Pilates Exercises You Can Do In Bed
Let’s do some Pilates in bed, whether you’re trying to wake up for the day or cool your mind before sleep, these exercises are something you can do in your own bed.
Hi, I’m Lesley Logan, co-founder of Pilates Online Classes and I’ve been teaching Pilates since 2008 and I’m really excited to talk to you about what you can do in bed, because, let’s be honest, we’re all very busy, and getting movement in is very key. So we’re going to talk about exercises I can do in bed and stretches you can do in bed that will increase flexibility, build strength, and also just help you to add more movement. I’m also going over some tips about what you’d want to consider before doing this in bed.
Alright, so where do Pilates in bed even come from? To be honest, I can’t tell you all of the specifics there, but I can discuss a few things that make this possible. Alright, so Joseph Pilates would actually, if you look at old videos and old pictures of his Cadillac, it really was a mattress with this metal piece above him, and springs, and so you were on a bed, and his old mats look like old rolled up bed mats that we just put out on the floor to sleep on. Kathy Stanford Grant, she would get a little nervous before speaking, and according to some of her teachers who shared and traveled with her, she would be doing her Hundred in the bed next to them. So there’s a lot of history, that Joseph Pilates and people who worked with him where a bed was used. Over time, firmer Mats became more normal because also they were created and they were more accessible. If you remember, Pilates was brought to United States in the 20s, right? So having a yoga Mat or a Pilates Mat wasn’t exactly a thing in the 1920s where it is today.
Alright, so let’s just get into it. These are great for all levels. No special equipment is needed. And when in doubt, you always should leave it out. So explore and make sure you’re listening to your body as you do these.
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Why Bedroom Pilates is a Great Option
The first one would be convenience. I mean, sometimes as soon as you get out of bed, if you’ve got kids, they’re like, ready for you, they’re coming at you. So if you’re still in bed, they think you’re still in bed, right? So that’s a really good thing. The second thing is, like, if you live in a small space, or as soon as you get out of bed, you start to think about all the things you have to do in a day, starting your workout, starting your movement for the day in bed is a great way to make sure that you get it done, you get something done. Remember, I always believe that any amount of minutes of Pilates is better than no minutes of Pilates. And that’s what makes pilates workout in bed another great benefit is to your consistency. We want you to do your Pilates, we want you to do your movement as consistently as possible. So having convenience leads to consistency. The next thing is that it’s really quite accessible. I mean, we all have a bed we sleep in, so it makes it really easy. You don’t have to go out and buy a special Mat or a special equipment or have that space on the floor. And, I mean, maybe this might be the most important to you, is a gentle start to the day or a wonderful way to end your day. If you are wondering about the results you can get Pilates, the real results Pilates can give you, then check out our video we have here, we go over common questions that people ask and also how you can get those results with Pilates.
Simple Pilates Bed Exercises
1. Single Leg Stretch
I love Pilates Single Leg Stretch. It’s so good for stretching your hips and working your center. And what’s cool is, if you have trouble curling up, you can use your pillows so you want to have your head and chest curled up, one knee and one leg out, and you’ll pull one of your legs two times and switch, right? Now, if you feel this in your neck or you’re having trouble curling up, you can use your pillows to help you. Now, I still want you to pull your stomach muscles in, but it’s really a great way if lifting your head and chest up is not an option, you can use those pillows.
2. Double Leg Stretch
The next exercise would be Pilates Double Leg Stretch, so same-ish exercise. You’re curled up, and you’re gonna reach your arms and legs out, circle arms around and pull it in. Now, what you want to make sure is that your back doesn’t try to arch off the bed. So pull your stomach in to the bed, alright?
3. Single Leg Circles
You can stay propped up with your pillow, or you can put your pillow to the side and lay all the way down. For Single Leg Circles Pilates, take one leg up and circle it around. If your leg doesn’t go straight like mine, you can do a slightly bent leg, but I prefer ovals. So just most people can get their legs straight if it’s lower. And this is really good for opening up your hip, alright? And not open up your hips, per se, but like warming that hip up. Make sure you go both directions and you do both sides.
4. Spine Twist
Then we have our Spine Twist Pilates, and we’re actually going to sit up nice and tall. Now, if that’s hard for you, you can sit on some pillows. You could even sort of use your bed and the back of your bed here. You can put your hands here, on your shoulders, if it’s too hard for you, to open your arms up. Or maybe you’re sleeping next to someone, and you don’t want to hit them. And you can also put your hands behind your head. You’re gonna squeeze those legs super tight, and you’re gonna do a nice little twist here. Now I have another spine twist for you, so this is the one you would do on the Mat. I really like this one for working your center and twisting your spine. But if it’s too activating, if you want something a little bit more gentle, then you can’t actually just lie down, bring one knee in and twist it over to the side. Now, this one is less active. It’s more of a stretch versus a strengthener, so you’re not going to get the same oblique action that you were getting with the seated one, but you know you could do both.
5. Pelvic Curl
Alright, so Pelvic Curl, this is something coming from the reformer. Also, it could be a Shoulder Bridge workout, but it’s a great way to open up the front of your hips and strengthen the back of your legs. And you can actually roll through your spine to roll your hips up and roll through your spine to lower your hips down. And so again, you’re working the back of the legs and stretching up through the hips. You don’t have to get your hips very high. You could just do little ones, right? But it’s gonna be nice for opening the front of your hips.
6. Hip Opening Exercise
Now, another stretch that I like to do is a little Hip Opener, so you can actually cross your legs here and then just round over your legs. Nice little stretch. If you’re a little bit more flexible, you can flex the ankles and cross one ankle over. It’s more of a yoga pigeon. But again, especially if you’re doing this in the morning, it’s a great way to open up those hips for a long day. If you’re getting ready for bed, then I recommend you take a little longer with these. You may want to sit on a pillow, okay?
7. Tendon Stretch
And lastly is a little bit of a Tendon Stretch. I call it Tendon Stretch because it makes me think of Tendon Stretch on the Reformer. It’s also kind of the last half of your roll up, but you want to flex your ankles, ground forward over your legs, and you can pull on those ankles and stretch. It’s a Tendon Stretch. When I think about all the tendons you could stretch, I could stretch the tendons in my ankles, the ones through my back of my legs, the ones through my spine, and I can really get myself a nice stretch. That’s a great way to start the day and kick my feet onto the floor and take on the day. Or if I’m about to go to bed, I could just roll on back, and now I’m ready for bed.
Tips for Effective Bed Pilates
1. Use a Firm Bed
Alright, so let’s get some more tips for making this more effective. First, could you do more exercises? Yes, there’s probably some others you could do. But as you hear my tips, you’re going to hear why I gave you those ones to start off with. The first one is going to be a firm bed. If the bed is too soft then a lot of exercises are just going to feel like you’re overusing your neck, or you’re not going to feel this, feel like your core can engage enough to support your back. So you really want to make sure the firmer the bed, the better.
2. Move Slowly
Alright, our second tip to keep in mind is that you want to move slower. So if you’ve taken my classes, I want you to move with zest. I want you to be quick, but not hurry, as John Wooden would say, but in the bed, you need to move a little bit slower just to make sure that you’re actually using your muscles and not swinging into your flexibility right? Or locking out your knees or perhaps sinking too much into the bed. So move slowly. So also helps you wake up or get your mind ready for sleep.
3. Engage your core
It’s really easy to relax into things, and I don’t want you to be so engaged with your core 24/7, that’s not the right thing to do. But when you are doing Pilates, it is Pilates if your core is engaged, it is not Pilates if your core is not engaged. And your core, don’t forget, is not just the muscles on your front stomach, the muscles around your entire center. So when you’re pulling on your legs with a Single Leg Stretch, you’re using your upper back, you’re not using your biceps. When you stretch your legs out, you’re not just straightening a leg with that and let it hang off of the quads. You want to feel your hamstrings and glutes isometric and traps. You’re using all of those muscles. So everything that applies to the Mat is still going to apply to doing it in your bed. Speaking of core strength, if you are looking for a Mat Pilates challenge that has accountability, helps you connect to your core even more and moves you along to progressing from a few minutes of Pilates to doing a little bit of a longer session, I want you go to opc.me/challenge for our four-week series.
4. Breathe Deeply
Alright, next up for you to keep in mind when you’re doing your pilates bed workout is to breathe. This is very important. Joseph Pilates really emphasized in the importance of exhaling. Why? Because we remember to inhale. We have to exhale all of our air. So make sure you’re breathing through each exercise effectively exhaling so you can get rid of all that extra stuff that you don’t need. That’s what the exhales are for.
5. Keep Your Alignment
Lastly, I want you to focus on your alignment. And the thing about alignment in bed is that if the bed is squishy, that’s gonna be harder to do, so a firmer bed’s gonna help you out there. But you can use your pillows, right? You can use your pillows to help prop you up and your head and chest up so you don’t feel this in your neck, so you’re feeling it deeper in your core. You can use your pillows to sit on when doing that Spine Twist, or when you’re doing your Tendon Stretch you can lift your hips up if your back’s a little tighter, so find the alignment that works for you.
Join Us for Pilates Tips
Thank you so much for joining us today. I hope it inspired you to get some movement in with Pilates in bed. I would love to know, definitely let me know in the comments below, and if you have questions, feel free to drop them there too. We go live on Sundays at 9am Pacific Time, answering your questions. If you’re an OPC member, we answer your questions inside our members live community, including giving you feedback on your alignment, on the exercises and making sure they’re right for you. For more Pilates tips and workouts, be sure to visit the best online pilates classes on YouTube.
So until next time, have an amazing day.
