EXERCISE OF THE MONTH

Double Leg Stretch

In Double leg stretch we take a direct route between two opposite positions, but much is revealed in moving between these two extremes. If your trunk is unstable, if your abs get weak, or your breath isn't working for you, your form will show it -- big time.

Double leg stretch is a great ab workout. It literally radiates from the core powerhouse, demanding both strength and endurance from the abdominals. You can modify by leaving your head down and/or working with your legs high.

Chest lift and single leg stretch are good building blocks for this exercise.

1. Exhale: Curl Up
   Lie on your back with your shins in table top position, parallel to the floor.
   Inhale
   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.
   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.

EXERCISE IN ARCHIVE

The Hundred

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 often used as 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 (make harder or easier). See the tips at the end of the exercise description for modification ideas.

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, and make your shins and ankles parallel in height with your knees. For now, put your hands behind your knees.
   Inhale.


2. Exhale: Bring your head up with your chin down and, using your abs, curl your upper spine up off the floor. Keep the shoulders engaged in the back. Your gaze is down into the scoop of the abdominals.
   Stay here and inhale.
   


3. Exhale: At the same time, deepen the pull of the abs and extend your legs and arms toward the wall in front of you. Your legs should only be as low as you can go without shaking and without the lower spine jumping up off the mat. Your arms extend straight out low, just a few inches off floor, with the fingertips reaching for the far wall.


4. 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 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.


5. 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 a few inches, 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. OK - not hard!


6. 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 back to the floor. Take a deep breath in and out.

EXERCISE IN ARCHIVE

The Roll Up

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.

Roll up is hard to do well. A popular modification is to do it with the legs slightly bent. This is very effective and will help counter the tendency of the legs to fly up off the mat. If you do have any trouble with roll up, be sure to read: Tips for Mastering The Roll Up

1. 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 sequential breaths to make sure that you are in good alignment and breathing fully.
   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.


2. 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.


3. 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.


4. 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.


5. 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.


6. 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.


7. Next, try roll up with magic circle

EXERCISE IN ARCHIVE

One Leg Circle

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.

1. 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.


2. 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.


3. 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'!


4. 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.

EXERCISE IN ARCHIVE

Rolling Like a Ball

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.

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


2. 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.


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


4. 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.


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

Repeat 5-6 times.

EXERCISE IN ARCHIVE

Single Leg Stretch

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.

1. 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.


2. Inhale


3. 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 45-degree 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.


4. 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.


5. 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.


6. 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.