The Pilates 100: the famous warm-up, broken down

If you've done even one Pilates class, you've met the hundred. It's the exercise Joseph Pilates put first in his original sequence of 34 — a warm-up that wakes up the whole body in about a minute and a half. It looks simple. It is not. Here's how it works, and how to get the most from it.

What it is

You lie on your back, curl your head and shoulders off the mat, reach your arms long beside you, and pump them up and down in small, brisk beats — five pumps as you breathe in, five as you breathe out. Ten full breaths of ten pumps: one hundred. Hence the name.

Breaking it down

• Start lying on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Take a breath to settle.
• Curl up: nod your chin, and roll your head and shoulders off the mat until your shoulder blades just lift. Your gaze goes towards your thighs, not the ceiling.
• Reach the arms long beside your hips, hovering a few inches off the mat, fingers stretching away.
• Bring the legs up — either to tabletop (knees over hips, shins parallel to the floor) or, for the full version, extended away on a low diagonal.
• Pump the arms in small, quick beats from the shoulder, not the wrist — like you're pressing down on water. Five pumps in, five pumps out, for ten breaths.
• Lower down with control: bend the knees in, lower the head, and take a breath. Well done — that's the warm-up done.

Why it's worth it

• It warms you up fast — the pumping arms and steady breath get blood moving through the whole body, which is exactly why it comes first.
• It builds deep core endurance — your abdominals have to hold the curl and keep your lower back settled for the full hundred counts.
• It teaches the Pilates breath — breathing wide into the ribs while the stomach stays engaged is the skill the whole method is built on, and the hundred is where you practise it.
• It connects mind and body — counting, breathing, pumping and holding all at once leaves no room for thinking about your shopping list.

Watch points

• Neck tension is the big one. If your neck is straining, your curl is coming from the wrong place. Support your head lightly in your hands, or keep your head down and do the arms and breath only — you'll still get most of the benefit.
• Keep the lower back settled. If your back arches off the mat when the legs go low, raise the legs higher or keep them in tabletop. Lower legs are harder, not better.
• Don't hold your breath. The breath is the exercise as much as the arms. If you can't keep the five-in, five-out rhythm, slow the pumps down.
• Pump from the shoulder, not the elbow or wrist. Small, brisk, controlled beats — not big swings.
• Pregnancy, neck or back injuries, or high blood pressure? Tell your teacher before class — there are kinder variations, and we'll show you one that suits.

The honest truth

Nobody nails the hundred in their first class — or their tenth. It's one of those exercises that keeps getting more interesting as you get stronger. In our mat classes we'll build it up layer by layer, and if you'd like a head start, our one-to-one Pilates induction is a lovely way to learn the basics before you join a group.

Take a look at the timetable and book your first class.

Arden Wellness Hub, Greville Court, Knowle, Solihull — hello@ardenwellnesshub.com