A hamstring stretch in Pilates is an important part of Pilates warm up exercises. Learn how to do a hamstring Pilates stretch with tips from a fitness instructor in this Pilates video.
Keep back heavy
Press shoulders down
Keep legs straight
Ashley Orlando has been a Pilates instructor since April 2007. Ashley currently instructs at Core Pilates NYC, Equinox Century City, My Pilates Body and Revolution Pilates.
Next, we're going to do a hamstring stretch. You're going to start with your chin, bring your chin towards your chest, let your neck be heavy. Then you're going to roll through your spine all the way down, just like they're doing here. So they're very, very heavy right here with their spine. Keep the weight in your toes, take a deep inhale here. Keep the legs straight on the back of the hamstrings as you exhale. One more, deep inhale. Let that neck be heavy. And as you exhale, start to bend your knees all the way down. So bring your butt towards your heels, get a good stretch there all the way. Take a deep inhale here and exhale press with your hands, scoop the navel in and stretch all the way up. So you're still relaxing your spine here, so it's stretching the opposite direction. Keep the navel scooped in towards the spine, bring that nose towards the knees. Again, take a deep inhale and start to bend your knees as you exhale and come all the way down to get a good stretch. Keep the shoulders away from those ears. Deep inhale here and exhale. Plant those heels down first, get a good stretch on the back of the legs and slowly round up for 10 counts. So from your hamstring stretch, you want to make sure that your upper body is completely heavy; that your shoulders are pressed away from the ears; that your navel is scooped in towards the spine. From here, the back of your legs are completely straight. Heels are pressing into the floor. Take a deep inhale and start to round all the way back up. Take your time. Shoulders are pressed away from the ears. Navel is scooped in towards the spine all the way to sitting tall. That was our hamstring stretch. The next is our single-leg circles.
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