Corkscrew
Corkscrew may not seem like a difficult movement to some, but for those with a vulnerable lower back or a history of injury, it can feel uncomfortable and uncertain.
What I often see is people trying to “get through it” by circling the legs, without really knowing where the movement should come from.
That’s when it feels risky, disconnected, and hard to trust.
That’s why I break this exercise down into a step-by-step process—to make it clear, approachable, and doable.
The difference is in how you initiate and organize the movement.
The exercise starts to make sense, but perhaps more importantly, starts to feel safe.
Corkscrew is a great example of how the “stabilize the upper body to move the lower body” principle of the Pilates method works.
When you isometrically contract the triceps by pressing them into the mat, and in doing so activate the upper back muscles, your now "integrated-and-stable" upper body supports the lower body, which can then move with greater ease and control.
When you learn how to activate your upper body while moving your lower body, Corkscrew on the Reformer, where you hold on to the “joysticks” or the frame on the sides of the headrest, will make more sense.
Corkscrew requires you to know how to safely rotate your spine. I teach this basic but not so simple skill in my foundational course, What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills.
Learn this skill first. Then use it in Corkscrew.
The Skill You Need For Corkscrew
Exercises like Corkscrew are also assessment tools—this is where your body’s lack of uniform development will reveal itself.
Notice if your movement in one direction feels easier than in the opposite direction.
If that’s the case, this is where working on decreasing your asymmetry is the goal—but don’t try to force symmetry immediately.
Become aware of the imbalance first, and work on better spine rotation in all the other exercises as well. Over time, your rotation in both directions will gradually improve.
And don’t forget to breathe: Inhale during the first half of the movement and exhale during the second half.
I often ask my clients to think of drawing an oval instead of a circle in Corkscrew.
Why?
Because the goal is not simply to move the legs around.
The shape of the movement should help activate the obliques and organize the rotation through the trunk.
"Drawing an oval” was a correction I got when taking a lesson from one of my teachers.
😊
Corkscrew isn’t about drawing big circles with your legs.
When the legs lead, the pelvis gets pulled around and the lower back loses support.
But when the movement starts from the pelvis, the outcome of this exercise changes.The motion becomes controlled, smaller, and Powerhouse driven.
The legs are no longer doing the work.
They are being guided.
I see this often with people who have vulnerable lower backs. They are not comfortable in this exercise, so they start to “chance it” by circling the legs around, trying to get through it, and wondering how this could possibly be good for them.
But when they initiate the movement from the pelvis, Corkscrew starts to make sense, and it feels right in their body.
An “Aha” moment for many 😊
When you watch Corkscrew, it may look like the goal is simply to make a circle with the legs.
But you soon discover that the movement of your legs requires you to control your pelvis while rotating your spine without creating unnecessary strain in your lower back.
I teach the skill of stabilizingthe pelvis while rotating the spine in my course What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills.