Scissors & Bicycle

Let me PEDAL through all the Benefits of these two Pilates Mat Exercises

Wait!

I’ve gotta admit that I’m not that inspired to write this post…

What?

Let me explain..

I'm sitting in the international terminal in Sydney waiting for a flight. It doesn’t leave for a while, as a matter of fact it’s so far in the future that the departure board, says not "go to gate", or "now boarding", it says, "relax" which is exactly what I'm doing. I'm so relaxed that I don't feel like writing, so I won't. Instead I'll visualise all that what I want to say about the Pilates Mat Exercises Scissors & Bicycle...

...Well I've finally arrived at my destination and at a space (mentally & physically) where I can cohere my thoughts into these two great Pilates exercises. (can one use cohere as a verb? I must check...)

Please note - I'm blaming any digressions in this post on jet lag!

Exercise Deep Dive: WHAT, HOW, & WHY of SCISSORS & BICYCLE

WHAT

Joseph Pilates created and published an order for his original 34 Mat exercises, in his flow Scissors comes in at #16 and Bicycle at #17. Usually I deep dive on each exercise individually but because the set up for these two is the same, and that pretty much Bicycle is a progression aka a more advanced version of Scissors, I've lumped them together. 

The Exercise that precedes Scissors is Neck Pull and after Bicycle is Shoulder Bridge. I always like to look at the exercises in the order JP laid them down and encourage linking them together, trying to find the most efficient transition from one to the next. For that discussion make sure to read down to the HOW section.

Both of these exercises are performed from a shoulder stand and as we shall see require many things from our bodies:

• Upper body strength
• Thoracic extension
• Forearm & wrist strength
• Strong Abdominal support ,especially in the lower abs
• Comfort with being inverted
• Proprioception skills
• Trust in ourselves

HOW

Since both Scissors and Bicycle begin in a shoulder stand you need to get your hips up off the ground and over your shoulders.

The transition from Neck Pull, which ends with you on your back, would be to simply pick the legs up in the air and perform a Rollover (Exercise #3!). Once your hips are up then you can bring your hands under your pelvis. Mr. Pilates said to cup the hands. Your torso can be in two shapes, either a straight line from your shoulders to your hips or with your upper back in thoracic extension as if you were in an upside down Swan. 

Voila' you're ready to begin.

Scissors 

For the first of our two exercises the straight legs will split apart, funnily enough just like a pair of scissors! One leg comes over your face and the other leg reaches towards the floor. Ideally the legs are balanced so that the top leg does not fall close to your head. To accomplish this you'll need to let the bottom hip open, taking it into extension, so that leg can get closer to the floor. (this will help set up what you'll aim for in the Bicycle).

The legs will then alternate, switching places. The breath support is that you'll inhale when one leg is towards you and exhale when they exchange places. So each rep = two switches = one full breath. Repeat six times (or five or eight)

 Bicycle 

As I said, the Bicycle comes directly after the Scissors. If you think about it it's a pair of scissors with one of the blades breaking each time you open and close them. The leg that lowers towards the floor will bend at the knee as if you're pedalling a bicycle. In my teacher training the "full expression of the exercise" was to touch the floor with the foot before cycling back to straighten over your head. This version really accentuates the extension of the hip and the lower back will most likely move into slight extension as well. 

Joseph Pilates' instructions advise you to "kick yourself" which turns the bending of the leg into a hamstring curl. Don't be surprised if it cramps on you.

Even though Joseph Pilates doesn't mention it, it's also a viable option to reverse the direction of your legs and back pedal which is easier said than done and because it's confusing is good for your brain. 

Transition to Shoulder Bridge

Connecting the Shoulder Bridge from the bicycle takes a few steps. 

1. Move the hands so that the fingers and thumb are facing away from the body - if you don't do this you'll crush your thumbs and from experience I can tell you it is not fun.
2. Scissor the legs, bend the bottom one and reach the foot towards the floor while simultaneously opening and lifting your chest.
3. After the first foot is flat on the ground, reach the second leg forward, bend at the knee, and bring it down next to the first.

Photos below: Scissors ,into Bicycle, into the beginning of Shoulder Bridge

WHY

Why the Scissors and Bicycle? 

Remember the list of tools necessary to perform these two exercises from the top of the post? These are the reasons why Scissors and Bicycle should be added to your Pilates repertoire (if appropriate to you)

You'll gain:

• Upper body strength
• Thoracic extension
• Forearm & wrist strength
• Strong Abdominal awareness and strength, especially in the lower abs
• Comfort with being inverted
• Greater proprioception skills
• Trust in yourself

Hot Technique Tip:

One of the main concepts I employ in Scissors & Bicycle is Oppositional Energy. You'll need this to not feel like you're dumping into your wrists.

As much as I engage the back of my shoulders towards the mat, I open and lift my chest as if there was a rainbow arcing from shoulder to shoulder. Along with this, and probably more importantly, I lift the legs up towards the ceiling trying to make them as light as possible and try to suspend the weight of my pelvis off my hands.

I always think of my kiddo when they were little. If they were fully asleep and had to be moved from one place to another and were dead weight it was a real effort. But, if they were awake enough to turn themselves into a monkey and cling to you they were much easier to hold and carry.  

Ooh, next week I’m going to be seeing monkeys in the wild and I can’t wait. There you go, there's my jet lag digression and I'm pretty proud it didn't kick in until the end of this post! 

Thanks for reading all the way down.

xBec

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The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and Rebecca Forde disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this post