HEALTH

The no-frills Pilates workout taking social media by storm

22 January, 2024 . 0

It’s become a massive hit online, but what does wall Pilates actually involve and does it really work? Here’s how to embrace the vertical challenge.

You may have tried Pilates on a mat or a reformer before, but its latest iteration is no frills in the equipment department – in fact, all you need is something we all have in our homes: a wall.

According to a study by the Australian Sports Commission, Pilates is the fifth most popular workout for women over 35 in the country, and sixth most popular for men of the same age group, so it’s no surprise that wall Pilates is generating quite the buzz on social media.

If you’re considering jumping aboard this trend, here’s all you need to know before you start.

What is wall Pilates?

As its name suggests, wall Pilates uses a wall as a form of resistance while performing traditional Pilates moves.

“Wall Pilates replaces both the reformer machine and the small equipment used in mat Pilates such as a ball, circles or bands, and instead uses a wall to add resistance and offer stability and support,” Pilates instructor Elisha Casagrande says.

“In wall Pilates, you often press one of more body parts (mainly your feet) against a wall to perform an exercise.”

What are the benefits of wall Pilates?

According to director of Pilates and Yoga at Flow Athletic Simon Ngo, wall Pilates provides a total body workout and is great for targeting the abdominals and glutes.

“We know resistance training helps us build lean muscle mass and promotes bone density health.

“Wall Pilates would not be any different,” he says.

The benefits don’t end there.

“Adding resistance is also great for increasing muscular strength, stability and endurance, and using a wall to do this is cost-effective and easily accessible,” Elisha says.

What does a typical wall Pilates workout look like?

As with most workouts, it’s important to do a warm up and cool down to prepare your muscles and then stretch them afterwards.

“An effective Pilates workout should start by activating the core by doing a number of abdominal exercises first, then slowly working your way to the external parts of the body such as the core, hips, glutes, thighs, hamstrings, upper back, shoulders, biceps and triceps,” Elisha, the founder of Feel Be Look, explains.

There are a wide range of Pilates moves that can be done against a wall, providing a full body workout.

Simon says some typical moves include:

Wall roll down: Lean against a wall and roll your spine down vertebra by vertebra.
Squat: Lean against the wall and squat down until your legs are bent at a 90 degree angle.
Bridge: Start in a wall squat position with arms by your side. Press into the back of the arms and dig into the feet to peel the hips of the wall, working into the glutes and hamstrings. Slowly return back to the wall and repeat.
Roll up: Lie on your back, legs flat with your feet against the wall. Extend your arms up towards the ceiling, and slowly roll up one vertebra at a time until you’re in a seated position.
Lunge: Stand with one side of your body against a wall, step your inner leg back and lower straight down into a lunge then back into starting position again.

There are a range of wall Pilates workouts available online if you need a little guidance, but the most important thing is consistency.

“With 20 minutes of Pilates every day, you will begin to see change in your body in as little as 21 days,” Elisha says.

More workout ideas:

Written by Tania Gomez.