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8
The Intermediate Routine Correctly
executed and
mastered to
the point of
subconscious
reaction, these
exercises will
reflect grace and
balance in your
routine activities.
— J. Pilates
Exercise 31
The Hundreds: Alternating Legs
PREREQUISITE: The Hundreds: Basic (Exercise18).
PURPOSE:To work each side of the abdominals separately.
EXERCISE DESCRIPTION:
Starting Position: Lie on your back and decom-press your spine. Draw the legs to the chest and hold on to the knees. Rest your head on the floor and keep your neck long. Contract forward (head and shoulders forward, eyes on the knees, ribs drawn as close as possible toward the hips). Extend the legs vertically into the air, feet pointed, legs turned out.
a) Extend the arms past the hips, palms fac-ing inward, lengthening through the fin-gertips and keeping the hands several inches off the floor. Press the shoulder blades toward the hips. Engage the B-Line and ocean breathe out to flex the right foot and lower the right leg as close to the floor as you can while keeping the imaginary lumbar coin pressed against the floor. Leave the left leg in the air, drawing it slightly closer to the chest. This is the leg that makes the abdominals work harder!
b) Engage the B-Line more firmly and breathe in to raise the right leg back to the vertical position. Change legs.
KEY POINTS:
1. As the leg lowers, draw the ribs even closer to the hips to counteract any drop of the shoulders.
2. Keep the shoulder blades raised off the floor when lifting the leg back to the verti-cal position.
3. Ensure that the vertical leg is totally straight and turned out, with the foot flexed.
4. Keep the eyes on the knees, and breathe into the armpits.
5. Do not lower the leg too low; keep the lum-bar coin pressed down.
6. Lengthen the abdominals and allow the thigh muscles to stretch to achieve a con-trolled lowering of the leg—imagine that the hip joint is opening like a hinge.
REPETITIONS:Five to ten repetitions for each leg.
110 The Intermediate Routine
Exercise 32
Coordination
PREREQUISITE:The Hundreds: Basic (Exercise18).
PURPOSE:Tocoordinate the arms and legs with the breath. To work the adductors, shoulders, upper back, and abdominals.
EXERCISE DESCRIPTION:
Starting Position: Lie on your back with your knees drawn comfortably to your chest, tailbone on the mat, hands on the knees, and elbows bent.
a) Engage the B-Line and ocean breathe out to contract forward, extending the arms past the hips, lengthening through the finger-tips, and extending the legs forward as low as you can while still keeping the imagi-nary lumbar coin pressed into the mat (legs parallel, toes softly pointed).
b) Hold the breath to rapidly open and close the legs once, attempting to engage the inner thighs for the movement. (Open the legs just wider than shoulder distance.)
c) Breathe in to return to the starting posi-tion (bending the knees to the chest) for half a second before repeating.
KEY POINTS:
1. Stretch through the toes as far as you can, evenwhenopening and closing the legs.
2. When returning to the starting position, draw the knees to the chest (rather than dropping the feet to the bottom).
3. Keep the B-Line engaged even when return-ing to the starting position.
4. Keep the abdominals “scooped” until all repetitions are completed.
5. Squeeze the inner thighs together until the final repetition is complete.
6. Focus mentally on every movement of the arms, head, neck, shoulders, legs, and inner thighs, as well as on the breathing.
REPETITIONS:One set of ten.
The Intermediate Routine 111
Exercise 33
The Roll-Up
PREREQUISITES: The Start Stretches (Exercises 3 through6a), The Perfect Abdominal Curl (Exercise 25).
PURPOSE:Tostrengthen the abdominals through the full range of movement while stretching the back.
EXERCISE DESCRIPTION:
Starting Position:Hold on to a short pole (a small towel stretched between your hands will do). Lie on your back on a mat, arms above your head on the floor, elbows extended, legs straight, feet flexed, pressing through your heels, inner thighs squeezed together.
a) Engage the B-Line and take a long breath in to raise the (straight) arms toward the ceiling and then lower them to your thighs, flattening the ribs to the floor. Roll the chin to the chest at the same time.
b) Ocean breathe out to curl the shoulders for-wardand draw the ribs to the hips, rolling forward off the floor in a smooth move-ment. Continue to roll each vertebra off the mat, at the same time pressing your spine into the mat.
c) Once you’re sitting up, reach forward as far as you can, lengthening your chest toward your knees and the crown of your head to-
wardyour toes. Hold this position and take a deep breath into your back and armpits.
d) Still reaching the arms toward the feet and pressing through the heels, ocean breathe out to roll back down. Start by sinking into the hips, looking into the groin and im-printing the spine into the mat one verte-bra at a time until the arms are above the head on the floor. Maintain your B-Line at all times.
KEY POINTS:
1. Exhale 75 percent of your breath during the first 25 percent of the movement or whenthe head and shoulders are lifting off the floor.
2. On the return movement, exhale 75 percent of the breath during the first 25 percent of the movement after sinking into the hips. Ifthe lungs are too full of air, the back may move as a stiff block, rather than rolling.
3. Keep reaching forward on the way up as if someone were pulling the pole forward for you. On the way down, lean forward as if someone were trying to pull you to your toes. This has the effect of opening up the back. Keep the pole close to the thighs on the way up and down.
112 The Intermediate Routine
4. If the spine fails to roll smoothly all the way (up or down), bend the knees.
5. If, on the roll up, the torso lifts rather than rolls, bend the knees more or place light weights on your feet.
REPETITIONS:One set of ten repetitions.
BREATHING REVIEW:Ocean breathe out to roll up, breathe in to stretch forward, and ocean breathe out to roll down.
THE PSOAS AND ITS EFFECT ON THE LOWER BACK
The psoas (hip flexor) and its effect on the lower back during roll-ups or conventional sit-ups is greatly underestimated. The psoas attaches from the lower vertebrae of the spine, crosses in front ofthe hip, and attaches to the upper inside of the femur (the lesser trochanter). When you relax the abdominals between repetitions (even for a frac-tion of a second), or hold your breath during the exercise, the torso will lift off the floor and the hip flexors will engage at the same time, pulling the body up rather than rolling it up. This action is more apparent when the feet are hooked under a strap. It happens because the psoas grips, thereby controlling the movement, lifting the lower lum-bar vertebrae, and slightly distending the abdomi-nals. This action, in combination with weak ab-dominals, prevents the psoas from depressing, which would allow the spine to roll up. The result is alift of the back.
Instead of completing ten “individual” move-ments, keep the abdominals and hip flexors con-nected (engaged) and try to perform ten continu-
ous, flowing movements. Think of the set as one movement comprising ten continuous parts.
If the hip flexors are continuously engaged and the abdominals are in a strong B-Line (to as-sist in controlling the psoas) before the roll-up be-gins, the chances of a lurch are greatly minimized. Initially, the thighs may feel overworked. However, as the abdominals retain the engram (memory) of the rolling movement, they will supersede any hip flexor strain. When the feet are in a strap to assist in the roll-up, imagine that the strap is a thin thread of cotton and that any mild pull of the feet will snap the thread. Doing so will also help to par-tially disengage the psoas and to engage the ab-dominals more effectively.
The feet should remain flexed at all times. Placing them in a strap around the toes only en-gages the thighs even more. Instead, place the strap close to the ankles. Squeezing the inner thighs may also help slightly to alleviate some of the gripping of the thighs.
The Intermediate Routine 113
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