Obliques exercise
SawHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Obliques, Hamstrings
- Also works
- Lower back
- Equipment
- Yoga mat
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Saw?
- Sit tall with your legs wider than your hips, feet flexed, arms out to the sides.
- Breathe in and twist to the right from your waist, keeping your hips square.
- Breathe out, round forward and reach your left hand past your right little toe, sawing three times; reach your right arm back behind you.
- Breathe in and roll back up, then untwist to the centre.
- Repeat to the left; do 3–4 each side.
Cues
- Hips heavy and square.
- Saw off your little toe.
- Reach in two directions.
Common mistakes
- Lifting a hip: twist only as far as your hips stay down.
- Slumping at the start: sit on a folded blanket.
- Letting the back arm drop: keep it long and reaching.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
The classical mat Saw (Joseph Pilates, Return to Life; Balanced Body mat manual), to the right: sitting tall with the legs wide and the arms in a T, twist, round forward and "saw" the opposite hand past the little toe while the back arm reaches behind, then restack and untwist.
Starting position
Sitting tall, legs straight and wider than the hips (about mat-width), feet flexed; arms out to the sides at shoulder height, palms down.
The movement
Breathe in and twist to the right from the waist, the hips square. Breathe out, round forward over the right leg and reach the left hand towards the outside of the right foot, sawing three times, while the right arm reaches back behind with the palm turning up. Breathe in, roll back up to tall, still twisted, and untwist to the centre. Repeat to the left.
Breathing
In to twist, out to saw forward (a long out-breath through the pulses), in to roll up.
Tempo
6 s: tall 0.6 s, twist 1 s (in), round and reach 1.4 s (out), pulses 0.6 s, roll up 1.4 s (in), untwist 1 s. Real practice: 3–4 reps each side, alternating.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Legs straight, ankles 64 cm apart, feet flexed; hips still (0.0 cm) and square.
- Arms in a T at shoulder height, elbows soft (11°).
- Twist: the spine turns 50°, the shoulder line 52°.
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 Saw 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 Saw".
- Balanced Body, Pilates Mat instructor manual
