A Pilates instructor uses this 10-minute routine to stretch the whole body and activate deep core muscles

Gently stretch your whole body while targeting those hard to reach muscles

woman on yoga pat does Pilates strecth
Pilates instructor Lia Bartha
(Image credit: Lia Bartha)
Lou Mudge's avatar
By
published
in Features

Want a strong, solid core so your body has good posture, balance, stability and flexibility? Then exercises like stomach crunches–that are more about engaging superficial abdominal muscles—won’t cut it.

You need to reach the pelvic floor, the deeper abdominal muscles, the diaphragm and the muscles that surround your spine.

And you can do that with this 10-minute routine from Lia Bartha, a certified Pilates teacher and founder of B the Method.

It will help you activate your deep core, as well as introduce gentle, rejuvenating movement to your joints from head to toe.

Bartha explains that our bodies grow sore and immobile because they’re constantly adapting to how we move, or don’t move.

Sitting for too long, holding stress and tension in our bodies, breathing too shallowly and slouching can all lead to sore and strained muscles.

And unfortunately, the deep core is an area that we often neglect, but it’s never too late to give it the attention it deserves.

“You don’t need to force a stretch, or push through pain, you just need to apply consistent, low-impact movement that restores balance,” says Bartha.

“Your body craves movement, but the right kind—the kind that strengthens and releases at the same time.”

Bartha has shared this flow to gently stretch and strengthen your deep core, and help restore full range of motion in your joints.

1. Grounding with pelvic breathwork

woman in pelvic tilt Pilates move on yoga mat

(Image credit: Lia Bartha)

Time: 60sec

  • Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, arms resting by your sides.
  • Inhale, expand your ribcage and let your belly rise.
  • Exhale and engage your core, pulling your navel toward your spine.
  • Add a gentle pelvic tilt when you exhale.
  • Press your lower back into the mat, then inhale to return to neutral.
  • Hug your knees into your chest and rock from side to side.

2. Cat-cow to thoracic rotation

Image 1 of 3
woman in the cow of cat cow pose on yoga mat
(Image credit: Lia Bartha)

Time: 1min 30sec

  • Get on your hands and knees with a flat back, and your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
  • Inhale as you arch your spine, push your shoulders back and look up to the sky.
  • Exhale as you round your back, tucking your chin in and looking down at the mat.
  • Inhale as you twist your torso and lift your right arm so your hand points up.
  • Exhale as you thread the arm under the body, past the left armpit.
  • Inhale as you twist your torso and lift your left arm so your hand points up.
  • Exhale as you thread the arm under the body, past the right armpit.
  • Sit your hips back into child’s pose, with your torso coming to rest on your thighs.

3. Active hamstring with inner thigh mobility

woman doing a hamstring stretch on yoga mat

(Image credit: Lia Bartha)

Time: 45sec each side

  • Start with your left knee on the floor directly under your left hip, and your right foot on the floor pointing to the side.
  • Inhale and elongate your spine, keeping your pelvis neutral.
  • Exhale and shift your weight over your right leg.
  • Reach over your body with your left arm, feeling the stretch up your side.
  • Move in and out of the stretch for time, then repeat on the other side.

4. Z shape hip opener with a lateral reach

Image 1 of 2
woman stretching on yoga mat
(Image credit: Lia Bartha)

Time: 1min each side

  • Start with your right leg in front of you, knee bent, and your left leg out to the side, knee bent so your lower leg points behind you.
  • Inhale, raise your left arm and reach up and over to the right.
  • Exhale and sink slightly deeper, maintaining your pelvic stability.
  • Add an oppositional lateral reach on your next inhale, sweeping your right arm overhead to your left side.
  • Move in and out of the stretch for time, then repeat on the other side.

5. Prone scapular activation with thoracic lift

woman does back stretch on yoga mat

(Image credit: Lia Bartha)

Time: 1min 30sec

  • Lie on your front with your arms reaching forward.
  • Lift your arms slowly, activating the rhomboids and lower traps.
  • Inhale and gently lift your chest without crunching the lower back, engaging your core for support and hold for time, taking breaks as needed.

6. Supine figure four stretch with a breath reset

woman stretches on her back on yoga mat

(Image credit: Lia Bartha)

Time: 1min each side

  • Lie on your back and cross one ankle over the opposite knee.
  • Inhale, keeping your pelvis neutral.
  • Exhale and gently draw the supporting knee toward your chest.
  • Rock gently from side to side to enhance hip capsule mobility.
  • Hold for time, then repeat on the other side.

Finish by extending your legs, take a full breath in and exhale.

Lou Mudge
Lou Mudge
Fitness Writer

Lou Mudge is a Health Writer at Future Plc, working across Fit&Well and Coach. She previously worked for Live Science, and regularly writes for Space.com and Pet's Radar. Based in Bath, UK, she has a passion for food, nutrition and health and is eager to demystify diet culture in order to make health and fitness accessible to everybody.

Multiple diagnoses in her early twenties sparked an interest in the gut-brain axis and the impact that diet and exercise can have on both physical and mental health. She was put on the FODMAP elimination diet during this time and learned to adapt recipes to fit these parameters, while retaining core flavors and textures, and now enjoys cooking for gut health. 

Latest