Eight exercises to start with on the mat.
MAT SERIES · PART ONE
If you're new to Pilates — or returning to it after a while — this is where to begin. Not the beginner version. The beginning.
People assume mat work is the easy bit. The warm-up before the real apparatus. They've got it the wrong way round. Joseph Pilates developed this work on the mat first. The reformer came later — partly to assist what the body couldn't yet do on the floor.
The mat is harder. Nothing supports the load. No carriage to glide you through the movement. It's you and gravity, and you have to do the work.
Which is why we always start here.
What to learn first
There are eight exercises we'd ask you to practise in your first few weeks. They appear in the order Joseph Pilates taught them — each one preparing the body for the next.
The Hundred — your warm-up, your wake-up, and the first real test of whether you can breathe and stabilise at the same time.
Roll Up / Half Roll Back — articulating the spine, one vertebra at a time. Slower than you'd think. Harder than it looks.
Single Leg Circle — hip mobility with a still pelvis. The trick is in what doesn't move.
Roll Like a Ball — a spinal massage that masquerades as fun. Control matters more than momentum.
Single Leg Stretch — the first of the abdominal series. Rhythm, coordination, and a quiet lower back.
Double Leg Stretch — full body integration. The moment of extension is everything.
Spine Stretch Forward — recovery, in a sense. Length through the spine, space between the vertebrae.
The Saw — the closer. Rotation that wrings the lungs out and finishes the sequence properly.
How long to stay here
Five to ten sessions, roughly. Long enough for the order to become familiar and the shapes to stop being shapes you're consciously making. You'll know you're ready to move on when you can run through the eight without checking what comes next, and your body has started to recognise what each one is asking of it.
Don't be in a hurry to get past this part. People who rush the foundation tend to spend the next few years working out why their Teaser doesn't feel right.
Five good repetitions of the Roll Up will do more for you than ten sloppy ones.
If you're practising at home
You don't need much. A mat, a clear patch of floor, fitted clothing so you can see what your body is doing. Three sessions a week is what Joseph Pilates recommended. Twice is enough to make a difference if you're consistent.
Pay attention to your breath. Lateral thoracic — ribs expanding sideways on the inhale, drawing in on the exhale. If you find yourself holding it, something else has gone wrong. Stop. Reset. Start again.
And if you're not sure whether you're doing it right, you probably aren't — and that's useful. It means there's something to work on.
The full guide download now
https://www.eq-pilates.co.uk/mat-part-one
We've put together a PDF with each of the eight exercises explained in proper detail — what to feel, how to modify, where people commonly go wrong. Keep it next to your mat.