By Drummond Pilates Course Lead Jo Everill-Taylor

The “Roll Up” is a classical mat exercise designed to challenge to abdominal muscles and coordinate breath with movement. However it also needs a good balance of back mobility in relation to abdominal strength to perfect it!

Many people struggle with the roll up when they first start Pilates, so this month we take a look at how to become successful at it.

Start Easy

The first challenge is to ignite the core stabiliser muscles- you can effectively do this by starting with a bent leg roll up.

You can use the legs sliding away to act as a lever and help ease you up to seated- this way your body starts to learn what to do. So as you reach your hands forwards, slide the legs away and allow them to help you float away from the floor.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use some help

You could also use a band or weight in the hands to help lift you. This will prevent you taking the strain into your back or neck. Wrap a resistance band around your feet and use it to help you lift- try to avoid hunching the shoulders though!

A weighted Pilates ball will help to turbo boost you to seated- hold one in both hands and as they float over towards your knees the weight of the ball will counter-balance some of your body weight- taking the strain away from back and neck muscles.

“Under-Tucked” Pelvis

One common problem that we see all the time is the “under-tucked” pelvis- as people try to roll up with straight legs, they tip their pelvis out of neutral and scoop their bottoms under this makes it feel like you are rolling uphill!  All you need to do is focus on staying as near to neutral as possible as well as relaxing a little. One way to remain more relaxed is to think about pushing the energy into your heels.

Recruit the Helper Muscles (synergists)

Other ways to focus the work into the right muscle groups include squeezing the thighs together- use Pilates stance or Charlie Chaplin feet-this helps you recruit up from adductors through to pelvic floor and by their facial connections to inner core and TVA. This can help to stabilise the lower back and make the roll up action more efficient.

Prepare The Body

You can also prepare your body and improve your Roll Up by targeting the muscles and joint actions that are needed- for example train Rectus Abdominis (6 pack muscle) by doing half roll backs & 100 prep; mobilise the spinal column by doing the  shoulder bridge-think of your Pilates exercises as part of a big jigsaw puzzle –decide how you want the picture to look- so flowing evenly balanced roll up- and  work on all the elements that will come together in a fab flowing manoeuvre!

Are you interested in instructing Pilates? Have a look at our courses.