The Most Common Exercises in Pilates

Have you noticed that there are certain exercises in Pilates that show up on both the mat and various apparatuses? My teacher says that her teacher (who was actually taught by Joseph Pilates,) would point out that you could tell Joe felt these movements were important and beneficial to most people. Some of the most common exercises you’ll see in Pilates are: 

1. The Hundred
2. Chest Expansion
3. Teaser
4. Swan

Where Do The Exercises Show Up?

You can find the common Pilates exercises throughout your workout and the studio: 

• The Hundred: On the mat, reformer, cadillac, on top of the chair, and against the wall. 
• Chest Expansion: On the reformer, baby chair, pedopole, and the cadillac/tower standing and tall kneeling with the roll down bar or standing with the arm springs. 
• Teaser:  On the mat, reformer, tower/cadillac, and on top of the wunda chair or from the floor.
• Swan: On the mat, reformer, tower/cadillac, and the wunda chair.

More About The Common Exercises in Pilates

The Hundred

This is a full-body, warm-up exercise that helps you to connect to your breathing. As you inhale to the count of five then exhale for the same, you’re pumping your arms up and down. There is a focus on your arms’ connection to your back, where the movement should come from. At the same time, you’re finding upper body flexion by using your abs and lengthening through the back. Your legs are slightly turned out from the hips, connecting your inner bodyline down to your heels, reaching your legs long, and floating them up off the mat. You’ll feel the engagement of the muscles in your backside, legs, abs, neck, and back.  You are strengthening all of these areas of the body. (This exercise will also convince you that your teacher can’t count to 100.)

Chest Expansion 

In this exercise, your focus is on either standing or kneeling tall. You find a tall spine, chin parallel with the floor, being sure to not lean backwards. This alone will engage your core, leg, and glut muscles. As you draw the bar or handles to or beside your hips, you’ll be working your back and the backs of your arms. (This movement is similar to pumping your arms in the hundred.) As an added bonus, you get a neck stretch each time you open the springs because you turn your head to either side. Finally, the breath is important, as you inhale while opening the springs, hold your breath as you turn your head to each side, then exhale as you close the springs. 

The Teaser

This is a very satisfying exercise to do once you figure out how to get up into the V-position. You start laying down, come up through the starting position of the hundred, then lift up your legs and upper body, making a V-shape. From here, you can lower back down or add in the challenge of lifting and lowering your legs, upper body, or both. Again, you are focusing on keeping your legs connected and reaching out long and your arm connected to your back. It takes the abs, legs, and glutes to move you through the positions, getting stronger with practice. 

The Swan

The swan is an extension exercise, again keeping your legs very connected like in the previous exercises. The difference here is that you are face down. In this exercise, you’re strengthening the back line of the body, lengthening and stretching through your frontside. Here again, the arm to back connection is key, especially when you move into the more challenging versions of swan such as swan on the long box, swan dive on the mat, and on the wunda chair.  

Do You See The Similarities?

In each of these common exercises in Pilates, you’re building strength of your posture muscles and opening up your chest. Even back then in the 1920’s, Joseph Pilates thought that due to people’s jobs and sitting too much that everyone was getting terrible posture. He was right, and so it continues!