If you’re participating in Matwork classes and doing Private or Group Training on the Pilates equipment, there are many  Pilates equipment exercises that can help you find the right muscles and improve your technique to make your Roll Up easier.  But what if you’re only doing Matwork?

Here are 5 quick Pilates Training Tips To Help You Work On Improving Your Roll Up Exercise During Your At-Home Workouts, In Pilates Class At the Gym, Or Anywhere You’re Practicing Pilates:

1. Instead of bending your arms & legs to get through the sticky spots.  Keep your arms & legs strong & straight.  Slide your arms along the sides of your thighs while rolling back and up.  If your elbows stay straight, your back will bend more, the abs will work harder, and you will articulate more sequentially through the whole spine.
2. Use a Theraband looped across the soles of your feet to provide assistance & resistance to Roll Up and Back one vertebra at a time.  Remember:  Safety first!  Be careful that your band does not slip off your feet and whack you in the face.
3. Practice ½ Sit Backs on an Incline Board.  If you have a step aerobics bench, tilt it so that one end is high and one end is low.  Or if you’re at the gym, use the Decline Sit-Up Bench.  Only put your head at the high end with your feet on the floor and practice your sit ups.  (Start you’re your hands reaching along your thighs, progress to hands behind the head like Neck Pull.)  Being on an incline bench can help you feel your pelvis, low back, and bottom ribs get to the mat first for better bending through the spine.
4.  Relax your Chest & Look at your Belly.  Getting your eyes in the right spot cues the whole back to bend.  Relaxing your chest will help you use more abdominals and less arms, and a relaxed chest also helps your upper and mid-back to bend more  easily – aiding in the sequential articulation of the spine.
5. BREATHE!  Good Breathing is key!   Inhaling should lengthening the spine for good joint space so you can move more easily.   A strong exhale is what is needed when the going gets tough.  This forced exhale more strongly activates your abdominals to help curl you up and control your movement rolling back to the mat.  If you hold your breath when you get to a stuck spot, you will be holding your body still in that spot.  “Riding” the breath will help you ride the movement for good flow and a smooth articulation of the spine.

BONUS TIP:  Practice with hand weights, a weighted stick, ball, or Magic Circle in your hands with your arms straight, (elbows unlocked) and shoulders relaxed and down.   Actively pull your abs up, in, and away from your arms the whole time you are rolling up and rolling back to the mat.  The extra weight of a toy in your hands will give you a little extra boost to work through your challenge spots.

By applying at least one of these technique tips to your Pilates Roll Up exercise, (as well as any other similar exercises in your workout routine) with a little practice, and continued focus on your goal of easily articulating through your spine with good abdominal support, you’ll be doing great Roll Ups before you know it!

If you’ve found this information helpful, drop me a comment – I’d love to hear which one of these five Pilates training tips made the most different to you  to improve your Roll Up exercise technique!

Have a Fit & Fabulous Day!

Use the exercise tips on this video to help you improve your ab curl position for Pilates Matwork exercises like the Hundred, Roll Up, Neck Pull, and Teaser.  And at the gym, this easy-to-do KG Curl exercise can help improve your technique for sit-ups on an incline bench,  crunches on a ball, and with all your ab training exercises during aerobics class.

Have Fun Improving your Ab Strength with the KG Curl!

Do you remember reading Dr. Suess as a kid?  One of my favorite stories was the Starbelly Sneetches.  And how wonderful that that star is in the perfect spot to think about pulling the abdominals in for support and Core Control.

Here’s my tribute to the great Dr. Suess from a Pilates perspective!

Is your Starbelly hanging out – which might be a factor, or cause, or concern – for  lower back pain that you’d like to relieve?  

Or perhaps you have realized that whether or not there’s a star on your belly – pulling it in is the thing that you need.  

For strength in your abs, and a core that is working, all that you need for your spine feel fine is to remember the spot where the star might be placed and keep pulling in with your will and your might, so as you get stronger your back will not hurt. Yes…That is Right! 

With practice your star will shine with great strength.  And I know you will see…with each Pilates exercise, longer and leaner your body will be - as you learn to do each movement quite precisely. 

If Joseph Pilates were here still today, he would cheer your success and be proud of your efforts.  So enjoy your good health and keep in your mind, your star-belly IN very close to your spine.