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Warm Up for Any Pilates Routine

These exercises get you in touch with your core muscles and set up good alignment for doing Pilates Exercises.
Fundamentals Set
This set of exercises teaches the movement fundamentals that establish core stability, abdominal control, and increased range of motion in Pilates.
Pilates Warm Up Set
Be centered and aligned before you begin exercising. These easy Pilates exercises will give you an opportunity to tune in to your body, find your alignment, and set your mental focus for your workout session.
Arm Reach and Pull for Shoulder Stabilty
This Pilates exercise helps establish shoulder stability by increasing awareness of scapular placement and movement.
Arms Over
Arms over is a fundamental Pilates exercise. It helps improve posture, range of motion in the shoulders, and trunk stability.
Angel Arms
Angel Arms is a Pilates Warm Up Exercise. Doing Angel Arms is a wonderful way to perfect your understanding of how the arms and shoulders affect the back and ribcage. This exercise helps develop core stabilization awareness, improves posture, and helps increase range of motion for the shoulders and arms.
Cat / Cow Back Stretch
Cat-cow, a back stretch exercise from yoga and Pilates is one of the best. Get exercise instructions for cat-cow back stretch.
C Curve
The C Curve is requires deepening the scoop of the abdominals as the back lengthens and expands. It is a position used in many Pilates exercises.
Deep Breathing Exercise
Learning to breathe deeply, with control, is one of the most important parts of Pilates exercise.
Imprinting
Imprinting may be the most basic Pilates exercise there is. Yet it can also be one of the most profound. Imprinting is deeply relaxing and centering. It is wonderful for stress reduction, and as a way to center yourself before beginning any exercise routine, Pilates or other. It helps you get everything in place before your begin.
Knee Folds
Knee folds is a Pilates fundamental exercise. It teaches pelvic stability and efficient movement principles. This is one of the Pilates exercises that is often used to help relieve back pain.
Lateral Breathing
Lateral breathing will help you breathe deeply even when your abdominals are pulled in.
Neutral Spine
Neutral Spine is a natural position of the spine when all curves of the spine are in good alignment. Neutral spine is a reference point for many Pilates exercises.
Pelvic Clock
Pelvic Clock helps one learn to balance and stabilize the pelvis as well as and how to move the pelvis with the abdominals.
Pelvic Curl
This exercise if often used in pilates classes as a gentle warm up for the spine and abdominal muscles. It also works the lower body and helps coordinate breath and movement.
Pelvic Tilt
Pelvic tilt is one of the very best ways to begin any Pilates workout. It strengthens core muscles and helps center alignment. Pelvic tilt is often prescribed therapeutically for back pain.
Online Video: Scapular Stabilization Exercise
This video demonstrates scapular stability through the arms reach and pull exercise.
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