min

Here's How:
1. Lie on your back and roll your hips up into shoulder stand position.
make sure that you are not too far up on your neck.
Check Points:
o Your weight should be supported by a nice tripod of your shoulders and upper arms.
o Hold your self upright with your abdominals and back muscles. Ideally, you will not have
a lot of weight on your hands.
o Shoulders are wide, away from the ears, and the neck is long and relaxed.

2. Bend the right knee and extend the right leg toward the wall behind you. At the same time,
bring the straight left leg over your head, to almost parallel to the floor.
Bicycle is a good torso stability challenge. You have to keep everything steady in the hips and
torso - no extra movement - as you move your legs.
3. As each leg moves into its fullest extension, the left leg bends to come through toward the back
wall, and the right leg makes a long arc up and overhead.
Basically, this is like pedaling in reverse. It makes the exercise harder and it makes you think a
bit more too.
4. Do up to 10 sets of "reverse pedals". Then bring the legs together and use abdominal control to
roll back down.

Tips:

1. As you get more comfortable with the movement pattern, you can take the legs even further
apart so that eventually they move into a wide split before one leg folds and threads past the
other one as it arcs toward the ceiling.
2. At advanced levels, you do not bring the the hips and torso up to shoulder stand. Rather, you
roll the hips up, support them with your hands, but leave hips and torso in a position closer to
neutral spine. This requires exceptional pelvic stabilization. Work with an instructor at this level.

Shoulder Bridge is an intermediate - advanced Pilates exercise. It requires a lot of strength from
the abdominals and hamstrings as they stabilize a lifted pelvis against the movement of a fully
extended leg.
The skills and core strength to do Shoulder Bridge can be developed in stages (see *). Start by
practicing just the hip lift, then move on to lifting one foot off mat, and finally to the extended
lower/lift of the leg.
Pelvic curl is a good building block exercise for shoulder bridge, as is bridge on the ball.

1. Shoulder Bridge Prep

Lie on your back in neutral spine, with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Your legs are hip
distance and parallel. Your arms are extended along your sides. Press the backs of your arms into
the mat.
Inhale: Press down through your feet to lengthen your spine and press you hips up. Come to a
bridge position on your shoulders with your knees, hips and shoulders in one line. Your abs and
hamstrings should be well engaged.
Pause at the top of the bridge to practice lifting one leg, then the other, off the mat. If you are
stable with this part of the exercise, proceed to step 2.
*This is as far as many of you will want to take this exercise until you build your leg and
abdominal strength. It is very good to practice just this lift.

2. Extend One Leg

Inhale: Fold one knee in toward your chest and then extend that leg toward the ceiling. The rest
of the body stays still. Relax your shoulders and neck, the work is in the abs and hamstrings.

3. Lower One Leg

Exhale: Lower your leg so that your knees are side by side. As you lower your leg, go for as
much length as you can. The knee of your supporting leg, the extended leg, and the tailbone are
reaching for the wall in front of you as the top of your head is reaching away in an oppositional
stretch.
If you feel strong and your position is stable(chest open, hips even, pelvis lifted), go to step 3.
*If you are getting a little shaky here, this is a good time to fold your working leg down to the
floor, rest and do this much again.

4. Flex Kick Up

Inhale: Flex your foot and kick your leg up to the ceiling again. Be sure that your hips remain
even and that the hip of the working leg does not try to lift up along with the kick.
Exhale: Return your foot to a slight point and fold the working knee back to your chest and
return your foot to the floor.
Roll down through your spine to return to your starting position.
Repeat this exercise two to three times on each side.

5. Shoulder Bridge Notes

Shoulder bridge should be controlled and flowing, with an easy coordination of movement and
breath. This is a wonderful time to review the Pilates principles and use them to support an
advanced exercise.
You might like to try Shoulder Bridge with the Medicine Ball -- just for fun.
In the classical exercise order, shoulder bridge is preceded by the bicycle and followed by spine
twist.

One of the challenges of daily movement is to keep the spine and muscles of the trunk flexible in
different directions. Most of us are used to bending over, or reaching up, but what happens when
we reach or look to the side? Often, the head or the arms will go, but the trunk will be immobile.
The result is a compromised range of motion that gets worse as we age.
Spine twist increases the range of motion in the upper body by training the trunk to spiral on the
central vertical axis, while maintaining the support of a stable pelvis. This kind of range of
motion work is very important in sports as well.

Step One

Sit up tall on your sit bones.

Pull your abdominals in so that your upper body is well supported.
Flex your feet and reach through your heels.
Extend your arms directly out to the sides, keeping them even with your shoulders, so
that there is one long line from finger tip to finger tip.

Think of your spine as being very long, with energy moving down into the floor through the tailbone and up to the sky through the top of your head. Even with all that height, you still want to
keep your shoulders relaxed and your rib cage down.
If your hamstrings are tight and it is hard for you to sit upright, place a small pillow or folded
towel under your hips.

Step Two

Think of an imaginary line running straight up through the middle of your body. On a
two-part exhale, get taller as your turn your torso and head on that central axis.

The movement is a two-part pulse where you exhale to twist half way, and the exhale
again to turn as far as you can.
The twist is from the waist, not from the shoulders. The upper body, including the head,
moves as one piece. The pelvis stays stable and does not twist at all. You can check this
by making sure that your feet stay even with each other.
The spiral of the upper body supported by a stable pelvis is the crux of this exercise. This
is why golfers, tennis players, and those of us wishing to maintain freedom of motion get
so much out of this exercise.

Step Three

Use your inhale to return to center.

As you return, continue to extend energy out your finger tips, through your heels, and out
the top of your head. Control the motion and make sure that your pelvis does not move.

On the exhale, take the twist to the other side.

Repeat the exercise five times to each side

Tip: Use the Breath

Spine twist is a great opportunity to use the breath in the way that Joseph Pilates encouraged,
which was to take in a lot of fresh air and use movement to expel old air forcefully. In spine
twist, use the twisting motion to help you feel as if you are literally wringing the old air out.
I have seen spine twist taught with the opposite breathing pattern -- inhale on the twist. I like that
method because it is easier to feel as if you are growing taller on the inhale. On the other hand I
like letting the breath out on the twist, as I have it here. Try spine twist both ways. It can be
fascinating to explore how breathing patterns can change our experience of a movement.

Jack Knife is one of the classical Pilates exercises included in Joseph Pilates' book Return to Life
Through Contrology. It is a strong intermediate level Pilates exercise that builds on skills learned
in the roll over. You should be able to do roll over before attempting jack knife. If you have neck
problems, you should skip jack knife.
I like jack knife because of the spinal articulations and that you absoulutely have to use your
Pilates powerhouse and sense of the midline to do it well. It's fun when you get it. Here are free
Pilates exercise instructions for jack knife:

1. To Begin

Susie Haggas demonstrates, (c)2010, Marguerite Ogle

Lie on your back with your arms along your sides, palms down. Lightly press the backs of your
arms into the mat and open your chest. Your ribs stay down.
Imprint your spine onto the mat as you extend your legs, feet toward the ceiling.

2. Inhale to Bring the Legs Over

Use a deepening scoop of your abdominal musles and some help from the press of your arms to
bring your legs over your head, parallel to the floor. Your back is nicely curved so that the
weight is across your shoulders and not on your neck.
If you are very flexible, you can take the feet to the floor behind your head.

3. Exhale to Sweep the Legs Up

Keep your chest open and shoulders down as you sweep your legs up so that you are a close as
you can get to perpendicular to the floor. This is a strong powerhouse move - you have to think
up, up, up and shoot up through the midline of your body.
You are on your shoulders, not your neck, getting help from the press of your shoulders and
arms on the mat.
Suspend at the top of the move.
At this level, your work has gained a lot of flow and control. Use that here, along with your other
Pilates principles to keep this exercise moving - not with momentum, but with control.

4. Inhale to Return Legs to Parallel, Exhale to Roll Down

Bring your legs back to parallel to the floor. Do not go all the way to the floor.
Roll down with straight legs, vertebra by vertebra, until you are back to the start position.
Repeat the exercise 2 more times

5. Breathing and Tips

These instructions give a basic breath pattern - an inhale or exhale for each part of the
exercise with the exhale on the most exertion. However, you might want to to try it the
way Joseph Pilates has it in Return to Life which is to go over and up into the jack knife
on one inhale. Then exhale to legs over. Hold to inhale. Roll down. Then exhale when
your are down.

It is easy to get caught up in the neck and shoulder area. Keep your neck and chest
released toward the floor and your shoulders away from your ears. Even our model has a
little extra tension in the shoulders. She will work keeping a longer neck by letting her
shoulder blades slide down her back as she moves.

The exercises in this series are wonderful for toning

and strengthening the hips and thighs and abs. They emphasize length and using the powerhouse
core muscles to stabilize the trunk as the lower body moves independently.
The set up for the side kick series is basically the same for all of the exercises. Setting good
alignment and maintaining it throughout the exercises is the key to making them effective. See
the set up instructions below.
The exercise instructions in this series have cues for doing the exercise, and a link to more
extensive instructions. Please do go through the full instructions if you haven't seen them before
as doing the exercises precisely will yield the best results.
Side Kick Series Set Up

Lie on your side and line up your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles.
Prop your head on your hand, making sure to lift the ribs away from the mat so that your
back and neck stay in alignment.
You can modify this position by reaching your bottom arm straight out along the mat
above your head and resting your head on it.
The front hand rests firmly, palm down, on the mat in front of your chest. Use this hand
to help stabilize, but don't depend on it -- depend on your abs.
Move your legs slightly forward of your hips. This will help your balance and protect
your lower back.
Rotate the legs out slightly from the hips, in Pilates stance.
Double check your line up. The shoulders should be stacked one on top of the other, as
should the hips. The ears, shoulders, and hips are in a line, with the knees and ankles a
little in front.

Kick Front

Lift the top leg a few inches. Flex the foot and send energy out through the heel.

With the foot flexed, swing the top leg to the front. At the full length of your kick, do a
small pulse kick.

Lengthen Back

Keeping length in your leg and through the whole body, point your toe and sweep the top
leg to the back. Pause, but do not do a second kick.
Important: Only reach as far back as you can go without crunching the low back or
moving the pelvis. Again, a big part of the challenge of the exercise is to use the core
muscles to keep the entire trunk of the body stable.

Flex the foot and kick to the front.

Repeat this exercise 5 to 10 times.

Kick Up

Double check your line up. Your shoulders should be stacked one on top of the other, as
should the hips. Also, your shoulders and hips are in a line with the knees and ankles a
little in front.

Make sure that your abdominal muscles are pulled in and up.

Now, lengthening even more through the top leg, kick up toward the ceiling (smoothly,
use your abs for control).

Keep the hip bones stacked. Make sure that the pelvis does not tilt back to let the leg go
up.

Control Down

Pull your abdominals up, in opposition to the lengthening of the leg, as you control the
descent of the leg.

While this exercise is not really a kick, the challenge it presents is similar to the other exercises
in this series.
Inhale:
Bring your breath down the length of your spine, making your entire body very long from tip
to toe.
Exhale:
Use your abdominals to bring both legs up a few inches off your mat. Focus on keeping your
inner legs together, all the way from the sit bones to the heels.

Inhale:
Lengthen your legs back down on the mat. Use control.
Do this exercise 5 to 8 times.

For inner thigh lifts, the top arm and leg are in new positions, but
the initial set up is the same as it was for the other exercises in this series.
Bring the foot of your top leg up to rest in front of your hips.
Thread your top hand behind the calf and grasp the outside of your ankle.
For more stability, modify it so the foot rests in front of your thigh, and the top hand is flat on the
floor in front of your chest.
Inhale: Keeping the bottom leg straight, use your inner thigh to raise it a few inches off the floor.
The feeling is that you extend the leg so long that it raises up off the floor.
Exhale: Maintain that sense of length as you slowly lower the leg to the floor.
Do 5 to 8 sets on each side.

Teaser is hard, but so worth it. It is a quick trip to flat abs and more importantly, a great core
strength builder.
Look for teaser to challenge your balance and symmetry. Keep in mind that Teaser is meant to be
performed smoothly, with control. (see Pilates principles)
Full Pilates teaser is even harder - with both legs extended. However, I recommend that you give
this version a try first. Even if you know Teaser, it is sometimes good to go back and check your
basics.
Prepare

Lie on your back with your knees bent at a 45 degree angle. Arms by your sides, palms
up. You are in neutral spine. Take a moment to breathe, open your chest, let your back
ribs drop, and relax your shoulders.
Legs are parallel - make sure hips, knees, ankles and feet line up.
Extend One Leg - the knees are at the same height
Leave your ribcage down as you bring your arms in an arc overhead, as you would in
arms over.

Inhale

Bring your arms over head as you nod your chin toward your chest and begin to roll
your upper back off the mat.
Keep your shoulders down and your scapula engaged in your back.
This part is a similar move to Roll Up.
Continue the move as you come up and reach for your toes.
This is a powerful moment where you have to just go for it. Use your abs and breath,
not momentum. Think of energy shooting out the extended leg away from the
deepening inward pull of the abdominals.

tip: Don't try to pull yourself forward with your shoulders or throw your arms.

When you come up, your lower back is in a slight C curve and your chest is lifted and
open.
Pause
Exhale
Roll down beginning the roll down with the lower abs, using abdominal control as
you sequentially allow the spine to drop each vertebrae down to the mat.
As you roll the upper spine down the arms will travel back over head. Keep your
shoulders down and don't allow the ribs to pop up.
Rest, Breathe and Repeat 4-6 times, changing extended legs
As your strength increases you can go for a fluid, non-stop rhythm of curl up, roll
down.

The Set Up

Sit up with legs extended and zipped together in front of you and arms extended
behind you, firmly press the palms of your hands into the mat in a backward position.

Hip Twist Movement Instructions

Inhale as you pull the legs straight up in front of you.

Exhale as you begin to swing your legs in a downward circle to the right without
touching the floor.

Inhale as you bring them upward to finish the right hand circle.

Exhale to repeat the movement in a downward circle to the left and then Inhale as you
bring them upward to finish the left hand circle.

Repeat circles each direction for 3 repetitions if you can keep good form throughout.
Tips and Tricks

Keep legs zipped together and big toes lined up.

Keep chin down and chest inward.
Upper body is still, only legs and hips are moving.
Keep pressing into your palms as you swing and pull the legs up.
Deepen through your lower abdomen to keep control of the legs.

Swimming is a fun exercise, but it is also quite challenging as it brings every part of
the body into play. Luckily, swimming is also easy to modify.
Swimming makes a great counter stretch for the many Pilates Mat exercises that
require forward flexion.

Lie on your stomach with the legs straight and together.

Keeping your shoulder blades settled in your back and your shoulders away from
your ears, stretch your arms straight overhead.

Pull your abs in so that you lift your bellybutton up away from the floor.

Reaching out from center, extend your arms and legs so far in opposite directions that
they naturally come up off the floor. At the same time, get so much length in your
spine that your head moves up off the mat as an extension of the reach of your spine.
Keep your face down toward the mat; don't crease your neck.

Continue to reach your arms and legs out very long from your center as you alternate
right arm/left leg, then left arm/right leg, pumping them up and down in small pulses.

Coordinate your breath with the movement so that you are breathing in for a count of
5 kicks and reaches, and out for a count of 5.

Hopefully you feel like you are simulating swimming!

Do 2 or 3 cycles of 5 counts of moving and breathing in, and 5 counts moving and
breathing out.

Tips

Keep everything long, long, long, reaching from your center.

Keep your head and neck working as extensions of your spine and don't break the line
at the neck.

Protect your lower back by keeping your tail bone moving down toward the mat.

If the breathing pattern is too complicated at first, leave it out.

Like plank/front support, leg pull front is a core strength builder that engages every part of the
body. Leg pull front takes plank/front support a step further. By lifting one leg off the floor, you
introduce instability that challenges the abdominals and shoulders to keep the trunk and pelvis
stable as you move.

1. Begin in Plank/Front Support

(c) 2007, Marguerite Ogle

Start on your knees. Place your hands on the floor in front of you, fingers pointing straight
ahead. Keep your arms straight and your elbows unlocked.
Engage your abdominals and lengthen your spine, extending through the top of the head as you
lean forward to put your weight on your hands.
Your shoulders should be directly over your wrists and settled in your back. That means there is
a lot of space between your shoulders and your ears.
With your abdominals lifted, extend your legs back so that they are straight and together. Your
toes are curled under so that some weight is on the balls of your feet.
Your ears, shoulders, hips and heels should be in one long line.

2. Lift One Leg Away From the Mat

(c) 2007, Marguerite Ogle

Extend one leg from the hip so that your foot lifts off the mat a few inches. Your foot can point
softly as it is released from the mat.
As you extend your leg from the hip, your hip will lift slightly, but the challenge is to keep the
rest of your body stable in plank position. This requires extra work from your abdominals,
shoulders and back. It is important that you initiate this move with your powerhouse and through
the hip, not just from the back of the leg. Try not to get tense; use only as much energy as you
need to keep perfect form. Focusing on length will help a lot.
Return your foot to the mat and extend the other leg.
Repeat the lift five to seven times on each side

3. Tips

Think of leg pull front as an oppositional stretch where energy is moving in opposite
directions, through your heels and out the top of your head.

Breathe deeply down the whole length of your spine, and fully into your lower ribs and
back.

You will find that keeping your legs and butt engaged and pulling in toward the center
will take some of the pressure off the upper body, creating a more balanced exercise.

Leg pull back builds on back support. If you are not yet familiar with back support,
please review the detailed instructions before proceeding.
Leg pull back is still an intermediate level exercise, but the leg kick is going to add a
stability and flexibility challenge to the strength you built in back support.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 2 min.
Here's How:

Sit tall with your legs together, extended straight in front of you. Your
abdominal muscles pull in and up as your spine lengthens. Relax your
shoulders.

Keep your chest open, and your shoulders rotating back and down as you pull
the heels of your hands directly back until you can place your hands flat on
the floor with fingertips pointing front.
You may be leaning back slightly.

Inhale.

Exhale to engage your hamstrings and lift your pelvis to create a long line,
ankle to ear. Your abs should be stabilizing your trunk and pelvis.

Push down through the backs of your arms to help keep your chest open and
get more support from your back.

Inhale at the top.

On an exhale, deepen the crease at your hip to lift your right leg toward the
ceiling. Hold the rest of your body completely still.

Don't let lifting your leg pull your pelvis out of alignment. Your hip doesn't go
with the move, nor does your butt drop.

Inhale to return the leg to the floor. Use control - don't just drop your leg lengthen it as it goes down and keep the rest of your body stable.

Exhale: lift your left leg

(You can take a break before lifting the left leg if you need to. Lower yourself
with control and keep your shoulders down. Start over lifting the left leg.)

Inhale to return the left leg to the floor.

Exhale to hold.

Inhale to fold just at the hip joint, placing your pelvis back on the floor. Keep
your shoulders down as you do.

Do 3 sets

Tips:

There are more details on the back support part of this exercise in the back
support instructions.
The knee folds taught you how to deepen the crease at the hip and isolate the
movement of the leg.

Kneeling side kick front/back is an advanced-intermediate Pilates move. If you are not familiar
with the side kick exercises, please practice the regular version of side kick front/back before
adding the balance challenge that kneeling presents.

1. Starting Position

Begin kneeling. Pull your abdominals in and drop your tailbone toward the floor.
Extend your right leg directly out to the side, with your toe on the floor.
Drop your left hand to the floor, directly under your shoulder, leaving your arm straight. This
will take your torso to the side.
Keep your shoulder open by dropping your shoulder blades down your back and rotating your
arm so that your inner elbow crease rotates outward.
For now, place your right hand on your hip.

2. Extend Your Pose

Place your right hand behind your head with your bent elbow pointing toward the ceiling.
Lengthen your right leg away from you as you lift it to hip height.
Your supporting thigh should be as close to vertical as you can get it.
At this level, it is important to make sure that you are truly fulfilling the moves that you engage
in. Take a moment to make whatever adjustments you need to set your alignment. Go for a long,
straight line from your right ear to your right toe so that your hips and shoulders are stacked
vertically and your chest is open with a good counter stretch moving between your support hand
and the elbow of the top arm.

3. Kick Front

Flex your foot and swing your top leg to the front. At the full length of your kick, do a small
pulse kick, extending energy along the back of your leg and out your heel.
Do this move on a two part inhale. Inhale to swing the leg front, add more air to pulse kick.
Make your movement smooth and controlled. The goal is to be able to move the leg in the hip
socket without moving the rest of the body.

4. Kick Back

Keeping length in your leg and extension through your whole body, point your toe and sweep
your top leg to the back. Pause, but do not do a pulse kick.
This is a smooth exhale. Only reach as far back as you can go without losing your alignment.
You may find this to be a good hip opener.
Repeat the exercise 6 to 8 times on each side.

5. Alignment and Principles

As you work on this exercise, focus on alignment through core stability, and call on
your Pilates principles, such as breath, control and flow, to take your workout to the next level.

Side stretch is one of my favorite Pilates exercises. It builds strength and endurance. It increases
flexibility. And it makes you work your inner thighs along with your shoulder stability, arms and
powerhouse. Side stretch is a balance challenge that makes you check your alignment and pull up
through your midline non-stop.

Side stretch takes side plank into a side bend and stretch. And page 4, side stretches on Pilates
equipment shows you how this exercise evolves so be sure to see that after you learn the
exercise:

Set up
Begin sitting sideways with your legs folded to the side. Put your top foot on the floor in front
of the other, heel to toe. Release tension in your hips so that you are seated with deep creases at
your hips. The sit bone of your your top hip drops toward the mat (it might not get all the way
there, that's OK).
Place your supporting hand on the mat in line with your hip and a few inches past your
shoulder.
1. Before you press up, draw your abs in, drop your shoulders, and lengthen your spine.
2. Inhale: Press into the supporting arm and straighten your legs to lift your pelvis away
from the mat.
3. Use your inner thighs - up and in - even as you press down through your feet. This is a
big key to this exercise. Think of pulling your sit bones together to get more support from
the pelvic floor and up through your midline.
4. Feel support from your abs, from under the supporting side, and from your back
(especially your latissimus area).

5. You are stacked vertically so that your shoulders are one on top the other, as are your
hips. Go up as if you are between two walls.

If you are a beginner, this exercise is quite challenging and it is fine to work on going just
this far, but read on so you know where you are headed eventually.
Keep you body in a long lifted line and sweep your top arm in an arc to reach overhead.
As your arm goes up and over, your shoulder stays down and your shoulder blade slides
subtly down your back.
Take a long stretch all the way through your body. Feel this through the middle of your
body from the tip of your fingers to your feet.
If you have your balance, take the stretch further by reaching into a side arc with your
upper body. This arc goes up with the sides of the ribs sliding up toward the ceiling. It
doesn't just curve over and down as if to drape over the supporting arm (see upper left
next page).
Make sure you are pressing through the supporting arm and getting good lift out of the
shoulder. Do not lock your elbow or hyperextend (our lovely model is a little
hyperextended here)

Return to side plank

Return to start position
Repeat 2 times on this side
Change sides

At this level you are working toward performing this exercise with great fluidity and precision.
Mark each position without stifling the flow of the movement.

There are variations on foot positions for this exercise. Some people do it with the feet together
so that you go up on the outside edge of the bottom foot. I have also seen it with with the bottom
foot in front. As always, I encourage you to explore it all.

Boomerang is an advanced Pilates exercise that comes near the end of the classical Pilates mat
sequence. It is an opportunity to put many skills together in one flowing sequence of moves.
Teaser and roll over are part of this exercise, as is the kind of abominal muscle control that you
call on in exercises such as rolling like a ball, where you hold a shape and affect your roll from
the breathing and abdominal control.
Be sure to have the choreography well in mind before you start. Breath and flow make the Pilates
boomerang a joy near the end of your workout.

1. Start Position

Sit tall on your sit bones with your legs outstreched and crossed.
Seal your legs together and feel the sense of midline moving from your legs up your spine and
through the top of your head. Maintaining that feeling as you move will help you keep the
boomerang shape and give you a line of energy to move along.
Hands are on the mat by your sides.
Take your body into a Pilates C-curve.

2. Rolling Back

Exhale: Deepen your C-curve and roll back taking your crossed legs overhead as you would in
the roll over exercise. Your body has taken a boomerang shape and will keep that shape through
the exercise.
You are between your shoulders and the backs of your arms press against the mat, adding
stability.
At the top of the roll, uncross your legs and recross with the other leg on top.

3. Come Up to Teaser

Inhale: Bring your whole body-shape up to the teaser position. Keep your boomerang shape. This
is an abdominal control move -- not a drop of the legs and then a regroup.

4. Sweep the Arms to the Back

Continue the inhale as you hold your teaser shape and sweep your arms around to the back -arms high, palms up.
Extra credit: Clasp your hands behind you as pictured.

5. Legs Down, Arms Around

Exhale: Stay in control of the shape as you smoothly let your legs come down and sweep your
arms wide to the sides.

6. Stretch to the Front

Continue your exhale as you let your arms come all the way to the front (shoulders down, neck
long, as you know) as you curve over your legs and prepare to begin the sequence again.
Start from here with a deep scoop of the belly. Your hands can come back to the mat along your
sides to help you.
Repeat 5 more times.

Seal is fun and a great abdominal workout. It is a rolling exercise whereby one must find a way
to initiate and control the rolling with the abdominal muscles, and not depend on launching
oneself back and forth with momentum!
The key to Pilates rolling exercises is using the breath and the core to control the rolling. Read
more in Tips for Rolling Exercises.
Beginning Position:
Sit up tall on your sit bones and bending one knee, then the other, lift your feet and put your arms
inside your legs. Wrap your hands under your ankles and grasp the outside. The knees are just
outside the shoulder, not too far apart, and the feet are together.
Get your balance here. your core should be working already! Next, the roll.
If you have back or neck issues you should not do the rolling part. However, you will find that
taking the preparatory position (above) and holding it will provide a very good abdominal
workout.
Now you are ready to roll

With great control, scoop your abs. and make a C-curve shape with your torso. Your gaze
is to the navel.

Inhale: Initiating the movement with your lower abs, smoothly roll back onto your
shoulders (not your neck). Clap your feet together 3 times at the top.

Exhale: Use your deep core muscles and your exhale to help you roll back up onto your
sit bones. Balance.

Repeat 4-6 times.

Tips:
1) Make sure that you stay curved the whole time

2) The way to go backward is to deepen the lower abs. Never throw your head and shoulders
back - stay in your C-curve.
3) Coming back up is done by working the abs and the breath, not by throwing ones legs or
pulling up with the back.
4) You will want adequate padding for your spine, but don't pad so much that it throws you off
your line.
5) Let seal be fun and flowing. This is a great way to test your core strength and control.

The Pilates mat exercise, the crab, requires total control from the core, giving you a great
abdominal workout. The crab is advanced. It builds on rolling like a ball, open leg rocker, and
seal which you should learn first. Keep your pilates principles in mind, especially precision and
control.
This version does not include an extension of legs at the top of the roll back. It is as Joseph
Pilates shows it in Return to Life. If you know the extension, add it.

1. Curl into a Ball, Legs Crossed

Sit up straight, bend your knees and cross your legs at the ankles.
Bring your knees to your shoulders and grasp your feet* with your hands.
Keep your back and chest wide and shoulders down. Your knees will stay in the frame of your
body through the exercise. Don't let them fall way out to the sides.
Curl into a ball like you would for rolling like a ball: Head nodded down, abs scooped in,
tailbone curving up, long curved spine.
Exhale to deepen your curl and get ready to roll.

2. Rolling Back

Inhale to roll back. Initiate and control the movement with a deepening scoop of the abs.
Roll only to your shoulders. Do not go to your neck.
Let go of your feet and switch the cross of the legs at the top of the movement. Grasp you feet
again and continue.

3. Roll Forward

Courtesy of Lynda Lippin

Exhale to roll forward. Stay curled and keep rolling forward up and over your legs.
Inhale as your head comes to the mat. Advanced people can do a small neck stretch here.
This part takes a lot of control in the upper abs. If you keep yourself scooping in and up, rolling
over your ankles will be easy. If your weight has dropped down, or you've lost your curve, it will
hurt.
Pay attention to the temptation to use momentum or worse, yank on your feet for help. This latter
notion could hurt your back. While you don't use momentum, you do want to use rhythm. Getting
a slow, rhythmic flow going in this exercise will make it easier and help you feel the dynamic of
the deep abdominal muscles working.

4. Roll Back and Repeat

Exhale to roll back.

Now you are underway. Keep a nice flow going with your breath.
Repeat 6 times.

Begin lying on your belly with your head turned to one side and your arms along your
sides. Take a moment to lengthen your spine and engage your abdominal muscles. Bring
your mind to the midline of your body.

Keep your head down for now. Bend one knee and and grasp your ankle. Bend the other
knee and grasp that ankle.

As much as possible you will keep your legs parallel throughout the exercise. So you
must engage your inner thighs.

On an inhale: Press your ankles into your hands as you simultaneously lift your chest and
knees away from the mat.
This is a long back extension with your neck extending through your shoulder girdle as
your arms reach back, chest open and face forward.
The lift of the legs has to come from an activation of the back of the leg, especially where
the back of the leg and buttock come together. Don't just pull on your knees.
Feel that there is lengthening of the front and back body that creates an arc because you
are holding your ankles - this exercise is not a back cruncher! Your lifted abs also protect
your low back.

Ready to rock?
If not, see below:

Just getting into Pilates rocking position is an advanced exercise. If it feels delicious, great. If
not, this may be as far as you want to go.
Now add the rocking part of the exercise. Hold the beautiful crescent shape you created in step 1.
Keep your legs as close to parallel as you can.

Exhale to rock forward. Inhale to lift.

The rocking is accomplished mostly with the breath and subtle shifts in the way you use
your abdominal and back muscles - much like you do in Pilates swan dive.
The rocking does not come from alternately dropping the upper body front then punching
out with the legs, which is what many want to do before they get their mind connected
with the movement. Take your time and find it from inside.

Once you get going you can exaggerate the movement to get a high lift of the legs as you
rock forward, and a high, open chest as you rock back.

In the classical Pilates mat sequence, rocking is preceded by crab and followed by control
balance. Control balance is also a very difficult exercise. You might want to try child's pose as a
counter stretch after rocking.

Control balance is an advanced Pilates mat exercise from the classical Pilates repertoire. It comes
near the end of the classical sequence and is a wonderful integration of skills learned in roll over,
jack knife, and scissors. These exercise instructions assume that you know those exercises.
If you have neck or upper back issues, you should skip control balance. The next exercise in the
classical sequence is Pilates push up.
Difficulty: Hard
Time Required: 2 min.

Here's How:
1. Exhale: Do a roll over. Make sure that you roll only to your shoulders - not onto the top
of your shoulders or your neck. This is going to require a softening through the chest and
upper thoracic spine even as the move is an up and over lift.
2. Circle your arms around, along the mat, until your hands meet your feet.
This part of the exercise is important for its success. If your shoulders creep up your body
can pitch too far up onto the top of the shoulders and the neck. Let the shoulder blades
slide down the back as the arms come up and you will find you have a better platform for
your work.
3. Inhale: Keep your legs straight, feet lightly pointed. Hold one foot or ankle as you extend
the other leg straight up to ceiling. You are aiming for a vertical line from your shoulder
through your foot.
Stay lifted. You can't sink in this exercise. It takes a lot of strength from your
powerhouse. Your back, belly, and hip extensors are working on an the intricate project
of flexion in the spine as the hip extends.
4. Exhale: Switch legs. Keep the pelvis stable.
Switch legs 5 more times.

5. Inhale: Sweep your arms back around to along your sides, bring your legs together, and
roll down.

Tips:
1. Many people do this exercise with the foot that is on the mat flexed as seen in the photo
above. This is not how Joseph Pilates demonstrates it in Return to Life. It is, however,
more stable and a better stretch for the back of the leg.

Pilates push-up is an advanced move. You can start working on it now - just know that is takes a
while to build up the core strength, arm strength, and stability it takes to fully do this exercise.
Wall roll down, front support/plank, and push up on the ball will serve you well as building
blocks toward doing a full Pilates push-up.

1. Begin Standing

Begin standing with good Pilates posture.

Inhale: Keep your shoulders down as your bring your arms straight up over your head.

2. Curve Down

Exhale: Allow your arms to follow your ears as you nod your head and begin to
roll down toward the mat. As you roll down, pull your abs in and curve your spine until your
hands reach the mat. You may need to bend your knees toward the end to get your hands to the
mat.

3. Walk Out to Plank

Inhale: Walk your hands out on the mat in three big steps until you are in front
support/plank. Be sure to keep your shoulders away from your ears.
Keep your pelvis very stable as you walk your arms out. It should not rock back and forth with
the movement or your arms.
End in plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders, your legs straight, and your
body in one long line from your heels to your ears.

4. Pause at Front Support/Plank

Exhale: Hold your plank position. Your legs and arms should be straight.
Your heels, hips, shoulders, and ears should be in one line.
Rotate your arms are so that the inside of the elbow faces forward. This is important as it helps
stabilize your shoulder blades and sets your elbows in position for upward movement.

5. Lower Toward the Mat

Inhale: Bend your elbows straight back along your sides so that your arms
brush your ribs. (This is different than some push-up styles where the elbows are allowed to
splay outward.)
As you slowly lower yourself toward the mat, keep your shoulder blades settled in your back;
they should not pop up or move together. This is an essential part of the exercise as it teaches
you to stabilize your shoulders and torso.
You might also want to see How Not to Do a Pilates push up which demonstrates this part of the
move.

6. Return to Plank

Exhale: Keep your abs lifted and extend your elbows so that you levitate your
body, in one long line, up away from the mat.
Many people find that keeping their inner thighs together, and imagining that their sit bones are
pulling together, engages the lower body in a way that helps you get back up without collapsing.

7. Walk Back

Inhale: Walk your hands back to your deep curve position. Keep your pelvis
lifted, and again, don't let the pelvis rock.
Rael Isakowitz, a Pilates master, points out that many students mistake this move as a yoga-like

downward dog position, but it is not. You are using your abdominals to deeply pull in and move
toward rolling up.

8. Roll Up to Standing

Exhale: Use your abdominals to slowly return the pelvis to the upright position and allow the rest
of the spine to roll up, vertebrae by vertebrae.
End in a standing position.
Inhale to lift your arms and repeat this exercise three to five times.