This 30-Minute Pilates at Home Workout is All You Need

Summary 

This 30-minute Pilates workout is perfect for busy bees or new moms who want to get back on the fitness track:

1. Hundreds: this exercise is perfect for building abs and strengthening your core.
2. Roll Ups: this exercise works your abs, obliques, and hip flexors.
3. Single Leg Circles: this exercise targets your hip flexors, inner and outer thighs, quads, hamstrings, deep core, and obliques.
4. Rolling Like a Ball: this exercise targets your lower and upper abs, obliques, hip flexors, and promotes spinal flexibility.
5. Push-Ups: this exercise works your chest, triceps, core, hamstrings, and quads.

Of course, for a full-fledged Pilates workout, there are more exercises. Keep reading for the complete 30-minute workout plan!

Home Pilates Practice

“Can you do Pilates at home?” – a question asked by many. Most people believe that you need an instructor’s supervision to do Pilates. But can you really not do it on your own? We reached out to Lesley Logan, a PMA Certified Pilates Instructor for her insights. In a healthy discussion, she not only revealed the benefits of doing Pilates, but also came up with an at-home Pilates workout plan – for our Wolf Pack!

Who Is It For?

Pilates at home is great for:

• Busy bees
• Travelers on-the-go
• Pro-athletes
• Beginners
• Pregnant women
• New moms
• Post-rehab individuals who are in recovery
• People with back pain
• People looking for a stress-relief
• People who can’t afford a class

Fitness Goal

Since Pilates is a comprehensive workout, it offers several benefits. And it’s open to anyone – from heavy weightlifters and professional athletes to corporate people looking to relax their bodies after a desk job. Typically, your fitness goal for Pilates could look like:

• Strengthening core
• Improving flexibility
• Feeling more in-tune with your body
• Defining or toning your muscles
• Improving your posture
• Supporting recovery after physical injury
• Relieving physical stress and tightness
• Strengthening core, pelvis, and relieving back pain for pregnant women
• Supporting recovery from childbirth
• Improving bone health
• Bettering physical balance and coordination

How to Get Started?

• Get your workout mat
• Find a spot on the floor – make sure it’s clean
• For the gals, wear your favorite workout leggings and a mid-impact bra
• For the guys, make sure you’ve got your gym shorts on

Discover More At-Home Workouts…

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List of Pilates Workouts

In this 30-minute Pilates workout, you’ve got 16 exercises that will help build your strength, improve flexibility, and get the body you dream of. Each exercise will take around 30 seconds. Make sure you rest for 15-30 seconds between each exercise.

1. HUNDRED

• Pull your legs up in a tabletop lift position
• Head and chest up
• Extend your arms to your sides
• Pump your hands up and down while engaging your core

https://youtu.be/CrPTwbrwR94

2. ROLL UP

• Straighten your body on the floor
• Extend your arms over your head
• Using your core, lift your body
• Roll your body until your fingertips touch your toes

https://youtu.be/oanlbxSB2Is

3. SINGLE LEG CIRCLES

• Lay flat on the mat
• Pull your ribs and shoulders in so they don’t pop off
• Straighten your leg and point your toe
• Circle your leg

https://youtu.be/5skJ0ZhMLvo

4. ROLLING LIKE A BALL

• Pull your legs into your body while curving your back
• Make sure you’re balancing your tailbone
• Grab your ankles
• Roll back into the mat

https://youtu.be/3SMvDMnORhM

5. SINGLE LEG STRETCH

• Sit with your hips near your heels
• Bring your knees into your chest with your back slightly curved
• While holding onto one knee, stretch out your other leg with your toe pointed
• Switch sides

https://youtu.be/0rijbMAw5tI

6. DOUBLE LEG STRETCH

• While you lay flat on the mat, bring your knees into your chest
• Lift your head and chest up, knees tucked in
• Balance yourself on your tailbone
• Stretch your legs out while pushing your arms backward

https://youtu.be/C-VMtIKZqNo

7. SPINE STRETCH FORWARDS

• Sit with your legs stretched
• Make sure your shoulders are retracted and back straight
• Extend your arms horizontally
• Round your back and lower yourself as much as possible
• Make sure your arms stay still and your core is engaged

https://youtu.be/_FpMPF91g4Y

8. SAW

• Sit with your legs stretched mat-width apart
• Extend your arms on your sides, horizontally
• Twist your upper back while keeping your arm still
• Lower on the diagonal side until your fingertips are touching your toe
• Switch sides

https://youtu.be/Ve7L93Zi690

9. SWAN PREP

• Lay flat on your stomach
• Cross your arms and place your forehead on top of them
• Press your toes flat on the mat so your pelvis is grounded
• Lift your chest and head up

https://youtu.be/VWUWK6vLqfU

10. SINGLE LEG KICK

• Lay flat on the mat with your forearms in front of you
• Make fists and press into the mat
• Push your pubic bone into the mat
• Pull your shoulders and back up
• Legs should be straight with knees hovering slightly
• Kick your heel up and push it into your hamstring – keep your knee stable

https://youtu.be/ZHCJAufb9Jc

11. THIGH STRETCH

• Stand on your knees, shins flat on the mat
• Pull your hips forward so your body is straight with no lower back curve
• Extend your arms in front of you
• Lean back – only go as far as you can

https://youtu.be/38GOGkUAWgI

12. SHOULDER BRIDGE

• Go into the glute bridge position
• Straighten one leg and pull it toward your shoulder
• Keep the working leg straight
• Once completed, switch sides

https://youtu.be/hDzKzfWYzms

13. SIDE LEG KICKS

• Lay on your side
• Align your legs with your back and tailbone
• Dig the non-working leg into the mat
• Stretch your working leg out and complete the movement

https://youtu.be/QPygI109Uv4

14. SWIMMING

• Lay flat on the mat and extend your arms forward
• Lift your legs off the mat
• Flutter hands and legs diagonally as you’d do while swimming

https://youtu.be/ljed6jfVKtU

15. SEAL

• Sit with your back slightly curved
• Pull your legs in and grab your ankles from underneath
• Gently clap your heels together
• Roll back into the mat
• Clap your heels again

https://youtu.be/XgKVzjkwFns

16. PUSH-UPS

• Touch your toes while standing
• With your wrist flat on the floor, walk your hands 4 steps forward
• Shoulders over wrists, do 2 push-ups
• Walk back and stand again

https://youtu.be/xSrTxHZz3UQ

Standout Benefits

Pilates is the best fitness launchpad out there. Whether you’re dazed and confused, just starting out, or a pro, it doesn’t matter. It will do wonders for your body – especially with 7 incredible pilates benefits! But there are some standout benefits to this workout as well:

1. Best for Beginners

Even if you have zero knowledge about workouts, you can do Pilates at home or anywhere else for that matter. You don’t need a trainer or equipment either – just a helpful guide and some videos, and you’re good to go!

It is great for all levels of movers and Pilates lovers. But, Home Pilates Practice is best for beginners because it meets you where you are! – Lesley

2. Modify Where You Need To

Since these workouts are inclusive, they can easily be modified. Everyone’s fitness journey, goals and body type are different. With Pilates, you can alter your workout to fit you!

You do the best you can with just a few reps and then you move on. - Lesley

3. Energetic Rather Than Sore

With natural movements and a whole lot of stretching, Pilates promotes flexibility in your body. Rather than feeling drained or sore, you’ll feel revitalized.

Pilates doesn’t leave you so sore at the beginning of your practice that you cannot do the things you need to do the next day. Instead it leaves you feeling invigorated! - Lesley

4. Never Overworked or Underworked

Pilates builds your strength through bodyweight. Not only will you feel stronger, but you’ll also feel agile. Since this workout works each of your muscle group, you’ll neither be overworked and fatigued, nor underworked and weak.

Pilates is all about quality not quantity and it challenges your whole body in every exercise so you get strength where you are weak, flexibility where you are tight and no part of the body is underworked or overworked. - Lesley

5. Full Body Engagement

With full body engagement, each of your muscle groups will get the attention they deserve. You’ll be working your muscles from head to toe, arms to legs, shoulders to back, core to abdomen!

How Are All Muscles Worked?

According to Lesley, this workout starts by activating your core. Flexion exercises are a terrific way to warm up and build mind-muscle connection. The workout seamlessly starts working the rest of your body parts, firing up your entire body.

In this workout, we begin warming you up with the 100 and then we start with flexion exercises to warm up and connect to your core before we flip on to your stomach and fight against gravity! Then we take really open the front of the hips and strengthen the back before we challenge our side body (obliques and gluteus medius). We round it out with another extension, flexion and finally the full body push-ups! - Lesley

FAQs

Can I do Pilates Home Practice every day?

While it is recommended to do Pilates home practice 3 times a week, you can totally do Pilates at home every day. A 20–30-minute Pilates workout will help you build strength, stability and improve overall flexibility. In addition, it's not only a fantastic way to stay in shape but also gives you muscle toning and definition that makes you feel great. Lesley answers this question:

Our bodies are different every single day! How you feel in your Pilates practice today will be different than yesterday and tomorrow. You have all the benefits of yesterday’s session in your body and then all of the life that happened within the last 24 hours. If you have a Mat Pilates practice you can not only do Pilates wherever you are but you also don’t need to fit a class into your schedule or have a full hour. You can do your Pilates whenever and also do the exercises your body needs the most. - Lesley

Can anyone do Pilates?

Yes, anyone can do Pilates. Whether you’re an amateur or an advanced fitness enthusiast, Pilates is the perfect workout to improve your functionality and mobility. A 30 minute Pilates at home workout includes multiple exercises such as stretches, strength-building, core activation, etc. This workout targets each of your muscle groups, helping you feel stronger.

Is 30 Minutes of Pilates a Day Enough?

Although it depends on your fitness goals, a 30 minute Pilates session is more than enough as it burns 260 calories (about 21 minutes of running) for a 155-pound individual. This is only for a beginner workout. If you add equipment or intensify your workouts, you’re likely to burn even more calories.

About Lesley

LESLEY LOGAN is a PMA Certified Pilates Teacher and has been studying and teaching Joseph Pilates Classical Method since 2005 and 2008 respectively. You can take her weekly online mat classes here.