Double Leg Stretch
Neck discomfort is the main complaint when it comes to Double Leg Stretch.
With the arms and legs moving simultaneously, many people have trouble coordinating the movement while effectively supporting the head and neck.
The purpose of this video is to highlight this one aspect of the exercise to help you perform it better.
Fun fact: this exercise is one of the most easily forgotten in the Stomach Series.
I often watch my clients have a mental block when they finish Single Leg Stretch and go right into Scissors.
It happens so often that now I just start talking about the Double Leg Stretch coming next, while they are about to finish Single Leg Stretch. 😊
When an exercise feels difficult to a client, I ask myself:
“What skill are they missing here?”
Is it being able to stabilize the pelvis? The shoulder girdle?
Or the skill of how to hold the head up?
Usually it is not about trying to practice this particular exercise more.
It is about recognizing which previous exercise or a skill was meant to teach the support, control, or organization needed to perform this one well.
So the stability and coordination you practice in Double Leg Stretch will later show up in exercises like Coordination, Backstroke, Teaser.
That’s the link system that exists within the method.
Even though the fundamental concepts of body awareness were not codified by Mr PIlates himself but by his students, I find it extremely helpful for my clients to know and practice them.
Teaching Double Leg Stretch so many times over the years has repeatedly confirmed that spending time teaching my clients how to release tension in their neck first, pays off.
Double Leg Stretch is easier to teach, and clients understand it better when they already have this fundamental movement skill.
Releasing tension from the neck, and learning how to activate your upper abdominals, is one of the skills I teach in my signature course, "What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills."
Teaching My Clients How to Release Tension in Their Neck First, Pays Off.
Double Leg Stretch builds on skills that you begin developing when you start practicing the exercises that come before it: the Hundred, Roll-up, Rolling Like a Ball and Single Leg Stretch.
Gradually, you organize and strengthen your upper abdominals and learn how to hold the weight of your head up.
When you develop that ability on the Mat, it is easier to learn Coordination and Backstroke on the Reformer and perform Hundred on all apparatus.
Modern life makes our upper backs tense and stiff.
It takes work to release the tension and build strength there.
I teach a mini-exercise called "Upper Curl with a towel" for that first. But from time to time, I meet a client for whom even the Upper Curl is too difficult. They have to begin by practicing how to lift and lower their arms without creating tension in their neck and upper back muscles.
Each exercise in the Classical Pilates order has its place—Double Leg Stretch isn't any different.
When you first learn how to stabilize your spine and pelvis while moving your arms and/or legs, Double Leg Stretch will be easier to perform correctly.
After that, Coordination and Backstroke will be waiting for you. 😉
It is hard to tell a client that they are not yet ready for an exercise that they saw on Instagram. But it is always in their best interest to be honest with them. 😊
You should never have to worry about straining your neck during Double Leg Stretch.
When the upper back isn’t lifted enough to activate the upper abdominals, the neck muscles end up activating to hold the position.
A small change makes a big difference — pressing the legs into the hands each time they meet helps deepen the upper curl and recruit the upper abs instead of the neck muscles.
By activating your upper abs you will feel exactly where the support for your neck is coming from.
Now the arms and legs can move freely without the neck stepping in to help.
Have you ever tried actively pressing the legs into the hands in this one?
Learning how to keep the head up while moving the arms here will come in handy when you are ready to learn Backstroke 😊
After teaching Double Leg Stretch for many years, I have seen again and again that taking the time to teach the Upper Curl first pays off.
Once clients understand this skill in their own body, Double Leg Stretch is easier to teach and easier for them to perform.
I teach this and other fundamental movement skills in my signature course,
What Pilates Is: The Essential Skills.