Abs exercise
Double Leg StretchHow to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Double Leg Stretch?
- Lie on your back, curl your head and shoulders up, draw your knees in and hold your shins.
- Breathe in and reach your arms overhead and your legs out long at about 45°.
- Keep your head and shoulders lifted, your lower back on the mat.
- Breathe out, circle your arms out to the sides and round, and hug your knees back in.
- Repeat 6–10 times.
Cues
- Reach long in two directions.
- Keep your gaze on your belly.
- Draw everything back to the centre.
Common mistakes
- Dropping the head back: keep the arms a little lower, by the ears, not behind them.
- Arching the back: lift the legs higher.
- Rocking: slow down and keep the curl still.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
The classical mat Double Leg Stretch (Joseph Pilates, Return to Life; the second of the Balanced Body "series of five"): from a tuck, reach the arms overhead and the legs out together, then circle the arms round and hug the knees back in, the trunk curled throughout.
Starting position
On the back, head and shoulders curled up, knees drawn in, hands on the shins.
The movement
Breathe in and reach the arms overhead by the ears as the legs stretch out to about 45°, making one long line; breathe out and circle the arms out to the sides and round, drawing the knees back in to the hands. The head and shoulders stay up, the lower back stays on the mat.
Breathing
In as you reach long, out as you circle the arms and hug in.
Tempo
One rep in 4 s: tuck 0.4 s, reach long 1.1 s (in-breath), hold 0.3 s, circle and draw in 1.6 s (out-breath), hug 0.6 s. Real practice: 6–10 reps.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Trunk: pelvis tipped back 6°, upper trunk curled 30° off the mat, chin drawn in; still throughout.
- Tuck: hip flexion 122°, knees bent about 102°, hands on the shins (45–60 % of the way to the ankles).
- Long: legs straight (knees 4°), together, 45° above the mat, toes softly pointed; arms past the ears, 30° above the mat line, elbows soft (16°).
- Circle: arms out wide through the sides (hands 106–131 cm apart), elbows pointing to the mat, round to the shins as the knees come in.
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Double Leg Stretch is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- J. Pilates and W. J. Miller, Return to Life through Contrology (1945), "The Double Leg Stretch".
- Balanced Body, Pilates Mat instructor manual, series of five
