The Pilates Roll-Up

Looking for strong, toned abdominals? Nothing works the abs quite like the Pilates roll-up. It engages all the abdominal muscles through a full range of motion... in a slow and controlled manner (which trains the muscles longer and more effectively). This is an exceptionally effective ab exercise — much more than the traditional crunch.

But like anything else, doing endless reps of the same exercise can become boring, while also leading to "plateaus." So, let's add a few twists on the good old Pilates roll-up. Next time you're doing abwork, try a few of these challenging variations to make an already great move even better.

Keep Your Arms by Your Ears: The traditional roll-up starts by reaching the arms toward the ceiling and then rolling off the floor, one vertebrae at a time. Instead, keep your arms by your ears and lift the upper body as one unit. Then, start rolling up the spine. Continue keeping the arms by the ears on the roll down. This may not seem like a huge modification, but this slight adjustment makes the exercise much more challenging.

The Bent Knee Roll-up: The starting position will be similar, except your feet will be flat on the floor with your knees bent to the ceiling. Make sure ankles, knees and hips are aligned. Start rolling up through the spine, reaching your arms to your knees. Now reach arms to the ceiling and roll down back to your starting position. Again, increase the challenge by keeping your arms and ears in line.

The One-leg Teaser: Start with one knee bent to the ceiling and the other leg straight and extended. Start your roll-up. Now, lift the straight leg towards the chest to form a V position. Reach your arms toward the ceiling at the top of the movement. Then, roll down through the spine while lowering your leg back to the floor. Repeat with the opposite leg.

The Full Teaser: A full teaser is performed in the exact same sequence as the one-leg teaser, except you'll lift both legs off the floor to form that V position. Stabilize at the top and reach your arms to the ceiling. Then start the roll down. Note: this is an advanced exercise. The one-leg teaser is a great way to build strength for this two-leg version.

Although all the above exercises are more challenging than traditional roll-ups, they do progressively become harder (from #1 through #4). Start with the first modification and perform 4 to 6 repetitions. When that becomes easy, move onto the next. If you already consider yourself advanced, combine all four exercises into a comprehensive all-abs workout. Happy rolling!