3 of the best Pilates moves to strengthen your core muscles

One of the best aspects of Pilates is its ability to target certain areas of your body with specific moves. Many take up classes with the aim of improving their core strength. Here are 3 of the best exercises to start your progression to better abdominal muscles.

1. Rotating Planks

Rotating planks are a great way to add some alteration to the standard plank move. This movement targets your side abdominal muscles as well as the central core ones.

• Step 1: Start in the plank position with your forearms placed on the floor

• Step 2: Lift on side of your body and point your arm upwards, focusing the stretch on your upwards side

• Step 3: Hold for 5 seconds before returning to the plank and repeating on the other side

This Pilates movement is a good test of strength as it is, or you could increase the resistance by upping the time or number of reps.

• Hundreds

Hundreds are a versatile Pilate’s movement that help you to strengthen your core muscles whilst also improving your balance.

• Step 1: Lie flat on your back and lift your legs at a 45 degree angle

• Step 2: Lift your head and shoulders of the floor

• Step 3: Hold the pose and lift your arms up and pump them up and down

Hundreds are a great Pilates exercise. You can adapt the variation of a static hold or change the number of pumps to change up the movement.

• Glute Bridges

Glute bridges are a popular Pilates exercise as they can help strengthen both your glutes (as the name suggests) and your core muscles.

• Step 1: Lie on your back with your knees bent so they are off the ground

• Step 2: Lift your hips off the ground and push them upwards to create a straight line from your knees to your shoulders

• Step 3: On each extension squeeze your glutes and then lower your diaphragm

This is another Pilates movement that is good for your core and wider body. To make the movement harder you can add weight to increase the resistance on each movement.

Find Pilates instructors near you to start strengthening your core Practising and perfecting these three exercises will put you well on your way to developing a strong and toned core. To find some of the best classes near you take a look at our specialist search feature to locate the closest Pilates instructors to you.