- Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced
- Equipment Needed: Cadillac or Tower, Roll Back Bar (I love using the Contrology Cadillac.)
- Reps: 3 in each direction
- Warning: May not be suitable for some knee, shoulder or back issues.
- Questions: Contact us here
Rolling In and Out with Roll Back Bar on the Cadillac
Rolling In and Out might be one of my favorite Pilates Cadillac exercises! It requires putting all of the elements of several Pilates exercises together and keeping them together. You’ll feel the benefits of Chest Expansion, Thigh Stretch, Push Thru, and more. Rolling In and Out on the Pilates Cadillac or Tower requires you to find your flow, you can’t “muscle it” and you can’t “paint by numbers” as my teacher likes to remind me. You have to go with it, feel the springs in your center and challenge what you have taught yourself and practiced in previous Pilates sessions. How big can you make it, how connected can you be and how free can you flow?
The bar is an assist in connecting to your center. Embody the springs.
Setting up from where you do for Thigh Stretch, legs and feet parallel and hip distance apart, head over shoulders, shoulders over hips and hips over knees. Press the bar down to the mat under your shoulders, pull the bar back to you knees maintaining your long flexion in your spine. Pull the bar up your legs, center and to your chest as you go into extension. Pull your elbows wide and back connected, press into your shins and come up to the start position, repeat 2 more times in that direction. As you are coming up your head may still be back in the extension until your spine is tall.
To reverse directions, pull your elbows wide as you lean back into he extension. Then, the hard part, as you reach the bar down your body round up and over yourself. The bar will meet the mat and you can reach it forward under your shoulders and then feel the effects of your Push down on the Wunda chair and roll back up! Repeat 2-3 more times. It’s easy to try to muscle this with your shoulders. Move from you center, maintain the reach of your legs so that it is easy to flow from one direction to the next.
Be sure to check out more of my Pilates Cadillac exercises. I want to help you continue your Pilates Cadillac training!
