Pilates exercises for advanced users

Pilates exercises for advanced users

Welcome to this series of intermediate Pilates exercises for all Pilates practitioners/people who have trained regularly and are strong enough to move on to the next level. Please remember to keep the basic principles of Pilates active during these exercises. Stick to doing just a few reps, but with great form, rather than lots of rushed, random ones, but with less than perfect form. Have fun with your Pilates training!

To swim

Lie on your stomach with your legs together and stretch out. Keep your shoulder blades drawn toward your hips, your shoulders away from your ears, and extend your arms straight above your head. Pull your abdominal muscles in so that you lift your belly button off the floor. Reach from your center and extend your arms and legs in opposite directions until they naturally lift off the floor. Achieve the length of your spine by lifting your head off the mat and looking your face at the mat. Alternately right arm / left leg, then left arm / right leg are raised in 5 breaths and 5 breaths. Move continuously in this manner as if you were swimming on the mat.

The plank

Start on your knees and place your hands on the floor, allowing your legs to extend behind you. Place your forearms parallel to each other on the floor, hands in fists. Your shoulders should be directly above your elbows. Lift your stomach away from the floor while elongating your spine until it is very long. It's important to keep pressure off your lower back by pulling your lower abdominal muscles up. Keep your shoulders broad and make sure your shoulders are away from your ears. Your neck is a long extension of your spine, so your head doesn't droop or tilt up. Take deep breaths as you hold the pose for 30 seconds.

The roll up

Lie on your back with your legs straight. Relax your shoulders and keep them away from your ears. Place your arms straight above your head and back so that your fingertips point toward the wall behind you. Inhale as you lift your arms up above your ears and drop your chin toward your chest, curling your head and upper spine up and off the mat. As you exhale, continue in a gentle motion to curl your entire body toward your toes in an "up and down" motion. Pull your abs in and deepen the curve of your spine as you reach for your toes with your fingertips. To reverse the curl, inhale as you draw your lower abs in to your tailbone and release, one vertebra at a time. Exhale about halfway up to continue placing one vertebra at a time onto the mat. Maintain your upper body curve as you roll downward slowly and in a controlled manner. The arms are still extended, following the natural movement of the shoulders as you roll downward.

Open leg rockers

Sit high on your sit bones with your knees bent so you can grip your ankles. As you balance between your sit bones and tailbone, keep your abdominal muscles engaged as you lift and extend one leg and then the other in front of you, shoulder-width apart. As you inhale, use a deepening ball of the abdominal muscles and the fullness of your inhale to propel your roll back up to your shoulders. As you roll, stay in your C-curve and keep your head and neck off the mat. Pause before exhaling and return using your abdominal muscles to bring yourself back to an upright position.

Inspired by Claudel P. Kuek