Workout 3: Strength Builder | Mat Pilates Playbook

Workout 3 · Strength

Strength Builder

✦ Weeks 3-4: Strength ⏱ 25 min All levels
Program progressWorkout 3 of 6

Today’s session: 6 moves

Illustration of The Hundred Pilates exercise, Pink Pilates Club

The Hundred

1 set · 80 pumps

Lie on your back and curl your head and shoulders off the mat. Bring your legs to tabletop or extend them to 45 degrees if you are ready. Reach your arms long by your sides and begin pumping them vigorously up and down, about 15cm off the mat. Keep your lower back imprinted on the mat and your gaze toward your belly. Breath: Inhale for 5 pumps. Exhale for 5 pumps. Repeat until you reach 80 pumps total. If your neck tires, rest your head for a breath and continue.

Illustration of Roll-Up Pilates exercise, Pink Pilates Club

Roll-Up

1 set · 6 reps

Lie flat with arms reaching overhead, legs extended and glued together. Inhale to lift your arms toward the ceiling. Exhale to nod your chin and peel your spine off the mat one vertebra at a time, reaching toward your toes. Inhale at the top, then exhale to roll back down with the same control. If you get stuck, bend your knees slightly. Breath: Inhale to prepare. Exhale to roll up. Inhale at the top. Exhale to roll down. Each rep should take 8 to 10 seconds.

Illustration of Single Leg Circle Pilates exercise, Pink Pilates Club

Single Leg Circle

1 set · 8 each direction, each leg

Lie on your back with one leg extended toward the ceiling, the other leg bent with foot on the mat. Circle the raised leg across the body, down, around, and back to center. Keep the circle the size of a dinner plate. Your pelvis must stay completely still. If it rocks, make the circles smaller. Switch direction after 8 circles. Breath: Inhale for the first half of the circle. Exhale for the second half. Keep it rhythmic.

Illustration of Criss-Cross Pilates exercise, Pink Pilates Club

Criss-Cross

1 set · 10 each side

Lie on your back with hands behind your head, elbows wide. Curl your head and shoulders off the mat. On your exhale, twist your torso to bring your right elbow toward your left knee while extending the right leg. Hold the rotation for a count of 3. Inhale to pass through center, exhale to twist to the other side. Breath: Exhale to twist and hold for 3 counts. Inhale through center. The twist comes from your ribcage, not your elbows.

Illustration of Glute Bridge Pilates exercise, Pink Pilates Club

Glute Bridge

1 set · 12 reps

Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat. This time, focus on the tempo. Exhale to lift for 3 counts. Hold at the top for 3 counts. Lower for 3 counts. The slow tempo makes your glutes and hamstrings work significantly harder. Keep squeezing at the top. Breath: Exhale to lift (3 counts). Inhale to hold (3 counts). Exhale to lower (3 counts). Control is everything.

Illustration of Spine Stretch Forward Pilates exercise, Pink Pilates Club

Spine Stretch Forward

1 set · 8 reps

Sit tall with legs extended slightly wider than hip-width, feet flexed. Reach your arms forward at shoulder height. Inhale to grow tall through the crown of your head. Exhale to round forward, starting from the crown of the head and peeling down vertebra by vertebra, reaching past your feet. Inhale to begin restacking. Exhale to sit tall. Breath: Inhale to lengthen. Exhale to round forward. Inhale to begin restacking. Exhale to finish tall.

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Pink Pilates Tip

Welcome to the Strength phase. You have built a foundation and now you are ready for more. These exercises would have felt impossible two weeks ago. Notice how much your body has already changed. That is not luck. That is consistency.

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