In the classical repertoire, the Roll Up is exercise number 2, straight after The Hundred. 

You may think it's a challenging exercise to put early in the class. But its aim is to wake up the abdominal muscles and practice the spinal articulation that you need in so many other Pilates exercises. If you'll want to do more advanced Pilates exercises, getting this in early is fantastic prep work.

As well as the abs, we use our back muscles, our hip flexors and glutes and the muscles that move the shoulder joint. And as with so much in Pilates, a strong mind-body connection is also required so we can move smoothly, rather than moving the body in big slabs. 

The most common problems are strength and control of the abdominal muscles, particularly the deeper ones. If your belly domes or legs lift in counterbalance, most likely, it's because your abs aren't strong enough.

You may also find that you experience a little jerk through your hips as you peel up. If this is you, you're possibly using either momentum or your hip flexors to hinge yourself up.

And finally, you may find it difficult to peel up and down sequentially and either flatten or over arch your spine.

Having stated that the exercise should be the second one, there are lots of other exercises that we can do that will wake up the muscles we need, and build the right mind-body connection so we're ready to do the exercise. If you're not sure what some of these exercises look like, I've added links to my insta page for some vids!

"The Group of Five" -  This refers to The Hundred, Single Leg Stretch, Single Straight Leg Stretch, Double Leg Stretch and Double Straight Leg Stretch. If I'm in a rush, I do a cheeky mash-up that you can watch here. These five exercises will help build up strength in the same muscles used in Roll Up. If you'd like to know more about them, check out this blog post

Rolling Like a Ball - Requires you to maintain a constant c-curve in your spine and tests your ability to roll through every vertebra, sequentially. It's the first of the rolling exercises in the repertoire and as you get stronger and more controlled, you can work through more of them. Check out these examples to see how it's done.

Spine Stretch - Do a couple of reps of this sitting against a wall  before practising unsupported. This builds muscle memory of sitting tall and extending the spine. You can practice peeling the vertebrae away from and back to the wall without shifting through the pelvis. Want to make it even more like a Roll Up? Lift your arms overhead.

Half Roll Back - The entry level Roll Up, starts with bent legs, builds abdominal and hip flexor strength, focuses on spinal articulation and is a great way to get ourselves used to the movement. Do it after your spine stretch so that your muscle memory of the articulation is still strong! One more thing to think about is that you should be feeling this in your abs rather than your hip flexors!

Hip Flexion/ Extension - For those of us who are mostly desk-bound, it's common to struggle with tight, weak hips paired with lengthened, lazy glutes.  To work both you need to do exercises where you move your leg in front of and behind your body. Donkey kick variations, shoulder bridges, runner's balance, side kick lying or kneeling..all great exercises for your hip area!

Is your back slightly arched when you lie flat on the floor with legs straight? Straight legs are "heavy" and can pull your pelvis out of neutral alignment. This makes it difficult to peel off the floor. If this is you, bend your knees a little. As you build abdominal strength, you will be better able to hold neutral.

Are your ribs slightly flared when you take your arms overhead? Place a block or small cushion under your head and roll your ribs slightly down. If this is consistently you, a foam roller practice through the mid and upper back will help you to lie in thoracic neutral better. It's then easier to roll through that section of your back.

Do you find it difficult to articulate off the floor? Try a couple of the Spine Stretches seated against the wall first, then place a small cushion or rolled up towel under the place where you find it most difficult to articulate. This gives your body a better message about what it's doing.

Do your legs lift up? Squeeze your butt and ground your hamstrings in the floor at the point at which legs lift so that you're pulling your legs downwards in opposition.

Just can't get off the floor? Place a resistance band round the feet, hold either end of the band to give yourself a little lift. As your arms are in front of your body holding the band, you've also got less weight to lift off the floor.

Hope that you found some helpful tips for Roll Ups here. If you're not already practising Pilates with me, you can try a class for free by clicking here.