Elizabeth Larkin's video treasures!

Elizabeth's Studio : S2EP04 : Improve Your Roll-Up from Balanced Body Pilates on Vimeo.

Elizabeth Larkin is one of my most favorite Pilates instructors to watch on video: I love her modifications and her teaching style. This is a wonderful instructional video for improving the roll up. Ever since I saw this exercise it has become my absolute favorite especially for my clients whom I have inherited from other Pilates instructors._ I find it to be a great "audit" for a client who seems to have a lot of core strength. The part of this series that I love the most is the crossing of the legs portion. How a client reacts to this can be a true indicator of hip flexor involvement during the roll up.

One of my clients asked me how they could recreate this exercise at home, so I came up with this variation using a door and a thera-band.

A soft foam roller and a mat - or sticky socks: Make sure to line up the mat and foam roller with the point at which the door closes, so the center of the thera-band is directly in front of you.
It is wise to find a door that can be locked, and to tie a knot in the thera-band behind the door.

I have noticed that a 1/2 foam roller can work quite well for someone who has the deep connection required to fulfill this exercise form- but who is struggling with the fear of being up so high on the full foam roller. A 1/2 foam roller is a good recommendation
for the older client's variation. Find some great foam rollers on the links below and at the Balanced Body Pilates Rollers page

Like Elizabeth Larkin remarks in her video,
"It can be a bit of a rodeo"
- indeed!