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The Beginner's Guide to Pilates

Side Leg Lifts

When balancing on the smaller surface area of your side, your core stabilizer (abdominal) muscles and your hip muscles are forced to work harder.

The following exercise can be conducted in sets of 8 to 10 repetitions for each side:

1. Place a pillow underneathe your head and lie on your side with both legs straight and on top of each other.
2. While breathing in, lift your top leg slightly without moving your pelvis. Use your waist muscles to lift your leg, and do not bend your knees.
3. While breathing out, contract your abdominals towards your spine. With your abdominals contracted, lift your bottom leg such that it touches your top leg. Lower both legs together with your abdominals contracted.

Variations:

• Repeated lifting of top leg. Keep your legs together and hover them off the floor. Lift and lower just your top leg, breathing out every time you draw the legs back together. Repeat.
• Repeated lifting of bottom leg. Bring the lower leg from a position that hovers just about the ground, to a position wherein it touches the raised top leg. Return the bottom leg to the position wherein it hovers just above the ground. Repeat.

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