The Pelvic Curl: The one Pilates move I'd do every day

If you only manage one movement a day, this one always gets my vote.

The pelvic curl opens your hips and chest, strengthens your glutes, abdominals and hamstrings, and gets your spine moving. It really does have it all.

How to do a pelvic curl

Starting position:

Lie on your back with your knees bent, hip distance apart and parallel. Rest your arms by your sides, with your chest open and the backs of your upper arms melting into the floor. Your spine is long and your pelvis is in neutral.

Inhale: Prepare.

Exhale: Draw your pelvic floor and abdominals in and up, and tilt your pelvis so your lower spine melts into the floor. Then slowly peel your spine away from the floor, bone by bone, leading with your pubic bone, until your hips, shoulders and knees form a diagonal line.

Inhale: Hold.

Exhale: Soften your ribs, open your chest, and use your glutes to lift a little higher from the backs of your hips.

Inhale: Hold.

Exhale: Roll your spine back down, bone by bone. As you do, soften your breastbone, lengthen your tailbone towards the backs of your knees and keep your ribs soft.

Come back to neutral, and off you go again!

How many?

Aim for 5 to 10 reps. Quality matters far more than quantity, so see how you feel on the day.

Make it easier

Make the movement smaller, or stick with pelvic tilts.

Make it harder

• Take your arms overhead.

• Add a heel lift or foot float at the top. Keep your pelvis level and use the opposite glute to help you stabilise.

• Either roll down between sides, or stay up there for an extra challenge!

  
  

We don't want to feel anything in your lower back so think lengthening through your spine and drawing in the abdominals to keep the ribs in the body.

Want more great cues like this?

Join one of our small group classes or try the Online Studio.