Exercise of the Month
The Pilates Rolldown
Who doesn’t love a rolldown? Cold winter months inevitably lead to muscle tension, it’s the most wonderful time of the year but the festive period is often hectic and stressful and involves lots of travel with hours spent in the same position in car seats, or crammed into a busy train.
The rolldown is like a mini massage for the spine! A great one to do every day at the start or end of the day, it mobilises the back and spine and in just a couple of minutes your body awareness increases and your posture improves.
Whilst everyone has their own version of the rolldown exercise, this is mine, enjoy!
• Start by taking a second to think about your posture and body alignment.
• Start to breath laterally thinking about expanding the ribs.
• From a long spine position with abdominals engaged, inhale as you tuck your chin gently into your chest and begin to rolldown one vertebra at a time from the neck to the lower back. Knees should be softened but it may be preferable to bend the knees further if hamstring tightness makes the exercise uncomfortable.
• Hold for a couple of deep breathes focusing on breathing into your lower back, on your next exhale ensure your abdominals are still engaged and then begin to roll back up to a standing position through the spine visualising one vertebrae stacking on top of another.
After completing a few rolldowns you should start to feel looser in your back, more aware of your posture and better balanced.
Please note this exercise is not suitable everyone, for example it is not suitable for Osteopenia or Osteoporosis. Please contact me for advice if in you are any doubt before starting the exercise.
