Leg Circles are a great mat exercise to do at home using one leg at a time, and also a great reformer exercise using both legs with feet in straps. Leg Circles is one of my favorite exercises to use at the end of teaching a reformer class. I look at it as a reward and a way to treat my clients after a great workout. It is an exercise that actually stretches and strengthens, and they feel good!

Why You Should be Doing Leg Circles

• Strengthen abdominal muscles
• Pelvic lumbar stabilization
• Improves hip disassociation
• Improves hip flexor control

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The classic Pilates Series of 5 is a core workout you can do anywhere!

Why you need to be doing the Pilates Series of 5

The Fab 5! If you’ve taken my class before, you know that I love this simple series as a warmup and core strengthener. It seems easy enough, but done in sequence without stopping, the Pilates Series of 5 will get your abs burning in just a few minutes, making it the perfect exercise routine you can literally do anywhere. If done several times a week, you can develop great core strength in just five to 10 minutes a day!

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The Teaser is, in my very humble opinion, THE ultimate pilates exercise! It’s the mack daddy of the repertoire, the goal of every practitioner—you know you have truly “arrived” when you can accomplish the Teaser (and well!)

Why you need to be doing the Teaser

This exercise requires strength of the transverse, oblique abdominals and hip flexors to get up, but more importantly it demands control of the movement through the articulation of the spine on the way back down. If that isn’t enough, Teaser also teaches shoulder blade stabilization, as well as coordination of arm and leg movements with the breath. It truly is an all-in-one Pilates principles exercise!

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