Glutes exercise
Pelvic CurlHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Hamstrings, Lower back
- Equipment
- Yoga mat
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Pelvic Curl?
- Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat and hip-width apart, arms long by your sides.
- Breathe out, tilt your tailbone up and peel your spine off the mat one vertebra at a time.
- Stop on your shoulder blades with your shoulders, hips and knees in one line; breathe in.
- Breathe out and roll down from the top of your spine, one vertebra at a time.
- Let your tailbone land last; do 5–8 slowly.
Cues
- Peel up like a string of pearls.
- Knees reach forward over your toes.
- Ribs soft at the top, no arching.
Common mistakes
- Lifting in one piece: start with a small tuck of the pelvis.
- Arching at the top: stop when your hips line up with your knees and shoulders.
- Pushing into your neck: keep the weight on your shoulder blades.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
The Pilates mat warm-up Pelvic Curl (Balanced Body mat manual; the "bridging" preparation from Joseph Pilates' Shoulder Bridge): tuck the pelvis and peel the spine up one part at a time into a bridge, then roll down from the top, the pelvis last. Unlike a glute bridge (a hinge with a flat back), the spine articulates.
Starting position
On the back, knees bent, feet flat and hip-width, arms long by the sides with the palms down.
The movement
Breathe out, tilt the pelvis (tailbone up) and peel the spine off the mat one vertebra at a time until you rest on the shoulder blades, shoulders, hips and knees in one line. Breathe in at the top. Breathe out and roll down from the top of the spine, one vertebra at a time, the tailbone last.
Breathing
Out to curl up, in at the top, out to roll down.
Tempo
6 s: lying 0.5 s, peel up 2.1 s (out), top 0.7 s (in), roll down 2.2 s (out), lying 0.5 s. Real practice: 5–8 slow reps.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Feet flat, hip-width (ankles 20 cm apart), still; arms long, palms pressing (elbows 17°).
- Rising and lowering: the spine rounded (up to 26°), straightening at the top.
- Top: shoulders, hips and knees in a line (within 4–8°), hips 29–32 cm up, knees 112–114°; the weight on the shoulder blades (the shoulder joints 2.5 cm up), chin a little tucked, head on the mat.
- The shoulders do not slide (under 0.5 cm).
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 Pelvic Curl 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
- Balanced Body, Pilates Mat instructor manual
- J. Pilates and W. J. Miller, Return to Life through Contrology (1945), "The Shoulder Bridge"
