Pilates instructor Rebecca Dadun shares three of her favorite Pilates exercises to strengthen your back and improve your posture. We recommend the best yoga mats. You can also add pillows or blocks if you wish.
Low-impact back-strengthening exercises are the ultimate goal. These are available to most people and can help prevent injuries by targeting muscles involved in posture, spinal stabilization, and safe, functional movement.
Below, we’ll explain three Pilates exercises in detail, plus three common mistakes Dadoun encounters and how to fix them.
Rebecca Dadun
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pilates instructor
Rebecca Dadoun is a Pilates instructor and founder of Pilates Prescription. She also offers a 12-week program, “The Back Lab,” which specializes in helping people manage back pain.
What are the three Pilates back exercises?
If you want to stretch, strengthen, and lengthen the muscles around your lower back and spine, here’s how.
1.Darts
Pilates dart exercises are bodyweight back extensions that target and strengthen the muscles in your posterior chain, including the upper and lower back, and help you switch on your glutes and shoulders.
“It helps prevent aging of the spine,” says Dadun. “You’re lying face down on the floor, keeping your head, neck, and upper back off the floor.” The goal is to counter the modern lifestyle of sitting hunched over a desk or phone.
Lie on your stomach with your arms at your sides, forehead on the floor, and legs extended. Stretch your fingertips toward your toes and pull your shoulder blades together. Lift your chest, head, and upper back off the ground and tighten your gluteal and back muscles. Press your whole foot. Pause, exhale, and return to the starting position.
2. Sideways arm opener
Lateral chest rotation – YouTube Watch On
According to Dadun, this is “for the ultimate feel-good movement.”
“In this case, lie on your side with your arms outstretched, then open and reach behind you,” she explains. “Again, we spend much of our day hunched over, so this movement will literally loosen up your spine.”
This exercise uses gentle twists of the spine, known as thoracic rotations, to help open your chest, upper back, and shoulders, and stretch your back and flanks.
Start on your right side with your arms extended in front of you, palms together and knees bent. Stack your hips, knees, and ankles. Raise your left arm and reach back as far as possible. Keep your shoulders pressed into the mat. Let your gaze follow your left hand, then return to the starting position and switch sides.
If you have trouble keeping your feet together on the mat, place a cushion in front of your knees and place your top knee on top of the cushion for extra support.
3. Tabletop Arm & Leg Raise (Bird Dog)
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Also known as the bird dog, this movement promotes “whole body integration.” This means building balance and coordination in your upper and lower body.
“This one movement works your entire body,” says Dadun. “When you get on all fours and lift your opposite arm and leg off the floor, it turns on your shoulders, pulls your abs up to keep your back from arching, engages your glutes, and moves your shoulders.”
Other active muscles include the erector spinae, hamstrings, trapezius, and deltoids. Dadoun also encourages you to play with different arm and leg variations, allowing for versatility and layering. To take Bird Dog even further, you can also try the movement from the plank position (below).
Start in a tabletop position. Place your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Engage your core, then extend your left arm in front of you to shoulder height and your right leg back to hip height. Keep your back flat and look down at the mat. Pause, then return to the original position. starting position. Switch sides.
3 common Pilates mistakes and how to fix them
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“There are a lot of potential mistakes people make, but most of them can be related to three things: form, breathing, and core engagement,” Dadun says.
“Many people often struggle to utilize their core properly because they misunderstand what it actually is,” Dadun explains. “Most people think the core is just the abdominal muscles…in reality, it’s a system of muscles that work together.”
To keep it simple, Dadun advises thinking of your core as a cylinder: your abdominal muscles in the front, your spinal muscles along your back, your pelvic floor at the bottom, and your diaphragm at the top.
“To develop a strong core, you need to train all of these components, not just your abdominal muscles. Of course, you can’t just do crunches.” The terms are used interchangeably, but you need to train all of these components, not just your abs. There are some differences between the two, so it’s beneficial to exercise in a way that strengthens both.
“Proper breathing is very important in Pilates, but it’s often overlooked,” says Dadun. “Proper technique includes breathing sideways and engaging your abdominal muscles with each exhalation. A helpful cue is to pull your belly button toward your spine while also pulling your bottom ribs toward your pelvis. It’s about imagining what it’s like to move.
Breathing is key to engaging your core, moving safely, and maintaining control. You also get the benefits of mindfulness. If so, I recommend these three breathing techniques for beginners.
“Understanding which parts of your body to move and which parts to move is essential to maintaining proper form. Most Pilates exercises are performed with the pelvis neutral.” This is , which means stabilizing certain areas and moving others.
“For example, in a four-point kneeling position where you lift your legs on a table, your torso and spine should remain stationary, only your hips should move.”
Dadun explains that unnecessary movements such as arching your back into a “banana shape” when lifting your legs, bending your elbows at your desk, and tilting your head back are all common examples.
“If you understand your form, core movement, and breathing, most mistakes will be resolved.”
