Pilates Exercises With Weights

Pilates is a mind-body exercise system focused on strengthening and toning the muscles of the core. Pilates incorporates a range of exercises, some performed without equipment on a mat and others done with specific contraptions like the "reformer" or the "cadillac." Instructors sometimes add light weights to mat-based Pilates exercises to increase the intensity and strength building effectiveness of the moves.

Zip Up

Pilates classes tend to emphasize the muscles of the abdominals, back and hips, however Joseph Pilates did prescribe some exercises for the arms. Using weights weighing between 2 and 5 lbs will enhance the strengthening effects of a move like the "zip up." This move works the tops of the shoulders and upper chest. Perform it from a standing position, with a weight in each hand and arms hanging in front of your legs. As you squeeze the legs together, bend the elbows out to the sides and pull the weights up through the center line of the body. Slowly lower them, resisting gravity. Repeat 8 to 10 times.

The Bug

The "bug" is very similar to a rear deltoid fly---a common strength training exercise. It strengthens the backs of the shoulders and the muscles of the upper back. This move is also done from a standing position. Bend your knees deeply and lean forward from the hips to make your back parallel to the floor. Hang your arms straight toward the floor---holding a 2- to 5-lb weight in each hand. With an exhale, open your arms away from your body until the elbows align with the backs of the shoulders. Inhale and return to the starting position. Repeat 8 to 10 times and focus on squeezing the backs of the shoulders toward one another.

Roll Ups

The roll up focuses on stretching and strengthening the muscles along the spine and those deep inside the abdomen. A study conducted by Michele Olson, PhD, FACSM and Carrie Myers Smith that was published in 2005 by the Idea Health and Fitness Association compared the roll-up to the traditional crunch and found that the Pilates move was 38 percent more effective at targeting the front sheath of the abdominals, the rectus abdominus, and 245 percent more effective at targeting the outsides of the waist, the external obliques. Holding a 3- to 5-lb weight in each hand actually helps people challenged by the roll up to succeed in getting out of the mat. Perform the roll up with knees bent and feet planted firmly in the floor, or for greater challenge, with your legs extended into the mat and squeezed together. Hold the weights in each hand with the arms extended above the shoulders. With an inhale, roll the head, neck and shoulders out of the mat and press the back into the floor. Exhale and continue rolling up one vertebrae at a time until you are sitting up and forming a letter "C" with your back. Keep your arms extended in front of your shoulders the whole time and roll back down to the start. This exercise may be repeated 4 to 10 times.

Lunges

Pilates lunges help develop balance, control and lower and upper body strength. The Pilates lunge requires a specific stance to begin. You may recognize it as "third position" from ballet, but it involves standing with the heel of your left foot placed against the instep of the right foot. Holding a weight in each hand, let your arms hang along side your body. Rotate your body to face the left and step your left foot into a diagonal lunge while simultaneously raising your arms up alongside your ears. Push back off the left foot and return to the start. Brooke Siler, author of "The Pilates Body," notes that proper form requires you to keep your knee directly over you lunging foot and prevent your torso from resting on your thigh. Complete 3 to 5 repetitions on each side.