By the time you arrive at the Crab on the Mat—our exercise of the month—you’ve already rolled over, rolled like a ball, rocked with open legs, boomerang-ed, and seal-ed. What’s one more rolling exercise?
Now that we’ve made it this close to the end of our practice on the Mat, we’re really taking it up a few notches… and with “up” we mean all the way to the head! That’s probably the reason why you don’t often see the Crab in your everyday Mat class; it seems mighty precarious. Except, of course, it really isn’t.
Here’s how we “crab”:
Pretzel the legs in tight to round the back.
Roll your way back onto your shoulders.
Suspend to switch the legs.
Roll all the way forward.
Traction your neck against the ground.
Not into it? Remember that every Pilates exercise, including the Crab, is part of a greater system. Just when you thought an exercise is too crazy to even consider, it’s as though Joseph Pilates whispers in your ears: “don’t fret… you’ve been here before”.
Rounding the spine into a juicy C-Curve? Been there.
Opening the hips to cross the legs? Done that.
Rolling back and forth on your back? Yup.
Standing on your shoulder blades? So. Many. Times.
Traction-ing the neck? Check.
What we haven’t done yet is put all of these elements together, and therein lies the fun! After all, it’s no mistake that we attempt the move this close to the finish line.
We couldn’t think of a better time than March (wink, wink) to wrap our heads around (wink, wink, wink) this enigmatic exercise. What awaits on the other side are stimulated circulation, a massaged spine, and the euphoric feeling of just having expanded your movement possibilities.
What’s next? Control Balance, for sure. Perhaps a headstand. You’ve made it this far, so now it’s merely up to your imagination…