Pilates Exercise Dive: Open Leg Rocker

OPEN LEG ROCKER

I mistakenly typed Open Leg Rocket 🚀 when I began writing this post which now that I think about it could be a perfect name for this exercise.

Huh?

Let me explain

Open Leg Rocker is one of the Pilates exercises where the power of the exhale really, really, really helps. If you use the breath correctly, it can feel like rocket fuel and help you roll back up to your starting position.

Duh duh duh daaah, cue the fanfare trumpet sound 🎺

Welcome to this edition of “Pilates Exercise Deep Dive” and yes, you guessed it, today I’ll be diving into all things Open Leg Rocker (or Rocker With Open Legs as Joseph Pilates called it, and I know I should change and try to call the exercise what he called it, but this old dog really doesn’t want that new trick and also, to what end? It’s not like it’s a make or break kindov’ a detail)

The detail that I am interested in is what we can find when we break Open Leg Rocker down through our usual lens of of

• What
• How 
• & Why

WHAT

Open Leg Rocker (or Rocker With Open Legs) is number 9 in JP’s original 34 exercises which puts it about 1/3 of the way through his sequence. It’s one of the Pilates Mat exercises that synthesises the previous ones and it’s a good landmark to see how you’ve been incorporating the Pilates principles into your session up to that point. 

 from Pilates’ Return To Life Through Contrology

Photo by Iza Gawrych

I sometimes think of Mr Pilates’ exercises as a set of nesting dolls. Each exercise encompasses the ones that come before, adding layers to the needed skills, strength and nuances for a successful Pilates practice.

Which of the previous 8 exercises in the Matwork (if you’re staying strictly Classical) are inside Open Leg Rocker?

Can you see the Spine Stretch? I should hope so because not only is it the exercise directly preceding Open Leg Rocker, it’s basically the same damn thing just amped up. 

Remember that generally in Pilates the less of you on the Mat, i.e. the less external support you have, the more advanced the exercise.

Open Leg Rocker is a great example of this. Previously you were all happy sitting on your mat with your legs supported out in front of you, but once you pop those legs up into the air? And have to hold them there while you’re balanced on your glutes? Let’s face it, even with the help of the hands it can be hard!

Here’s why…

Gravity hits you differently: not only while you’re perched just behind your sitz bones with those legs reaching up, but also while you now take that sitting down shape and roll it back to the shoulder blades and then rock back up to your starting position without losing its form  - fun times!

The other exercises inside of Open Leg Rocker are:

• Tree 
• Scissors
• Roll Up
• Rollover
• The Hundred
• And let’s not forget that you’ve already done Rolling Like A Ball. Isn’t it nice that Mr. Pilates let you practice the skill of rolling from a nice contained, safe shape before he added the legs straight up the air challenge? 

HOW

More specifically, the set up for Open Leg Rocker is:

While balancing just behind your sitz bones and keeping your spine in a long, gently rounded curve, lift your legs up into the air (shoulder width), hold onto the front of your shins, straighten the legs, and do not give into the feeling of wanting to fall over in a heap!

Easy Peasy!

The action of the exercise is to keep that shape (trying not to white knuckle the shin grip), roll backwards to your shoulder blades and then roll right back up to the same balanced-just-behind-the-sitz-bones-rounded-spine-with-straight-legs-but-non-death-grip-hand-position you started in!

Easy Peasy?

This is where the breath I learned comes in handy 🚀 rocket fuel at the ready. If you inhale as you roll back to your shoulder blades and fully exhale on the way up, the exhale will help you lift the spine so that you can come back up and find that sweet spot of balance. 

Usually you’ll perform 5-8 repetitions of the exercise and you want not to drift around, never quite rolling back up to reclaim your confident balance, before YOU DECIDE to roll back again. Remember the Weeble - you get to wobble (aka roll) but you don’t fall down.

In Mr. Pilates’ instructions he wants you to touch the floor behind you with your toes (see pose 4 in the photo from Return To Life) but I was taught to maintain the shape of the body without touching the head. I tried it this way and it was fun but not something that I’d regularly do as I was more prone to collapsing my shape just to get the toes to touch. I must explore and try it again…

WHY

I think the main WHY of Open Leg Rocker is what I stated above - it’s a chance for you to check in and get immediate feedback on how you’re synthesising the Pilates principles you’ve been practicing in the previous exercises.

We know that Open Leg Rocker Challenges our Balance

It Challenges our Two Way Stretch

It Challenges our Flexibility

It Challenges our Focus

It Challenges our Precision

It Challenges our Breath

It Challenges our Mind Body Connection

It pretty much CHALLENGES EVERYTHING!

I remind my clients that we practice Pilates for the benefits that it gives us off the mat.

What I mean is that the specific Pilates exercises are just the means we use to figure out how we can Be Better

Better Movers

Better Breathers

Better Balancers

Better at being able to get up and down from the floor

Better at being able to reach the last can of chick peas at the back of the cupboard

Better at being able to peg out the laundry above our head

Better at being able to carry our grocery bags from the car to the house

Better at being able to turn our head to look over our shoulder as we reverse our car

Better at being able to go on a multi day hike

Better at running, cycling, or golfing

Basically BETTER AT LIFE

Pilates exercises are just the vehicle we’ve chosen to find the edge of our strength, flexibility, focus, precision, and flow. We know that ultimately our goal is to keep our body oxygenated and moving smoothly so that as JP said, we can

“naturally, easily, and satisfactorily perform(ing) our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure”

Enjoy your time Open Leg Rocking and Rolling on your mat and I’ll catch you next time.

Cheers, Bec 

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

Do you like OPEN LEG ROCKER? Let me know your thoughts in the comments