ThePilatesClub.Net

Set-Up: Lie on your back, arms by your sides, palms down and legs pressed together at a 90-degree angle from the pelvis. 

Begin the Move: Engage your abdominals deeply by narrowing the distance between your front hip points and drawing your navel in toward your spine. Inhale into the sides and back of your rib cage and squeeze your upper inner thighs together.

• Draw your muscles in and up from the pubis to the ribs to lift your hips off the floor, keeping your legs at a 90-degree angle to the pelvis.
• Exhale and bring your legs slowly over your head. Your feet can touch the floor behind your head and open to hip-width apart, with toes tucked under to stretch the lower back and hamstrings. If this is too much of a flexibility challenge, you can support your lower back with your hands or simply keep your legs parallel to the floor.
• Inhale and lift your legs parallel to the floor, keeping them hip-width apart. 
• Exhale and slowly roll down one vertebra at a time, controlling the descent of the spine and legs until the tailbone is completely on the floor. As you roll down, make sure the sides of your back and pelvis are even.
• Then bring your legs together again and repeat.
• For the last two repetitions, reverse the starting position, with the legs beginning at hip-width apart and then closing together on the roll down.
• Modification: Bend your legs at the knees.

Advanced: Angle your legs at 60 degrees or start with them on the floor. To enhance resistance, wrap a stretch band around your feet and grab either end with your hands, anchoring your extended arms and band to the floor as you prepare to roll up and over.

Visualization: As you roll down, imagine your spine like a string of pearls lengthening out to the floor, pearl by pearl. Roll down with control, trying to put more space between each pearl and keeping them in one straight line.

Tips:

• Initiate of the roll-up with the abdominals curling the pelvis off the floor—not the legs moving toward the head. If done correctly, the legs stay at 90 degrees to the pelvis as the hips curl up slowly from the floor. The abdominals stay deeply engaged as the legs go overhead with control.
• Avoid undue tension in the neck, shoulders or lower back when the legs go overhead. When done correctly, the weight is mostly on the shoulder blades—not the neck.
• If you have tightness in the neck, low back or hamstrings on the Roll Over, bend your knees and support your lower back with your hands. If tension persists, omit the exercise.

• On the roll down, the collar bones and shoulders should broaden and the front ribs soften so the spine can lower fluidly. Tightness in the shoulders can impede fluidity and create tension in the upper body. Breathe deeply to reduce tension and encourage release. If tension persists, omit the exercise.
• Collapsing the spine to the mat on the roll down indicates a weak core and lack of control. Put on the brakes as the spine sequences back to the floor; sustained engagement of the abdominal and hip muscles will provide the necessary control.
• Veering more to one side on the roll down indicates an imbalance or perhaps a dominant side. Try to remain centered.

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form

Title
Comment
Name
Email
Website
	Add Comment