Hundreds (The Hundred)
In the classical order of the Pilates exercises, Hundreds is the first movement in Joseph Pilates’s book Return to Life Through Contrology. It quickly fires up your muscles and requires core stability as well as coordination with your breath. Hundreds really is a full body workout and is an essential exercise of Mat Pilates choreography. Hundreds requires both mental and physical endurance, but with time and practice you’ll be able to perform this exercise with grace and ease.
Benefits of Hundreds
- Strengthens your abdominals
- Develops core stability
- Enhances mental and physical endurance
- Improves bodily coordination
Performing Hundreds
- Lie on your back.
Start by lying on your back with your spine in a neutral position.
- Bring your legs to tabletop.
Bend your knees and lift your legs to tabletop with toes pointed.
- Lift your head and extend your legs.
Inhale to prepare, and then exhale as you bring your head up off the mat and extend your legs out to a 45 degree angle. Point your toes and keep the gaze of your eyes on your knees.
- Pump your arms.
Extend your arms, lifting them off the mat with palms facing down, and begin pumping your arms up and down.
- Breathe.
Inhale for five counts and exhale for five counts for a total of 100 breaths.
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Modifications for Hundreds
- Instead of lifting your head off of the mat, you can keep it down on the mat. Keep in mind that this may be more difficult for your abdominals but less strenuous on your neck.
- You can also keep your legs in the tabletop position if bringing them to 45 degrees is too much on your abdominals.
Tips for Success
- A common misconception when performing Hundreds is that you should breathe continuously for five breaths in and then five breaths out. The true way to do Hundreds is actually five individual breaths in and five individual breaths out.
- If pointing your toes is uncomfortable for your hip flexors, then just relax your toes instead.
- If you cannot perform the full 10 sets of 10 breaths for 100 counts, try to work up to it! Give yourself incremental goals, like three sets of 10 breaths, then four sets of 10 breaths, gradually working up to the full 10 sets of 10 breaths.