New Move - Roll Up!

I've decided to start posting a "New Move" so I can talk about the Pilates exercises that I love - each week.

This week it's the "Roll Up." This is one of the classic Pilates exercises that Joe Pilates taught in his original matwork routine, and it has not changed much since he first taught it. There are modifications now with the help of flexbands and fitness circles, but overall the exercise remains the same.

Roll Up

Sit up tall on your sits bones, with your pelvis in neutral, your legs straight out in front of you, toes either pointed or flexed. Your arms are reaching straight in frot of you with hands at shoulder height, palms facing down. (You may choose to bend your knees or you can use a flexband around your feet for more support as you build up to the full Roll Up.)

Exercise:
Inhhale to prepare (breath into your ribcage)

To Roll Down:
Exhale contract your abdominals, pulling your belly button to your spine.
Begin rolling off your sit bones, curling your tailbone under you. Continue
rolling back slowly, one vertebra at a time until you are laying flat on your back.
Keep pulling your belly button to spine and thinking of forming a big "C curve" with your body. As you roll down, your arms should still be reaching out in front of you, then above you as your upper back rolls, down, and then reaching over your head when you finish.

To Roll Up:
Inhale and nod your chin to prepare, reach your arms up to the ceiling.
Exhale and contract your abdominals, pulling belly button to spine. Stabilize your shoulders (using your serratus anterior muscle - the one that wraps under your armpit and behind your shoulder blades) and start to roll up slowly one vertebrae at a time. Try to imagine yourself as something sticky peeling yourself off the mat (i.e., a fruit roll up or a piece of taffy) Return to a sitting position with your legs straight out in front of you.

Roll Up - Explained
The Roll Up is all about spinal articulation. Spinal articulation is used a lot in Pilates. It is the motion of rolling one vertebrae at a time through your spine. Think of a slinky, a caterpillar, or one of those long articulated buses. As you roll back, you feel your hip flexors working like crazy - especially the Psoas Iliacus muscle. This is because the muscle is working "eccentrically" or during the lengthening phase of the muscle contraction. Most of us concentrate our work on the "concentric" phase of a muscle contraction - the shortening phase. The reason Pilates gives you long, lean muscles rather than short bulky ones is because it focuses equally on both the concentric and the eccentric muscle contraction phase.

When To Do this Exercise
This is a great exercise to do when you first get up in the morning or before you go to bed at night because it stretches out your spine and relaxes your entire body!
I tend to be stiff when I wake up in the morning, so this helps loosen up my back before I start my day.