Hundred (Pilates)

With the head and shoulders curled up and the legs lifted, you pump straight arms up and down in small beats: 5 while breathing in, 5 while breathing out, ten times over for 100 beats.

Hundred (Pilates) family

Hundred (Pilates)

Standard option

With the head and shoulders curled up and the legs lifted, you pump straight arms up and down in small beats: 5 while breathing in, 5 while breathing out, ten times over for 100 beats.

DemandMedium

Equipment requiredFloor space

Muscle focusAbs · Hip flexors · Shoulders · Neck

Gets into position, then repeats the movement. Technical checks passed; qualified exercise review is pending.

Watch it bigger, and flip through similar moves, in the studio.Open in the studio

Source-researched guide. Clinical review is pending.

How to move

Lie on your back and bring the knees into tabletop (knees over hips, shins level), arms long by your sides.
Breathe out, nod and curl the head and shoulders up to the base of the shoulder blades, as in the chest lift. Reach the arms a hand's height off the mat.
Choose your legs: stay in tabletop, or straighten them toward the ceiling and lower them only as far as your lower back stays still. Higher is easier.
Pump the straight arms up and down in a small, brisk range, moving from the shoulders, not the wrists.
Breathe in through the nose for 5 pumps and out through the mouth for 5 pumps, for 10 rounds.
Hug the knees in and lower the head to finish.

Form cues

Pump from the shoulders, not the wrists.
Keep the legs high enough that the lower back stays still.
Avoid: the neck doing the work (chin jammed or head poked forward), or holding or rushing the breath.

Practice and cautions

50 beats to start, building to 100 (the classical count). A suggested starting point. No trial has tested this move on its own.

Rest your head on the mat if your neck aches. With osteoporosis, this is a sustained curl-up, so use the head-down version, as a UK consensus advises. Later in pregnancy, avoid lying flat on your back for more than a few minutes. This is movement education, not an assessment or treatment prescription. Stop for sharp or increasing pain, dizziness, numbness or tingling; seek individual guidance for symptoms, injury or restrictions.

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Sources and review status

Sources support the educational description; they do not establish that this exercise is suitable for you.

No variation is labeled clinically validated.

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What it works

Muscles

Main: Abs. Also: Hip flexors, Shoulders, Neck.

Equipment

None: body weight and floor space.

Level

Intermediate. See the easier and harder options above.

Workouts that use it

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Questions people ask

What muscles does the Hundred (Pilates) work?

Mainly the abs, with help from the hip flexors, shoulders and neck.

What equipment do I need for the Hundred (Pilates)?

No equipment: your body weight and a little floor space.

Is the Hundred (Pilates) good for beginners?

It is graded intermediate. If it is too hard right now, start with the Wall hundred (wall Pilates).

What is an easier alternative to the Hundred (Pilates)?

Try the Wall hundred (wall Pilates). Both are written steps in the same progression.

How do I make the Hundred (Pilates) harder?

Progress to the Boomerang (Pilates), or add load, range or slower lowering once your form is solid.