- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Equipment Needed: Cadillac or Tower, Push Thru Bar, 1 Top Spring (I love using the Contrology Cadillac.)
- Reps: 3 Reps each set Right, Left, Right then Left, Right Left
- Warning: May not be suitable for some knee or back issues.
- Questions: Contact us here
Shoulder Roll Down with Push Thru Bar on the Cadillac
The Shoulder Roll Down on the Pilates Cadillac or Tower truly made me feel like I was becoming a cirque performer or gymnast. It has the fun of going upside down but requires the strength and control to stay there! It’s easy to think you need to press down to hold yourself up. But, press down in your feet and you will just drag yourself down or the Push Thru Bar down. The length you gain in your spine and the strength you challenge in your back will make you want to do the Shoulder Roll Down every time you hit your Cadillac.
Don’t hang in your knees. Use your seat to lift your leg and stand on the bar.
Hook up the top spring on your Push Thru Bar and place the arches of your feet on the bar. Be careful, if you are setting yourself up, to not lose control of the bar as you are getting into the exercise and out of the exercise. When your legs are straight, your Push Thru Bar should not pass behind the vertical poles. Arms long by your side and your neck long. Keep your gaze up to the ceiling. Pull the bar into you and then lift the bar up to the sky and lift your hips up.
Be sure to check out more of my Pilates Cadillac exercises. I want to help you continue your Pilates Cadillac training!
This is one exercise that is frustratingly confounding my body. We have established that my obliques are weaker so I’m doing a lit of sude stretches in spinee corrector, barrel, reformer, chair (you name, I’ll stretch!!) and doing single leg circles without the springs but the real issue for me with this is that I have flat feet and my feet naturally fall at between 10 to 2 and 5 to 1 and so forcing them straight as the push through bar does causes my feet and legs to cramp. I can bridge/pelvic lift on spine corrector and reformer because I can angle my feet. I have begun to do all my reformer and chair footwork/stomach massage with parallel feet rather than heels together toes apart but just wondered if you had any other magic suggestions. I just desperately want to be able to do the leg raises on a shoulder roll down. Many thanks.
Hi Nicola, you sound like you know your body really well! And, I love that you’re willing to try anything. Without seeing your body move (which we could do a skype session and really work this out. Would be so fun!) I’m gonna take some guesses. But I do hope to get to teach you online. When my feet cramp it’s because I am not reaching from my seat. I call it my thass. Where you thigh meets your hamstring. I have lots of clients with flat feet and if we can get their whole center involved we can get 1-3 leg lifts before a cramp. Which is all you need.
2nd, be mindful of how slow you are moving. This is a powerful reach. And, instead of just stretching how often are you doing Side sit ups, side leg kicks, and other side strengtheners. 3rd, have you done Breathing on the Cadillac and single leg breathing? What if you took your feet out of the situation. Are you then able to lift a leg?
Let’s start with those as I could go on for ages. Thanks for the great questions. Keep me posted! xx~LL