Roll-up

6 reps · beginner

Take care: Skip it, or do the half roll-back, with a lower-back disc problem, osteoporosis of the spine, and during pregnancy.

Lying on the back with the legs straight and the arms reaching overhead, the arms sweep up past vertical as the head, shoulders and then the back peel off the mat one part at a time, rolling up and forward until the hands reach past the toes; then the spine rolls back down the same way. The upper back curls first while the lower back stays on the mat, then the lower back peels off and the spine stays rounded in a C over the legs.

Load and joint demand

Bodyweight: no weights. Joint demand below is your own body's weight in this position.

Faults

Faults grow with knee bend and apply to lifts standing on the floor. The fault check flags a knee caving more than 10° inside the line of the toes and a load split beyond 60/40. Knee cave shows best in the front camera.

Body

Femur changes keep standing height fixed by shortening or lengthening the torso. Longer femurs force more forward lean in any squat.

Muscles worked

Effort and your quota

6 slow, controlled reps. Pilates is practised for control, balance and mobility, never to failure, so this does not change with your limits.

Level: beginner. One round counts like light conditioning work: 4 legs points, 39 core points.

Prime movers

Rectus abdominis, obliques, transversus abdominis, hip flexors; hamstrings and spinal erectors stretched at the top.

What to look for

• Lead with the arms and the chin; roll up one vertebra at a time rather than sitting up in one piece.
• Keep the legs heavy on the mat; flex the feet.
• Bend the knees, or hold the backs of the thighs, until you can roll without jerking.