Pilates on the Mat: The Hundred Warm-Up
- In This Quick Guide:
- The Hundred Exercise
- The Hundred Exercise—Modified
The Hundred is a signature exercise developed by Joseph Pilates to warm up your body, preparing it for more to come. Regardless of the pilates workout to come, the Hundred is done first to coordinate your breaths along with movement, increase circulation, and stabilize and warm up your core. Here is how you do it.
The Hundred Exercise
- Lie flat on your back with your arms by your sides, palms down.
- Straighten your legs so your toes reach out to a 45-degree angle or are in line with your eyes. If you feel your back lifting from the mat, raise your legs to the ceiling to maintain an anchored spine.
- Hover your hands about 8 inches off the mat. Keep them close to your body, palms down, stretching your fingertips long or pits to your hips.
- Inhale and vigorously pump your arms up and down for 5 counts, as if your arms are pumping through Jell-O, resisting each pump.
- Exhale for 5 counts as you scoop your navel in and up. Imagine a heavy ball in your belly button to help you feel your abs to your spine every time you exhale. Think of your lungs as a sponge—squeeze out the dirty water on the exhale so fresh water can enter.
- Do 10 sets for a grand total of 100 pumps (hence the name). While you pump, make sure that nothing moves except your arms.
If you don’t have the core strength, your back may bounce off the floor as you pump. Think about the core concept: anchor your spine to the mat to stabilize your trunk.
Your neck may tire before your body does. This strain happens because of the combination of weak neck and abdominal muscles, along with overtensing the neck muscles in the front as you fight to hold up your head. You can put one hand behind your head to support or lower your head to the mat. You also can cut the pumps and breaths down to 50—quality versus quantity always. If you can’t inhale for 5, reduce the breath counts. For example, start with 2 inhalations and exhale for 2, and progress to 3 and 3, and so on.
The Hundred Exercise—Modified
- Lie flat on your back, with your arms by your sides, palms down.
- Pull one knee in to your chest, and pull in the other, keeping them close to your center. Lift your chin to your chest, and begin pumping your arms.
Now that you are warmed up, you are ready for whatever pilates routine you like! For more great pilates work on the mat, check out our quick guide Pilates on the Mat: The Standing Arms Workout. Have a great workout!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pilates on the Mat by Karon Karter
