The Hundred is a classical Pilates mat warm-up: you hold your head and shoulders curled up off the mat, keep your legs lifted, and pump straight arms while breathing in for 5 pumps and out for 5, ten times over, for 100 pumps. It trains you to keep your trunk still and your breath steady while your arms work. Leg height and head position are the two main ways to make it easier or harder, and both are worth respecting: lower legs load the low back more, and a held head lift tires the neck. From the side the camera can see how high your head and shoulders are, how high your legs are, and whether your arms pump while the rest of you stays still. It can't see your low-back curve or count your breaths.
Set up the position
Lie on your back, arms long by your sides with palms down. Beginners: keep your knees bent and feet flat on the mat. When that is easy, lift your legs to tabletop: knees bent about 90 degrees, shins parallel to the floor.
the mat taking your weight, nothing gripping.
With your legs lifted, let your low back settle gently toward the mat (a slight imprint) for stability. Don't press it down hard or squeeze your glutes to tuck.
low back supported, not jammed flat.
Curl up
Start with a small head nod: drop your eyes slightly and tip your chin toward the front of your throat. Keep room for about a small fist between chin and chest.
long back of the neck.
Breathe out and curl your head and shoulders up together, drawing your ribs toward your pelvis with your abs, until only about the bottom tips of your shoulder blades touch the mat. Don't lift just the head or poke the chin forward.
the lift comes from your middle, not your neck.
Reach your arms long, a few inches off the mat, no higher than your hips. Keep the lower belly drawn gently in so it doesn't bulge.
long arms, quiet belly.
Pump and breathe
Pump your straight arms up and down in small, quick beats from the shoulder joint, like splashing water. Only the arms move: head, chest, pelvis and legs stay still.
only the arms pump.
Breathe in for 5 pumps and out for 5 pumps. Ten breath cycles makes 100 pumps. Keep breathing the whole time.
a steady 5-in, 5-out rhythm.
Progress only when the last step is steady. From tabletop, extend your legs to a high diagonal. Advanced: lower them toward about 45 degrees or below, but only as low as your low back stays settled and your torso and legs stay still. If your back starts to arch, lift the legs higher or bend them back to tabletop.
legs as low as you can hold without the back lifting.
If your neck tires, lower your head to the mat (or onto folded towels or a firm pillow behind the head) and keep pumping. Lift it again when it feels better. Modify rather than work through neck pain.
resting the head is part of the exercise, not quitting it.
Feel it
Your abs hold the curl while your arms do small, fast beats and your breath keeps a steady count. The back of your neck feels long, with space under your chin. Your head and chest don't bob with the pumps, and your low back stays settled even as the legs get lower. If it feels easy, check that your head isn't bobbing and that your hip flexors or low back aren't doing the work. The camera reads your head and shoulder lift, leg height and arm pumping from the side; it can't see your low-back curve, your abs or your breath.
Fix-its
- Your neck strains or the chin pokes forward Nod first, then curl head and shoulders up together from the abs, with a small fist of space under the chin. If it still strains, put your head down or on a folded towel or firm pillow and keep pumping.
- Your low back arches as the legs lower The legs are too low for now. Lift them to a higher diagonal or bend to tabletop, and only lower as far as the back stays settled.
- Your head and chest bob with each pump Make the pumps smaller and keep them from the shoulder joint. Hold the curl still and let only the arms move.
- You tuck the pelvis hard and grip Ease off. A slight imprint is enough; pressing the low back flat with the glutes and big abs makes you less stable, not more.
- You hold your breath Count out loud: in for 5 pumps, out for 5. If you can't keep the count, go back to an easier leg or head position.
Drill
- Head nods: lying on your back, knees bent, drop your eyes and tip your head forward without lifting it, then return. Repeat slowly a few times to find the nod that starts the curl.
- Curl-up hold: from the nod, breathe out and curl your head and shoulders up, breathe in and hold the curl with your ribs expanding, breathe out and lower. Repeat a few times, keeping the back of the neck long.
- Beginner Hundred: feet flat, head up if comfortable, pump the arms with 5-in, 5-out breathing. Work up toward 10 breath cycles, resting your head whenever the neck tires.
- Tabletop Hundred: same pumping and breathing with legs in tabletop. Move to a high diagonal only when 10 cycles feel steady with your back settled.
- Film from the side, level with your body: check that your head and chest stay still while the arms pump, and that your feet stay at the same height.
Sources
- Power Pilates — How to do the Hundred in Pilates
- Schrock M, with M. Gold-Watts — The Pilates Hundred: Perfect This Common Warm-Up and Conditioning Exercise, Pointe (2017)
- Merrithew / STOTT PILATES — Principles: Head & Neck Placement
- Merrithew / STOTT PILATES — Principles: Pelvic Placement
- Pilatesology — What To Do If You Have Neck Pain In Pilates (2023)
- Manheim A, Pilates Anytime — Pilates Exercise Modifications
Last checked 2026-10-26.