Learning to love the Hundred

Learn to love the Hundred

I admit it; finally after teaching Pilates for more than ten years, I have made peace with “the Hundred.”  I might even admit to actually liking the exercise.  This turn around came about when the exercise was reframed for me.  Instead of thinking about the Hundred as a “really hard abdominal exercise that if not careful will strain my neck” I learned to think of the Hundred as a “heater”, and an “exercise in breath control for length in the spine”… You might be skeptical that a simple reframing is all that it took for me to change my feelings towards my nemesis exercise, and its true the reframing was just the first step, but with a lot of practice, I had an "aha" moment, and I want to share that moment with you. 

First of all the Hundred is an exercise in Breath Control

For years I have been teaching people about breath.  I have been teaching the difference between diaphragmatic breath and accessory breath. I have been teaching people how to use the breath to release tension in the neck and shoulders and the low back.  I have been teaching people about the connection between the psoas and the diaphragm.  But it took me more than ten years to synthesize this information enough to apply it to the Hundred.  Why? Might you ask…Well first of all, I think that I decided that I didn’t like the Hundred many years ago, and I am sure that I even had a perfectly rationalized opinion, that sounded intelligent and could have fooled any person…However as we often learn in our adult life, the most intelligent arguments can have the attitude of a whiney six year old behind them…You know the child in us that decides they don’t like certain vegetables, and will never try anything that has that vegetable in it.  Well the Hundred was my broccoli, and it wasn’t until it was reframed for me that I gave it the time of day.

When I speak of abdominal work, I often talk about making sure that a person gets all of the air out of the lungs so that the spine can find its full length in flexion. The hundred is no different, so if a person makes sure that each inhale is then exhaled completely, then the spine finds its full length and the neck can be easy without tension.  In fact the Hundred is an excellent way to practice this kind of breath work.  To begin the student exhales and releases all of the air out of the lungs, and then presses the ribcage into the ground to lift the head neck and shoulders.  Then the real breath practice begins, the person continues breathing and inhales into the back of the ribs, and then exhales and gets even more air out of the lungs, which then in turn deepens the abdominal engagement.  This makes the hundred more than just an abdominal exercise, it makes it about releasing toxins, and it also makes it about using the diaphragm for spine length. 

Next the Hundred as a heater…

Often I am teaching a group of people that are working hard and moving and so in these long summer months the air conditioner becomes necessary to keep everyone cool and safe.  Well when you are not exercising as much because you are keeping your eye on your students, it can get a bit chilly in the room. Let’s not kid ourselves too much.  It can get frigid.  The Hundred to the rescue…Why?  Again, it might seem that I am making this stuff up just to convince people that the Hundred is a great exercise (it is an election year after all.)  To understand the Hundred as a heater, it is important to understand the relationship of the diaphragm and the pelvic floor.  When the diaphragm engages to take in oxygen it moves down into the abdominal cavity and the pelvic floor releases.  When the body exhales and releases the air, the diaphragm moves up into the lungs and the pelvic floor engages and lifts into the pelvis. When a person is doing the Hundred, the pelvic floor stays engaged the entire time, and the inhale accesses different parts of the lungs to expand.  The continued pelvic floor engagement along with a deepening abdominal engagement with each exhale makes the body heat up.  A person as they do this will get flushed and warm.  This helps make the body prime for more difficult exercises, and releases the stiffness that one might have at the beginning of class.

As a former nemesis to the classic Pilates Hundred, I must admit that I have grown.  I no longer complain about Joseph Pilates’ most famous exercise.  I can’t wait until winter (Im as stingy with the heat as I am with the air conditioning) where I can use the hundred not only to keep my core strong but also to keep my body warm and fluid.

Now here’s a question for you.  What exercise do you do that qualifies as “not your favorite?”  The exercise that you know is good for you, but well you just don’t like it…Send your response here, tell me what the exercise is, and why you need it, but don’t like it.  We can work together to find a solution.

Thanks
Katrina Hawley C.M.A, R.S.M.E

Co-director of The Pilates Studio