The Teaser tends to be a challenging exercise for almost everyone when they start doing Pilates. It also remains a big challenge for many people well into their practice. If you want to do a better Teaser (or even master it,) you’re going to need four things: practice, strength, patience, and body awareness.
What a Teaser Should Look Like
If you’ve ever looked at anything to do Pilates, you’ve probably seen the Teaser. It’s one of those exercises that looks great in pictures, so you’ll see it all over social media, covers of books, in videos, etc. It’s also pretty satisfying to achieve! You can do the Teaser on the mat, chair, reformer, tower, and more, so it’s a common exercise in any Pilates practice. Here’s what it looks like:
You start on your back. As you curl up your upper body, you simultaneously lift your legs up to form what looks like a V-sit. You then reverse the movement with control, bringing your body back down to the mat. It’s not easy, but the tips below will help you do a better teaser in no time.
Practices for a Better Teaser
Like anything, the more you do the Teaser the better you’ll get at it. There are several ways to practice your Teaser and eventually progress to the full exercise. On the mat, you can make modifications like keeping your knees bent, holding the backs of your legs, or starting from sitting rather than laying down. The tower or cadillac is great to teach people the teaser, and it’s where most people have success in the beginning. The wunda chair, on the other hand, is super challenging!
Another way to do a better Teaser is to work on the exercises that come before it in the mat order. These are preparing you for the Teaser, and include the Hundred, where you have to hold yourself up in a mini-Teaser position. The Hundred teaches you how to keep your legs connected as if they are one, to use your glutes and your abs, along with moving your arms with your back. Using the glutes is often one of the key missing components for many people in mastering the Teaser.
Build Your Strength
People are often advised to start Pilates due to an injury or pain, and are encouraged to work on their glute and core strength. The Teaser requires good overall strength to execute, with the core and glutes being the stars. So it makes perfect sense that it’s difficult for most people in the beginning.
Pilates is an excellent road to building the strength necessary to do a better Teaser. At first, it may be hard to curl up, your neck might hurt, or your legs will feel too heavy. If you keep practicing and are consistent, you will get stronger. You’ll also learn how to move with more efficiency and less effort.
It Takes Patience
The Teaser is tricky, and it can take people weeks, months, or years to accomplish. I have clients who get it most of the time, while others only manage once in a while. Everyone eventually gets it though, by building strength, learning to move their body with more connection, and practicing. I love the excited shriek that people let out when they get it for the first time!
If you’re practicing on the apparatus, know that each one may be very different for you. You’ll need to have patience as you move from the tower or mat to the reformer or wunda chair (but I know you’ll get it).
Know Your Body
Even with practice, strength, and patience, each person will have individual challenges when doing their own Teaser. I’ve noticed that for people who’ve had abdominal surgery in the past, it’s more challenging for them to connect to their core and do curl-up exercises. That’s not to say they can’t do it, but it may take more time to get there. Curvatures of the spine and spinal inflexibility will also affect how you curl up. This will often get better with practice and as you get better mobility and flexibility through your back.
I’ve helped hundreds of people to do a better Teaser, and you can be one of them too! By working on the basics consistently, you’ll soon have the coordination and strength to conquer this challenging move.