The hundred is a classic Pilates
exercise. Stickie enjoys it
because it builds core endurance, among other things.
To begin, Stickie lies on her
back with her legs in a tabletop position. She can have her arms either down along her sides or raised
toward the ceiling. She inhales
deeply to lengthen her spine. On
an exhale, she lifts her chest, extends her arms toward her feet, and
straightens her legs. Her body
will have more or less the shape of a V.
Once in this position, she will pulse her arms up and down along with
her breath, five exhales followed by five inhales, until she has completed one
hundred pulses. Then, with
control, she will lower her body back to the starting position.
During the entire exercise,
Stickie concentrates on keeping her abdominals spread out across her body. She does not want to train her
abdominals to poke out when she contracts them.
Some people find this exercise
problematic for their lower backs.
In that case, it is best to choose a different abdominal exercise until
the lower back issues are resolved.
The exercise can be modified by
increasing or decreasing the number of pulses (most people do not want to start
with a full hundred pulses). How
high the chest lifts and how low the legs lower toward the floor also influence
the level of challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment