Grab your Ladder Barrel and get ready to enjoy the juice of this Pilates exercise – Side Stretch on the Ladder Barrel. It’s got stretch, strength and will challenge your reach, your connection to your seat and reveal imbalances between your two sides. If you want your Side Bend, Snake and Twist, Mermaid, tall back exercises and so much more to improve. You definitely want to get yourself on a Ladder Barrel and do both the stretch and the strengthening part of this exercise. If you have a tighter or weaker side, do that one first then the other side and back to the first side.

Reach out from both your legs and your arms. Lift from your center.

-Lesley Logan

Place the ladder side of your barrel against a wall or find another way to stabilize it. Stand with your side to the barrel. Root down into your inside leg, reach your arms out to the side and your outside leg out as you tip and reach out and over the barrel. Your top hand will hold the top rung of the ladder and your bottom hand will hold the third or fourth rung. Stack your shoulders and your hips. Reach both legs long and together. And reach your arms from your back instead of hanging off your back.

Reach both legs out and up and out and down. You’ll want to do this from your arms but keep it in your waistline and hips. Continue to lower and lift both legs 3-5 times without dipping your hips back. Then, leave your top leg up in line with your body and reach your bottom leg to the floor and back up to your top leg. Repeat 3-5x. Then, hugging both legs together, lower your bottom leg to the floor to stand on and reach your top leg long and to the floor as your upper body finds itself lifted on top of your leg. Switch and repeat on the other side.

Be sure to check out more of my Pilates Ladder Barrel exercises. I want to help you continue your Pilates Ladder Barrel training!