Pilates Ball Exercise: Toe Taps

Video Transcript

"This next exercise I call 'toe tap', and it is a great lower abdominal exercise. Very focused in that area. What you are going to do, is bring the ball under your lower back, right where that curve is. You are going to bring your legs up into tabletop, and for this exercise it really doesn't matter if you bring them in a little bit more. You are going to take a nice inhale and lower one toe to the ground. Exhale, engage that ab, slowly bring that leg up. Shake your head out if you feel any tension. Inhale, lower the other leg. Exhale, use that lower ab and pelvic floor, kegel, and bring that leg up. One more time each side. Very difficult. Exhale, using all that pelvic floor and lower abs. Inhale, lower and exhale, use the pelvic floor. Good. Now we are going to try it with both legs. Again, shake your head if you feel yourself taking tension in it. Inhale, lower the legs. Exhale, slow and controlled, bring those legs up. One more time. Inhale, lower. Exhale, bring them back up. Now notice that is a whole different process than if I were doing this, which is very easy. I am not using any of my abdominal muscles. Or this, because I am only using my legs when I am doing this."