Change up Pilates with Some Weights!
Pilates is seriously underestimated for its skill to help you tone up and become stronger. Plus, it’s kind on your back and joints!
Without proper form, squats and lunges can wreak havoc on your knee joints and lower back. In these exercises, we’ve kept the kindness of Pilates but added weights to help you increase muscle mass.
Advanced Pilates
All of these exercises have been designed to be kind of your lower back and even strengthen it, whilst toning up the lower and upper body.
Always begin your workout with an adequate stretch and finish with a 5-10-minute cool down. Use dumbbells of at least 5 pounds in total to increase intensity and burn more calories!
Workout 1
- Half roll down: 3 sets, 30 seconds (hold dumbbells in front of you)
- Full-bridge: 3 sets, 30 seconds (place dumbbells on top of hips)
- Side plank with lateral raise: 4 sets, 30 seconds (2 sets on each side)
- Booty pulses: 3 sets, 40 seconds (place dumbbells at the back of the knee)
- Superwoman: 3 sets, 30 seconds (hold dumbbells in front of you)
- Push-up with side twist and lateral raise: 3 sets, 12 reps (alternate sides each time)
Workout 2
- V-crunch: 3 sets, 15 reps (bring dumbbells towards the body and then away)
- Crunch chop: 3 sets, 12 reps (hold one dumbbell above your head and bring between the legs)
- The hundred: 3 sets, 30 seconds (push dumbbells down to work the arms)
- Double leg stretch: 3 sets, 10 reps (as the legs are up, bring the dumbbells up towards them and then back down as the legs lower)
- Burpee with bicep curl instead of jumps: 3 sets, 12 reps (replace the jump with a bicep curl – keeping the elbows in tight)
- Walking lunge: 3 sets, 12 reps (lunge with dumbbells at your side, lift the knee up and switch)
You can try all of these moves without weights to begin with and as you get more advanced and comfortable with the moves, try increasing the weight or reps to challenge yourself.
