Pilates Machine Long Spine

Body WeightIntermediate

The Pilates Machine Long Spine focuses on lengthening the spine while engaging core muscles.

  1. Start by lying on your back on the reformer with your feet in the straps.
  2. Engage your core and press your legs away, extending them straight.
  3. Lift your head and shoulders off the carriage, reaching your arms overhead.
  4. Hold the position, maintaining a long spine, then return to the starting position.

How to perform the Pilates Machine Long Spine

  1. Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Pilates Machine Long Spine using your body weight.
  2. Brace and execute. Brace your core, control the descent, and move through a full pain-free range of motion while emphasizing your primary working muscles.
  3. Reset. Reverse the movement under control and reset between repetitions, keeping your form crisp on every rep.

Coaching cues

  • Move with intent — every rep should feel deliberate, not rushed.
  • Drive force through your working muscles rather than momentum.
  • Keep your breathing steady: exhale on the hard part, inhale on the reset.

Common mistakes

  • Using too much weight and losing positional control.
  • Cutting the range of motion short and missing the target muscle.
  • Letting your spine round or hyperextend instead of staying neutral.

Detailed cues, common mistakes, and demonstration video are available in the Fitly app.

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