How To Do The Single Leg Stretch In Body Weight Pilates Video

The single leg stretch is a great Pilates exercise for strengthening your legs. Learn to perform the single leg stretch from a Pilates instructor in this video.

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Pull knees in
Curl head & shoulders
Extend leg & stretch
Breathe

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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.

So our next set of exercises there's actually five so you want to try to do these right in a row, right after each other. The first is called the single leg stretch. So you'll start again on you back, you're going to roll through that spine all the way down, good. You're going to bend your knees into your chest. Again you're going to create that Pilates curl you hear me say that a lot. Curl the head, neck and shoulders up. So from here, you can use your hands, place your hands onto your knees and try to pull yourself up a little bit higher so that you're relaxing your neck. We don't want to get in our neck here. We just want to make sure we get that curl. From here, both hands go in the right knee and you're going to extend your left leg straight out and point that toe. From here, take your right hand and bring it on your right ankle so the outside hand is always on the outside of the ankle. Take a deep breath. Take an inhale and then exhale, switch legs and hold it there. So you want to get the precision. You want to get that dancer-body look. Beautiful Mark, keep it up. Curl up a little bit higher, straighten out like even longer. So you're going to reach that toe all the way as long as it possibly can go and switch sides again and hold. Good. So you get your technique first. Keep that curl. Keep those legs long. Switch and hold. And then, once you have your technique you can speed it up a little bit faster. Take an inhale, switch, and exhale, switch, and switch, good. Keep pulling the navel in towards the spine. Keep creasing up a little bit higher. Keep stretching those legs. Test that powerhouse. Three and three, go for two. Two more, last one, and one. Draw the knees back into the chest. Curl the head, neck and shoulders back down. Our next exercise is called the double leg stretch.

How to Do the Single Leg Stretch in Body Weight Pilates Video

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