What exercises to do with the Pilates ring?

In this text we are going to learn how to use the pilates ring and exercise different muscle groups in our usual workouts, either at home or in the gym. The well-used pilates ring will allow us greater versatility in training and we will achieve better results.

The pilates ring, also called the magic ring, is not only used with the arms, but also serves to train the legs. It is a semi-rigid ring, that is, it is endowed with a little flexibility and is used in pilates, yoga and fitness in general.

arm exercises

Exercising your arms goes far beyond doing weights, push-ups and the like. With this magic ring we can also tone the arm and forearm, while improving the muscles of the back and chest. As we can see, it is a very complete and versatile accessory.

chest and arms

• We stand in a posture with a straight back.
• We extend our arms to the front.
• We press the magic ring with our open palms in such a way that we “sink” the ring and deform it.

In this way we work the pectorals and arms. We have to press while we release air and press hard. This is how the exercise is done correctly, since in pilates and in sports in general, breathing is very important.

arms and back

• Sitting on the floor with your legs stretched out or shrunken, we press on the pads of the hoop and turn our body from left to right.
• Every time we squeeze we release the air, thus working the abdominals.

Combined arm and leg exercises

• We sumo squat and every time we go up we release air and press the hoop.
• We can also perform body lifting as seen in the previous video.
• We can sit with our feet stretched out in front and move forwards and backwards using our buttocks and keeping the hoop in the position of the first exercise that we have explained.

full leg exercises

Performing exercises with the magic ring or pilates ring we have already seen that it is easy and, although it seems that it is simple and that there is no effort, there is and quite a lot, since subtlety deceives us a priori. Working your legs, hips, and glutes is pretty easy with this hoop. Simple in the sense of the variety of exercises, not that there is no effort, of course.

Adductors (and triceps)

• We place ourselves on a mat as if we were going to crawl.
• We put the hoop above the ankles.
• We keep our arms outstretched.
• The straight back.
• We squeeze the ring with our feet while we flex our arms.

Abductors

• We lie on a mat with a straight back and hands behind the head.
• We place the hoop on our knees.
• Press inwards until the ring is deformed.
• We do several repetitions and then we change the hoop and place our feet inside it and push out, to work the rest of the muscle groups on the inside and outside of the leg.

Buttocks

We can perform many exercises to tone the buttocks. The most common is:

• Place the hoop on the knees, lift the hips and bend it down when we tighten the hoop.
• The rest of the body remains motionless and glued to the mat.

But the truth is that there are many other exercises to exercise the buttocks and many of them appear in the video that we have left at the beginning of this section. The abs are also worked here.

• We lie face down.
• with our legs stretched out and our arms outstretched, we keep our back arched.
• Every time we press the hoop with our palms until it deforms, we have to raise our legs.
• This is how we work arms, abs and glutes.

Another type of exercise is this:

• We get on 4 legs, knees on the ground and open palms with outstretched arms.
• Now, keeping the balance, with one hand we grab the hoop.
• Every pressure we make to the hoop, we must launch a reverse kick with the opposite leg.
• That is, if we have our right hand resting on the pilates ring, we kick with the left.

Quadriceps

For quadriceps there are several exercises, but as we can see, almost all leg movements and exercises with the hoop make the quadriceps work.

• We stand up and hold the pilates ring with one foot.
• With the other, we lift the leg gently and press the magic ring several times, but not in a row.
• Before pressing, we bring the knee to the chest and then press hard, drawing power from the thigh.
• By pressing we perform a slight squat and return to the original position.
• We repeat with the opposite leg.

abdominal exercises

The pilates ring is wonderful for exercising your abs. In fact, in all the exercises that we have done and seen in the previous sections, the abdominals have been involved, especially in those where you have to press with your arms or you have to hold your balance.

• We lay down on a mat.
• Straight back.
• We place the magic ring on our feet at ankle height.
• The arms stretch to each side of our body.
• We raise the legs until they are at an angle of 90 degrees.
• We move the arms making force with the abdomen, as shown in the video.

Another exercise to exercise the abdominals using the pilates ring is:

• We lay down on our backs on the mat.
• We throw our heads forward.
• We take the hoop with our open palms.
• Let’s shrink the legs and bring them to the chest.
• Now we have to force that curvature and feel pressure in the abdomen.
• Now we are passing each leg inside the hoop and to increase the intensity, we can draw an imaginary circle and return the foot to its initial position and do the same with the colt.