How To: Practice the pilates swimming exercise

This pilates how-to video illustrates the Swimming exercise. This pilates exercise is good for core stabilization, upper back extension and hip extension. This is good to improve back strength and those deep abdominal stabilizers.

Swimming targets the transversus abdominis, obliques to prevent rotation, erector spinae, gluteals, hamstrings, and deltoids. Avoid rocking or rotating in the torso. Reach long out of your hands and feet. Focus on stabilizing the scapulae to keep shoulders away from the ears. Keep looking directly at the floor to keep the head and neck in neutral.

Modify this pilates exercise by keeping the feet on the floor and just using the arms, and vice versa. You can also increase or decrease the pace. Take the swimming exercise onto an arc barrel or on your hands and knees to add the challenge of balance.