Pilates Double Leg Stretch on the Roller - Women's Fitness

2011-06-04 4

Pilates Double Leg Stretch on the Roller - part of the women's fitness video series by GeoBeats.

Hi, I am Charlotte and this is Alice, and we are here at Streamline Pilates studio in Brooklyn Heights, New York. We are going to teach you how to use the foam roller to do the double leg stretch today.

So Alice is here, she is laying on her back. She is going to take her hands and press into the ends of the roller with her whole palm so that you are feeling your upper body engaged, you are feeling your arms plugged into your shoulder joint. You are not pressing harder than you can stand to do throughout the exercise, but you want your upper body connected and dialed in.

Bringing your knees into your chest and your hands up towards the ceiling, take an inhale through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Scoop your belly button back towards your spine and chin to your chest, roll your head up. Keeping your torso as steady as you can, inhale, bring your arms up to the either side of your ears as you stretch your legs out in front of you. And exhale, deepening your abdominals, bend your knees in, and bring your roller towards your shins.

Inhale reach it out, and exhale bend it in. Emptying out your abdominals, emptying out your lungs with each exhale and each bend in. Great! You want the tips of your shoulder blades touching the mat. You don't want to bring arms up higher than just to either side of your ears so that you don't put your shoulder over work your neck in any way. Repeat it 8 times and then relax, and get ready for the next exercise.