Return to Life:
– This is not your typical push up. It’s a whole movement sequence involving your whole body, from a Plank (in Pilates Front Support Position), through a Roll Up to standing upright and back again!
This exercise will make you strong: it’s the final Matwork exercise – all the other exercises lead to this one!
What’s it good for?
Muscle focus
Elbow extensors
Abdominals
Gluten
Shoulder and scapular stability
Objectives
Promote strength and stability through the shoulder girdle.
To develop Trunk stability.
To develop spinal mobility
The “how to”
Repetitions: repeat the sequence three – five times.
Difficulty: Master level
Exhale and kneel in an all fours position. Evenly distribute your weight through the lower and upper halves of your body.
Reach one leg back with minimal weight shift of your body, and then extend out the other.
Inhale and bend your elbows backwards to perform your Push Up
Exhale ad straighten your elbows. Repeat twice.
After your second repetition, lift your pelvis upwards and walk your hands toward you feet and and roll up to a standing position.
Inhale and establish good upright alignment.
Exhale and roll down and walk your hands forward to the front support position.
Hints and Tips
💡 As soon as your shoulder blades begin to come together, stop your elbow bending, come back up to your plank (Front Control Support position) and regroup. 💡 This is the measure of doing a correct push up in Pilates terms: holding your trunk and shoulder blades perfectly stable whilst only your arms move.
💡 Once you’ve mastered your front support position to standing and back down, limit the number of arms stops you make so that you can manage the movement with just one swoop up and dive down to your push up position. This means that you’re pushing off with your arms and simultaneously lifting your pelvis into the air whilst transferring your weight to your feet.
💡 Imagine your body as a strong, solid bridge.
💡 When your pelvis is lifted, imagine a pyramid.
💡 When lifting into your roll up, imagine a crane pulling your from your waist as an external force lifting you up and back down. The movement should be brisk and flowing.
💡 Keep your abdominals engaged throughout.
💡 Keep your elbows close to your body whilst performing the push up.
💡 Never allow your shoulder blades to come to together.
