Everything comes from the Hundred
“Our prime of life should be in the 70’s and old age should not come until we are almost 100.” ~ Joseph Pilates
The Hundred. The first exercise you learn when you practice Pilates. You either love it, or you hate it. It’s just like the prop, the Magic Circle, or even the Wunda chair. You either love it, or you hate it, right?! So, here’s the deal about the Hundred. It’s fundamental to every exercise that comes after, no matter what apparatus we’re talking about. I kid you not, even all the advanced exercises! And yes, the mat counts as an apparatus.
The Hundred teaches you where to curl up from to avoid neck strain, and work the upper abs. Teaches you how to set up and start so you engage the right muscles right off the bat to get them to work properly. The Hundred teaches you where to lift the legs from to keep the reach out to find length, and work the lower abs.
Yes, you need to work the upper AND lower abs to support, strengthen, and stretch your back. One of the major reasons people practice Pilates is to get stronger. And what better way than to work your entire abdominals. And then by working those abdominals, your back gets stronger. And the side effect of having a strong back is that your posture improves. When we look at posture we are looking at the back side of the body – from the feet to the knees to the hips to the shoulders to the head. Now, do you have some love for the Hundred?
Now, let’s tackle some exercises on the mat, and see if you see the Hundred in them.
One of the hardest exercises on the mat is the second exercise in the Pilates mat sequence. The Rollup. Do you see the Hundred to start the Rollup as you curl up off the mat? Everyone’s favorite rolling exercise in the Pilates mat sequence. Rolling Like A Ball. Do you see the Hundred shape you need to work to get into the Ball shape? And I just have to say this – the mat ends with Pushups. You can’t do pushups without a Hundred. So, you begin with a Hundred, and you end with a Hundred. Whoa – full circle moment, as Oprah would say.
Let’s head over to the reformer. A fundamental exercise like the Elephant. Everyone thinks it is downdog from yoga. But it’s not. I joke and say it’s the cousin to the downdog; it’s the Elephant. 😀 Can you feel the Hundred to start the Elephant? Can you keep the Hundred as the legs push out and pull in the carriage? I know, easier said than done. Let’s try an advanced exercise, like Control Arabesque. Can you find the Hundred shape in the Control Balance to start? Can you feel the Hundred shape as you transition to the Control Arabesque by rolling off the carriage to stand, or roll back on to the carriage? Hundred to roll off, Hundred to roll back on. Don’t believe me – try to find the Hundred the next time you’re practicing the Control Arabesque. Get back to me. I’d love to hear how it felt to you now that you know this.
Let’s take it to the Cadillac. Tower on the Cadillac. It’s an upside down Hundred. Yep, now you know, so you can’t un-know it. Teaser on the Cadillac. Quite possibly the loveliest teaser in the entire system with all that support from the Cadillac. You have to do the Hundred on your way to the teaser. See how Joe snuck that in there – BAM!
Over to the ladder barrel. Let’s start with the ballet stretches. With one leg on top of the barrel, and your back against the ladder, how much do you Hundred curl up and over your leg? How about Horseback on the ladder barrel. First, do you see the teaser shape in Horseback? Now, remember what I said about Teaser from the Cadillac: You have to do the Hundred on your way to the teaser. So, instead of being on your back to come up into a teaser, you’re starting seated and reaching and lifting to a Horseback, which is Hundred to a teaser on a tilt. BOOM!
Lastly, let’s take a walk to the Wunda chair. The Wunda chair brings up feelings like the Hundred and Magic Circle that I mentioned earlier. You either love the Wunda chair, or you hate it. Let’s start a bit easy with the Spine Stretch Forward. Check out what the upper body is doing here to press the pedal down. I can’t hear you in the back row – It’s a Hundred! How about Going Up Front, and the Mountain Climber. You need the strength of the Hundred to do these whole body exercises.
Next time you’re in your Pilates class, see if you can find, or even better, FEEL the Hundred in as many exercises as you can. Make it a game. It’ll make it more fun, I promise! I know, Pilates teachers and their weird definition of fun.
Let’s connect the dots between the exercises, or put the puzzle pieces together. Get connected; don’t perfect it!