The 34 classical Pilates mat exercises, in order

34 exercises, from a 1945 book

Joseph Pilates set out 34 mat exercises in Return to Life Through Contrology in 1945. We couldn't open the book, so the list comes from classical teaching sources that reproduce it, and they agree on the names and the order.

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The order is part of the method

Teaching sources say he designed them so that each one prepares for the next. One classical teacher reads the sequence as warming and curling moves first, then twisting and back extension, then side work, supported work and rolling, ending with the Push Up.

Sources 2, 3, 6

Levels depend on the school

In one classical school's system, 7 are basic, 9 more join at intermediate and 18 are advanced. A basic class from another classical lineage teaches more, including the corkscrew, the saw and a teaser with help.

Sources 4, 7

Low repetitions

As classical sources report the book, most exercises are done 3 to 6 times, the one- and double-leg stretches 5 to 12 times, and the Hundred is 100 beats. A classical saying sums it up: "It is not how many, but how."

Sources 4, 8, 9

Several need swapping for some people

Seven put weight toward the neck, so skip them with a neck problem. Many round the spine repeatedly or deeply, which a UK consensus advises modifying for osteoporosis. Later in pregnancy, the NHS advises avoiding lying flat on your back for more than a few minutes.

Sources 2, 10, 11, 12

Tested as programmes, not one by one

Trials test whole Pilates programmes, and lab studies measure how hard muscles work during single moves, but no trial has tested what one classical exercise does over weeks of training. Our Pilates benefits guide covers what programmes do.

Sources 13, 14, 15

The book

Joseph Pilates published Your Health in 1934 and Return to Life Through Contrology in 1945, and called his method Contrology. After the right to trademark the name Pilates was lost in court, no single body decides what Pilates is, and practice has varied widely since.

Sources 1, 16, 9

Why we couldn't open it

Every copy we found on the Internet Archive, including a 2012 reprint by the Pilates Method Alliance, is borrow-only, so we couldn't read the text. The names, order and repetitions on this page come from a classical school's table of the book, its spoken walk-through of the 1945 sequence, and two teaching sites' lists.

Sources 5, 4, 8, 2, 3

Where the sources differ

They agree on the order. They differ on details we can't settle without the book: the third exercise is the Roll Over in one and the Roll-Over with Legs Spread in another, and one gives Swimming 20 counts while the walk-through says the book gives no number.

Sources 4, 8

Book names and today's names

Some exercises go by other names now:

• The One Leg Circle: single leg circles.
• Rolling Back: rolling like a ball.
• The One Leg Stretch: the single leg stretch.
• The Spine Stretch: the spine stretch forward.
• Rocker with Open Legs: the open leg rocker.
• The Swan-Dive: the swan, and the swan dive.
• The Scissors and The Bicycle: the high scissors and the high bicycle.
• The Hip Twist with Stretched Arms: the hip twist, or hip circles.
• The Leg Pull: the leg pull back.
• The Side Kick Kneeling: the kneeling side kick.

Sources 4, 2, 3

Basic: 7 exercises

In the system of the classical teaching platform Pilatesology, beginners learn these first, with these ranges:

• The Hundred: 100 pumps of the arms.
• Roll Up: 3 to 5.
• Single Leg Circles: 3 to 5.
• Rolling Like a Ball: 5 to 10.
• Single Leg Stretch: 5 to 10 sets.
• Double Leg Stretch: 5 to 10.
• Spine Stretch Forward: 3 to 5.

Source 4

Intermediate: 9 more

The intermediate order adds these from the 34, with modern moves in between (the straight-leg stretches, the criss-cross and a neck roll):

• Open Leg Rocker.
• Corkscrew, with the hips staying down.
• Saw.
• Single Leg Kick.
• Double Leg Kick.
• Neck Pull.
• Side Kick series: front and back, up and down, small circles.
• Teaser 1.
• Seal.

Source 4

Advanced: the other 18

Everything else. Some of these are easy or medium as single moves in our ratings, such as the spine twist and swimming:

• Roll Over.
• Swan Dive.
• Scissors and Bicycle.
• Shoulder Bridge.
• Spine Twist.
• Jack Knife.
• Hip Twist.
• Swimming.
• Leg Pull Front and Leg Pull.
• Kneeling Side Kick and Side Bend.
• Boomerang and Crab.
• Rocking.
• Control Balance.
• Push Up.

Source 4

Other schools draw the lines differently

A basic mat class from the Romana's Pilates lineage teaches the Hundred, a roll-back, leg circles, a modified rolling like a ball, all five moves of the series of five, the spine stretch, the corkscrew, the saw and a teaser with help. Contemporary schools such as STOTT PILATES grade matwork as Essential, Intermediate and Advanced, and teach imprint and head-down versions. A trial in healthy adults used an essential mat routine of about 25 exercises.

Sources 7, 17, 18

Each one prepares the next

A teaching site says Joseph Pilates "designed them in this order with one facilitating the next", and another that he was "adamant" they be done in the exact order.

Sources 2, 3

One classical teacher's reading

One teacher reads the sequence like this. It is an interpretation, not the founder's words:

• The Hundred warms you up: "It gets the blood and the air moving."
• The roll-up, roll-over and leg circles are the first stretches.
• Rolling like a ball is "a nice massage" between harder moves.
• The leg stretches strengthen the trunk, and the spine stretch and open leg rocker lengthen the back.
• The corkscrew and saw add rotation and "prepare the back of the body" for the extension moves: the swan dive and the leg kicks.
• The neck pull is "a counter stretch after the extension exercises", and the scissors, bicycle and shoulder bridge stretch the front of the body.
• The spine twist and jack knife lead into the side kicks; then come the teaser, hip twist, swimming, leg pulls and side work, the rolling moves, and the Push Up to finish.

Source 6

In short

Curling first, then back extension to balance it, then side work and supported work, with rolling moves as transitions (our summary). The full-body mat Pilates workout follows the same pattern.

The book's counts, as classical sources report them

Most are low. These are the counts in a classical school's table of the book, which we couldn't check against the book itself:

• 100 beats: the Hundred, pumping the arms 5 times as you breathe in and 5 as you breathe out.
• 3: the Roll Up, Spine Stretch, Neck Pull, Jack Knife, Teaser and Push Up.
• 3 sets: the Corkscrew, Saw, Shoulder Bridge, Spine Twist, Hip Twist, Leg Pull Front and Leg Pull.
• 3 each side: the Side Kick and Side Bend; 4 each side: the Kneeling Side Kick.
• 5: the Double Kick and Rocking; 5 sets: the Roll Over and Bicycle.
• 5 each way, each leg: the One Leg Circle.
• 5 to 12: the One Leg Stretch and Double Leg Stretch.
• 6: Rolling Back, Rocker with Open Legs, the Swan-Dive, Boomerang, Seal, Crab and Control Balance; 6 sets: the One Leg Kick and Scissors.
• Swimming: 20 in the school's table, while its walk-through says the book gives no number.

Sources 4, 8

Tempo and breath

The book's tempo isn't available to us. The walk-through ties counts to the breath: in for 5 beats and out for 5 in the Hundred, and "Exhale, one, two, three, and roll slowly" in the roll-up. A classical saying quoted in a 2004 review: "It is not how many, but how."

Sources 8, 9

Our starting doses

Each move's page gives a starting dose, often lower than the classical count, such as 50 beats of the Hundred building to 100. The classical counts are where classical teachers aim.

Programmes built from these moves helpEmerging evidence

Across 9 trials in healthy people, Pilates programmes of 2 to 3 sessions a week for 5 to 12 weeks improved abdominal endurance compared with no exercise. A 12-week trial in healthy adults used an essential mat routine and also found better hamstring flexibility. Our Pilates benefits guide covers back pain, balance and the rest.

Sources 13, 18

Classical mat work in a trialEmerging evidence

In a 12-week trial of young male runners, the Pilates group worked twice a week through the pre-Pilates, basic mat and intermediate mat levels of a Pilates Method Alliance manual. It is one small trial, and no trial has tested the full advanced sequence.

Source 19

Single moves in the labMixed evidence

Ultrasound showed the deepest abdominal muscle working during the Hundred, leg circles and the roll-up, and some Pilates moves made the upper abs work harder than crunches. These show effort in one session, not results over weeks, and no trial has tested a single classical exercise on its own.

Sources 14, 15

Neck problemsMixed evidence

Skip the moves that put weight toward your neck: the roll-over, jack knife, control balance, boomerang, crab, scissors and bicycle, and the hips-over version of the corkscrew. A Pilates teacher advises against putting weight over the neck in the roll-over with a cervical spine condition, and a teaching site advises avoiding the jack knife, boomerang and crab with neck or spine injuries. Use head-down versions of the Hundred and the leg stretches. This is teachers' advice; no trial has tested it.

Sources 2, 10

OsteoporosisStrong evidence

A UK consensus says "movements or exercise that involve sustained, repeated or end-range flexion should be modified or avoided" and, as a precaution, suggests alternatives to the Pilates roll-down and curl-up. That covers most of the rolling and deep-rounding moves: the roll-up, roll-over, neck pull, teaser, rolling like a ball, open leg rocker, seal, crab, boomerang, jack knife, control balance, spine stretch and saw, and the roll-down in the Push Up. People who are experienced and move comfortably and smoothly can continue.

Twisting "should be safe if performed smoothly and comfortably", and the consensus recommends strengthening the back muscles for posture, so the swan, in a small range, suits most people.

Source 11

How strong the osteoporosis evidence isMixed evidence

Thin. In 59 women with spinal osteoporosis, new spinal fractures followed in 89% of the flexion group against 16% of the extension group, but the groups weren't described as randomised and only 9 women were in the flexion group. A case series described fractures or new pain in 3 people with low bone density after yoga forward bends. The consensus finds little evidence of harm from exercise overall, which is why its advice is a precaution.

Sources 20, 21, 11

Later pregnancy

The NHS advises avoiding activity that involves lying flat on your back for more than a few minutes in later pregnancy. Skip the rolling and upside-down moves too, as each move's page advises; our Pilates in pregnancy guide has the detail.

Source 12

Backs, knees, wrists and shouldersMixed evidence

A teaching site says the teaser is "Not recommended for those with lower back injuries", and to avoid rocking with back or knee injuries. With knee problems, skip the kneeling side kick and pad any kneeling. With sore wrists or shoulders, use fists or forearms in the leg pull front, and skip the leg pull back, side bend and hip twist if they hurt. If arching hurts your back, keep the swan, kicks and swimming small, or skip them.

Source 2

Earn the advanced movesEmerging evidence

Teachers set moves to master first: "You should be able to execute the Roll Over prior to attempting the Jack Knife". Practise the teaser and roll-over before the boomerang, the corkscrew before the hip twist, and the swan before the swan dive. In our view, many people never need the advanced upside-down moves to get the benefits of Pilates.

Source 2

Stop the move

Stop straight away if a move hurts or you feel unwell, and get advice from NHS 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away (in the US, your doctor or urgent care). Tingling, numbness or pain spreading into an arm during the rolling or upside-down moves is a reason to stop them and get checked.

Source 22

Call 999 (911 in the US)

For chest pain that feels tight or like squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck or jaw; severe difficulty breathing; or if someone passes out and isn't responding normally.

Source 23

Back pain: call 999 or go to A&E

If back pain comes with pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs; loss of feeling around your genitals or anus; changes in your bladder or bowels; or chest pain; or if it started after a serious accident.

Source 24

See a GP or physiotherapist first

Before trying the advanced moves if you have osteoporosis, a past spinal fracture, or a neck or back condition, or have had recent surgery or a heart attack.

Sources 22, 11

"The six principles are Joseph Pilates' own"

As our Pilates guide explains, they first appeared in a 1980 book, after his death. A review found the traditional principles mentioned in only about 23% of research papers.

Source 16

"Classical Pilates means doing all 34 every time"

Classical schools teach basic, intermediate and advanced orders, and a basic class uses part of the list.

Sources 4, 7

"The 34 are the whole method"

A 2004 review describes a system of "over 500 stretching and strengthening exercises" on the mat and equipment, and today's classical orders add moves that aren't in the 1945 list.

Sources 9, 4, 6

"The advanced moves are dangerous for everyone"

The cautions apply to specific groups: neck problems, osteoporosis, pregnancy, and some back, knee, wrist and shoulder problems. The UK consensus says experienced people who manage them comfortably and smoothly can continue.

Sources 11, 2, 10

"He built the reformer from hospital-bed springs in the war"

An Isle of Man heritage trust that studied the camp records says historians doubt it, partly because few metal beds were used at the camp, and the Pilates Method Alliance's history doesn't tell the story.

Sources 25, 1

"The classical sequence is scientifically proven"

Trials test whole programmes, not the classical sequence itself, and no trial has tested a single classical exercise on its own.

Sources 13, 14