Washer Woman I, also known as Roll Up 1, Hamstring 1, or Hamstring Stretch, helps to strengthen upper body control and lengthen the back of the body. With so many things to focus on in this exercise, we mustn’t forget to keep our knees actively straight but not locked. Locking your knees...

There are too many bad planks in this world!!! This makes me so very, very sad! Relying on our skeleton to hold us up usually means that the lumbar vertebrae are getting all the load and are suffering.

Here is a video from a few years back (gosh, my hair was long!) I'll teach you how to first...

Standing Arm Work Facing Out strengthens the shoulder stabilizers and arms. It also improves core control by strengthening the oblique abdominals. 

But we can't get any of these benefits if we lose control of the movement.

How do you know if control is lost? Allowing the momentum of...

Hanging Pull-Ups is a rare example of an exercise that’s not as difficult as it looks. Many students ooh and aaah when they see someone else do it and are super proud when they can do it themselves.

Perhaps it's when we get caught up in the fun of the exercise that proper shoulder alignment...

Teaser, the classic Pilates exercise, is a fantastic abdominal strengthener. Practicing it on the Spine Corrector is a great stepping stone to the more difficult versions, like on the mat. 

A common mistake in this exercise is the lower back arching. (Don't confuse this with the upper...

Swimming on the Spine Corrector contributes to Pilates' good reputation for improving posture. It strengthens the upper back and spinal extensors and improves shoulder positioning. What does that mean for you? A tall, open, and confident posture!

But sometimes getting into the...

Footwork Straddle on the Chair is also called Seated Leg Pumps-Side Sit, V-Sit, Pumping, or Footwork.

Add this exercise into your routine to strengthen the quadriceps, hamstrings, and external hip rotators. This variation is also great for strengthening the core (especially your...

Side Kick Series on the Spine Corrector effectively improves hip dissociation, which is the ability to move the legs while keeping the spine and pelvis still. It also strengthens the lateral hip stabilizers, which we especially appreciate when we need balance for walking, running, hiking,...

Many students have a hard time keeping their sagittal alignment during exercises like Footwork on the Chair. Sometimes, limiting the motion to a range that the student can control makes all the difference in keeping good alignment. In this case, a pedal stopper can come to the rescue! Don't...

How many side-lying exercises can you think of? Probably a few, but not nearly as many as supine exercises, right? There are not many exercises in the Pilates repertoire where the force to the core comes from the side, challenging the body in the frontal plane. When building a balanced body, it's...