By now you’ve heard the buzz around the benefits of Pilates for strengthening your core and supporting posture, balance, and coordination—all crucial aspects of healthy aging and maintaining your longevity in sport. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to enroll in a Pilates class to reap the benefits of the workout. You can gain the advantages right at home with wall Pilates.
“This variation of Pilates is definitely hot, and the trend has even caught some instructors off-guard, but it’s not new,” says Beth Sandlin, founder of Trifecta Pilates in Denver, who’s been teaching wall Pilates for several years. She’s noticed a huge uptick in popularity of her wall-based YouTube sessions. “You can do the same exercises as you would on a mat or reformer, but simply adding a wall to the mix without needing any other gear, elevates it. You get a different sense with the wall—it’s so stable, and it supports your body while getting you in the right position for deeper activation.”
Read on for the benefits of wall Pilates, how it can power up your time on the bike, and what to know before you give it a go. Plus, follow the four moves to try it at home.
What is wall Pilates?
Wall Pilates is exactly what it sounds like: a variation on Pilates—the low-impact strengthening and stretching workout designed by Joseph Pilates for rehabilitation—that incorporates a wall. “Using the wall for leverage during certain moves adds a new dimension and increases the resistance of intricate moves that are safe on your joints and work your whole body,” says Adefemi Betiku, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., a physical therapist and instructor at Club Pilates in New Jersey. The increased resistance with a wall, he says, is similar to what you’d experience using a springboard in a Pilates class.
When you add the wall, you can generate forces that will make certain exercises harder. Take the classic Pilates exercise the hundred, for example. If you do that motion (where you lie in a crunch position with leg extended and pump your arms down by your hips) with your legs against the wall, that adds a whole different dimension into that workout, says Betiku. Rather than being mostly focused on your abs, suddenly the move also fires up your hamstrings and glutes.
That extra activation packs a powerful strengthening punch for cyclists. “When you place your feet against the wall, there’s a greater connection that automatically engages the legs and the core at once—and for cyclists in particular, that connection plays a big part in powering your ride,” adds Sandlin.
Plus, adding on a short wall Pilates routine after some of your daily rides is a great, efficient way to work in effective resistance training without the need to trek to the gym—or even have any weights on hand. That makes it a lot easier to add it onto your routine on a regular basis.
What do you need to know before you try wall Pilates?
For the most part, the trending workout is easy on your joints and safe to try on your own. “You’re more likely to get injured on your bike than by doing Pilates,” says Sandlin.
That being said, it’s important to pay close attention to how each move feels and dial it back if necessary. Using the wall for support can make it easier to increase your range of motion during certain exercises—and that can potentially increase your risk of pushing a little too far and getting hurt.
While doing bridges with your feet on the floor, for example, you’ll most likely lift your hips up only until your shoulder blades are left on the floor, says Betiku—but doing the move with your feet on the wall, you could feasibly raise your body until your shoulder blades are lifted and that puts weight on the base of your neck, which you want to avoid.
“If you feel any pain, you have to ask yourself what you’re doing wrong,” warns Betiku. “Be aware of what each move is targeting and listen to your body.”
Because Pilates has such a strong core and breathing element, it’s also important to pay attention to your core muscles working and that you’re taking efficient inhales and exhales as you perform each exercise. That’s how you’ll gain the most benefits.
4 Wall Pilates Moves to Add to Your Routine
Here are four moves to get you started with wall Pilates, each meant to strengthen your core and lower body to supercharge your time in the saddle. Try them on days off from cycling or do them after a ride.
1. Pelvic Curl
Why it works: This move is also known as a hip bridge, but Sandlin prefers to call it a pelvic curl to emphasize the range of motion and articulation of your spine as you move. With it, you’ll fire up your glutes big time, as well as hamstrings, which power your pedal stroke. The addition of the yoga block also fires up the adductors (or inner thighs) and pelvic floor muscles to help with stability and better knee alignment as you bike.
How to do it:
- Lie faceup with knees bent and feet flat against a wall.
- Place a yoga block or ball between thighs and press into it to help keep legs parallel as you work through the move.
- Exhale and slowly lift hips up, trying to move vertebra by vertebra and lifting until only shoulders are pressing into the floor.
- Inhale and lower to start.
- Repeat. Do 10-12 reps.
2. The Hundred
Why it works: A traditional move in any Pilates class, the Hundred against a wall targets not only your core but also your legs. The spinal stability you gain with this exercise pays off in efficiency on your rides, too.
How to do it:
- Lie faceup with feet flat against a wall, legs straight and about 45 degrees off the floor.
- Engage core and roll head, neck, and shoulders up off the floor.
- Keeping arms straight, hover them a few inches off floor and pump them up and down quickly.
- Inhale for 5 arm pumps, then exhale for 5 arm pumps.
- Repeat for 10 rounds.
3. Standing Lunge
Why it works: By anchoring one heel against the wall, your weight is more evenly distributed between both legs and you can focus on keeping your pelvis squared forward, which is the form you want to maintain on the bike, notes Sandlin.
How to do it:
- Face away from a wall. Place left heel firmly against the base of the wall, and take a big step forward with right foot. This is your starting position.
- Slowly lower until right thigh is parallel to floor, back left knee hovering just off the floor.
- Then drive through feet to stand back up, returning to starting position.
- Repeat. Do 6-12 reps.
- Then switch sides.
4. Spinal Extension
Why it works: Targeting your upper back, this strength move counteracts all the time you spend bent over your handlebars. But unlike many back-extension exercises, keeping the soles of your feet against the wall fires up your legs at the same time.
How to do it:
- Lie facedown on the floor with feet flat against the base of the wall.
- Inhale, engage legs, and lift head and shoulders (don’t lift from the lower back). Reach arms toward feet as you lift.
- Lower on an exhale.
- Repeat for 3 reps.
- Then repeat for 3 reps with arms stretched out to a T at sides.
- Finally, repeat for 3 reps with arms stretching overhead.
