Today the Amazing Stickie wants a challenge for her shoulder flexibility, upper body strength, and core control, so she’s doing the Pilates Leg Pull. (No, this does not mean that Uncle Joe is going to play a joke on her!)
As with many Pilates exercises, there are options for Stickie to choose. The starting position is sitting on the floor, hands slightly behind the hips, legs extended in front of the body. The position of the hands is where the choices come in: Stickie can have her fingers pointing away from her body, out to the sides, or towards her body. Different positions will feel differently for different people, but generally folks find it most challenging to have the fingers pointing toward the body and least challenging to have them pointing to the sides, but the best way to find out which way works best is to try all three!
Once Stickie has chosen a hand position, she lifts her pelvis toward the ceiling, pressing her feet into the floor. Basically, she is doing an upside down plank. The main part of the exercise starts now. On an inhale, Stickie lengthens one leg and lifts it toward the ceiling. She keeps her pelvis stable (i.e., she doesn’t let her butt sag down!) as she lifts. Then she exhales as she lowers her leg back to the upside down plank position. She alternates legs and does about ten reps on each side.
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