Is your ball more like a square? Rolling like a ball is a basic Pilates mat exercise that requires an articulate spine and an active core. Have you found that you roll back and you can't get back up? Or is your roll all about momentum with your heals flapping and your knees knocking into your chest? Here is my basic guide to Rolling like a Ball:
1. Sit on your mat. Put your hands by your hips on the mat and lift your bottom forward, tucking under so that you in a deep curve with your pelvis in a tucked, not upright, position. Grab the back of your thighs and sink your waist back, scooping the belly back into the curved spine. Allow the head and shoulders to curve forward. Softly point the toes so that the heels lift up, keeping the toes on the mat. Find your balance by activating your core and under your bottom. Your position will be an open ball to start, not a tight ball with the body upright.
2. To initiate the roll you must first press into your core, tighten the bottom and barely roll back, no further than the base of the shoulder blades. Here is the caveat: Keep your form! The open ball shape must not change when you roll. Press into the tummy as you roll back, let the bottom lift, press down on your waist, your hips and then your heels to activate the roll back up. This exercise is not about momentum! Do not kick you heels over head, collapse against your thighs or otherwise disturb your open roll position. Inhale as you roll back, exhale as you scoop and roll up, holding your form.
3. As you advanced, the spine becomes will more flexible and the core will control the roll. Now, find your roll position. Release the hands from the back of the thighs and without changing the deep curve, draw the thighs closer to the chest and hold onto the ankles. You now will be able to roll in a tighter ball position with control.
Here's to the New Year! May we all roll like Joe intended!
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