Pilates is often celebrated for its core-strengthening benefits or seen as a way to improve alignment. But this workout style offers another important benefit: mobilizing your body.
It’s natural to think of yoga or a good stretching routine to unlock tight areas but Pilates doesn’t just stretch muscles and mobilize joints, it actively strengthens them too. This makes it effective at increasing your range of motion and moving with more ease.
Rebecca Daodun, a Pilates instructor and founder of Pilates Prescription, has shared her two favorite beginner-friendly exercises for upper-body mobility. It’s common to hold tension and stiffness in the spine, shoulder and chest, especially if you spend a lot of time sitting or have a habit of slouching.
“A lot of people, when they first start Pilates, haven’t done these kinds of moves before,” Daodun tells Fit&Well. “I always find that beginners love that feeling of finally opening up the body.”
You can do these moves as a standalone sequence whenever you need, or as part of a warm-up for a Pilates or strength workout.
1. Spinal curl
Reps: 4-5
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
- Place your arms by your sides, reaching them toward your heels and pressing them into the floor.
- Inhale, then exhale to flatten your back, tucking your pelvis under.
- Lift your hips and spine slowly, vertebrae by vertebrae, until your hips form a straight line with your shoulders and knees.
- Inhale into your ribs and spine, exhale and imagine pushing your knees forward.
- Slowly lower your spine, vertebrae by vertebrae, to the floor.
This movement seems similar to a bridge, but there is a crucial difference. Rather than concentrating on using your glutes (the muscles in your butt) to lift your hips, the focus is articulating through the spine.
“With a bridge, you bring the back up in one piece, powering into the glutes,” Daodun explains. “Whereas with a spinal curl, you end up in your bridge but you bring the back up piece by piece. Moving really slowly is the key.”
2. Arm opening
Reps: 6-8 each side
- Lie on your right side with your knees bent and your shoulders, hips and heels in a straight line.
- Extend both arms in front of you at shoulder height with your palms together.
- Lift your left arm overhead and behind you, rotating your torso to the left and turning your head, following your left hand with your gaze.
- Lower your left arm as far as your mobility allows, then slowly return it to the starting position.
- Do all your repetitions on one side, then switch sides.