Video:How to Do the Pilates Hundred

Transcript:How to Do the Pilates Hundred

Hi, my name is Audrey Laurelton, owner of Equilibrium Pilates located in Montclair, NJ. I'm here for About.com today to show you how to do the Pilates hundred.

Proper Pilates Hundred Form

For the Pilates hundred, you're going to start by drawing the knees into the chest. Reach the arms off the mat a couple inches and really stretch them out toward the wall in front of you until you feel your shoulder blades slide down onto the mat. Curl the head up just at the tips of the shoulder blades. You should really feel your latissimus dorsi working here. From there, we are going to extend the legs up into Pilates stance and we are going to start pumping the arms 4 to 6 inches.

Breathe Through the Pilates Hundred

For each pump, we are going to do an inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5 and exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. You are going to do 10 sets. You want to make sure your arms remain nice and straight and don't start to get floppy while you are doing the hundred. Also, keep squeezing those inner thighs. Your ultimate goal is to be able to do the exercise with your toes at eye level, but you want to work up to this. 

Avoid Arching the Back in the Hundred

This exercise is really great for the abdominal muscles and it's also a really great warm up. So gradually lower those toes, but as you do so, make sure that lower back remains firmly on the mat. If you go too low and start to arch the back, you'll want to bring those legs back up to make sure you're not going to create any pressure on that lower back. 

Thank you for watching. For more information, go to: health.about.com.