Pilates Fundamentals

Exercise no. 1

Lay on your back with your arms by your sides.
Just as with the roll up, roll one vertebra at a time off the mat as you also lift the legs up pulling the knees in towards the chest.
Balance on your tailbone as you reach your arms towards your toes.
Try to bring your shins parallel to the floor, and focus on lifting your chest and lengthening through your spine.
Slowly, and with control, lower back down, one vertebra at a time.

Exercise no. 2

Lay on your RIGHT side, stacking your hips and feet.
Position your bottom RIGHT elbow directly under your RIGHT shoulder.
Lift your bottom hip off the ground to create a straight line in a plank.
You should be lifting from your bottom oblique and feel a slight pinch in the waistline.
Reach your top hand towards the ceiling or place it on your top hip. Hold for 5-10 deep breaths and then switch sides.
To modify this exercise, keep your bottom knee on the ground.

Exercise no. 3

Bring yourself to a full plank on your hands.
Engage the abs to keep the spine straight and lengthen through the crown of your head.
Make sure you don’t lock out your elbows, and keep your middle fingers pointing straight forward with your fingers spread apart and pressing into your knuckles (to prevent discomfort in your wrists).
Rotate the inside of your elbows forward to engage your biceps.

Exercise no. 4

Keeping the hands behind the head, bring the knees into the chest.
Keep the RIGHT knee into the chest as you extend the LEFT leg out to your point of control.
Rotate from the spine to the RIGHT, reaching the LEFT elbow to the RIGHT knee.
Keep the hips steady as you rotate the RIGHT elbow to the LEFT knee.
Continue rotating side to side for 6-8 repetitions on each side.

Exercise no. 5

Keep both legs extended up to the ceiling as you bring both hands behind your head, keeping your elbows wide.
Press your lower back into the mat completely as you lift your head and chest off the mat.
Keeping the legs straight, lower them a few inches to your point of control.
Engage the lower abs and pull the legs back up. Be sure the lower back doesn’t leave the mat and stays imprinted into the mat during the length of the exercise.

Exercise no. 6

Start by laying on your back with arms extended overhead and legs out straight.
Engage your abdominals to flatten your lower back into the mat.
Without using momentum, peel your spine off the mat, one vertebra at a time, pulling your navel into your spine.
Keep using your abdominals to sit all the way up and reach towards your toes, making a C-curve with your spine.
Slowly lower back down keeping your heels glued to the mat, and place one vertebra on the mat as you lay all the way back down, reaching the arms back overhead.

Exercise no. 7

Sit right on top of your sit bones, and reach your arms out to the side, extending through your fingertips.
Imagine a string pulling you up from the crown of your head and rotate from your spine to the RIGHT.
Scoop your belly button in towards your spine as you start to reach your LEFT arm forward to your RIGHT foot.

Exercise no. 8

Lay on your back and bring your RIGHT knee in towards your chest.
Hold onto the knee with both hands, but don’t “pull” the knee into the chest.
Just use your arms as support. Extend the LEFT leg out so that it hovers over the mat a few inches (making sure your back doesn’t arch).
Lift your head and the chest off the mat and lengthen out through the crown of the head.

Exercise no. 9

Bring both knees in towards the chest so that the knees are directly over your hips.
Lift your head and your chest off the mat and position the hands on the knees.
Keeping the head and chest lifted, extend the arms overhead, keeping your biceps in line with your ears, and extend the legs out into a diagonal position to your point of control.
As you use the lower abdominals to bring the knees back into the chest, circle the arms around to lightly “hug” the knees into the chest.

Exercise no. 10

Extend both legs up to the ceiling and hold on to the back of the RIGHT thigh, calf, or ankle (depending on flexibility), and extend the LEFT leg so that it hovers at your point of control.
Keeping the head and the chest lifted, “scissor” the legs to switch the LEFT leg up to the ceiling as the RIGHT leg hovers off the mat.
Repeat scissoring the legs side to side for 6-8 repetitions on both side.