Have you ever heard of the Pilates exercise called "The Hundred"? or Are you already doing this exercise and want to learn more? In today's episode I discuss all you need to know including benefits and ways to avoid injury from this movement.

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Show Notes:

In this episode, our host Cari Vann dives deep into the Pilates exercise known as "The Hundred," offering an insightful understanding of its process, benefits, and the necessary precautions to consider.

1. Introduction and clarification of the exercise's name, which is technically "The 100," though many, including Cari, prefer to call it "The Hundreds."

2. Detailed explanation of the exercise procedure, describing the position, movements, and the reason behind the name.

3. Benefits of "The Hundred":

   • Improves breathing.

   • Strengthens muscles around the ribcage and center.

   • Lengthens and strengthens the spine.

   • Enhances focus, awareness, and concentration through controlled breathing.

   • Stimulates the brain and nervous system.

   • Integrates the whole body as one entity, connecting the strength of upper and lower body with the center.

4. Discussion on the possible injuries associated with the exercise, primarily neck and lower back injuries, and the importance of proper progression.

5. Explanation of how to set up for success by gradually progressing through the exercise, starting with neck support and a bent knee position. Emphasis on the importance of a "scoop," the connection of breathing to the pelvic floor and Transversus Abdominis (TVA) muscles.

6. Suggestions on different levels of progression, the introduction of the Thera band for arm pumping, and options for leg positions (V legs and tabletop).

7. Tips for performing "The Hundred" correctly, focusing on the positioning of the eyes, the level of arm movement, and the need to maintain the scoop while breathing and keeping the head and neck still.

8. Conclusion, recapping the main points covered and encouraging listeners to tune in next Wednesday for a new episode.

Key Takeaways:

"The Hundred" is a comprehensive Pilates exercise with numerous benefits, including improved breathing, muscle strengthening, increased focus, and enhanced mind-body integration.

1. It is vital to take the proper precautions when performing this exercise to prevent injuries, particularly in the neck and lower back.

2. Starting with neck support and bent knees can help beginners build strength and ensure correct form. This progression helps establish the essential "scoop" - the connection of breathing to the pelvic floor and Transversus Abdominis (TVA) muscles.

3. Progress should be gradual and tailored to the individual's abilities and comfort, keeping alternatives like neck support and the tabletop leg position always available.

4. Remember to maintain a focus point (your knees), pump your arms at about hip level, and keep your head and neck still during the exercise. This helps ensure proper form and prevent potential injuries.

Transcript:

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Better Than a Pill. I'm Cari Vann and I'm so grateful and excited to be here once again to share with you today. In today's episode, we're going to be talking about the Pilates exercise called the Hundred, and I'm going to be giving you everything you need to know about this exercise. But before we start, let me let you in on a little secret. I actually call the hundred the Hundreds. And why? Well, because I can and I like it better. And I am not alone. A lot of other people do as well. But I wanted to clarify, the technical name is the 100.

So let me give you a general picture of what a full hundred looks like and we can get into proper progression later. Generally speaking, the 100 is an exercise that involves lying on your back with your head and shoulders lifted and curled forward with your legs stretched up in the air at an angle. Then your arms are pumping up and down and this stimulates the heart while you breathe deeply. The only thing actually moving is your arms. Everything else is still. The 100 is an integral part of the most warm ups in a typical Pilates workout. And it warms up the body by using the breath. It gets the heart pumping vigorously. It speeds up circulation of the blood throughout the entire body as well.

And it derives its name from the maximum number of arm pumps and breaths, which is ten breaths of five inhales and five exhales with five pumps for each, which equals 100, hence the name. So we'll talk a little bit now about the benefits of the Hundred. Number one, it improves your breathing. You are expanding your ribcage and your lungs, and it also strengthens the muscles around the ribcage, strengthens the muscles of your center as well. And this includes the transverse abdominal muscle that deep lower abdominal muscle that we've talked about. The hundred also lengthens and strengthens your spine as you curl up your head and neck.

It brings through your breath, awareness, concentration and it provides focus for your mind through your breath awareness, concentration, centering and control. It stimulates your brain and your nervous system by requiring you to coordinate counting, arm pumping and breathing while maintaining your form. So this movement integrates your whole body as one entity and it connects the strength of your upper and lower body with your center. So there's a lot going on here with the 100.

Now we're going to talk a little bit about some precautions, modifications and progressions over the years. In teaching the Hundreds, I've found that it is an area that can accrue injury. And I've seen this a lot with people that have come to me and it's primarily they've suffered a neck injury, which is why I'm very proactive and I've developed a protocol to follow and progress to get you stronger so that this doesn't occur. So in my opinion it is a big mistake to jump right into the full hundred form without going through the proper progressions.

As with a lot of Pilates exercises people tend to get stuck or focus on achieving the end result and achieving it too soon and this is what can cause problems. One of the biggest being like I said the neck and a neck injury and I just hate to see this happen when it can totally be avoided. The second biggest injury I see with the 100 is the low back and this can also be avoided. So I prefer to set people up to succeed long term and this is how I do it.

I start off with support for the neck and the knees bent and the feet on the mat and this allows for you to focus on your scoop. Remember that's your breathing connection to the pelvic floor TVA muscles and this is where we start initially because this is where we need to be connected otherwise the rectus abdominal muscle, the exterior muscle can take over and it usually does especially if you don't have enough strength depth. Tabletop position and I don't even keeping the neck supported and floating the legs up into a tabletop.

Position would be the next level or progression. And don't go right into the V is what I would recommend. I actually have created different levels to gauge when someone reaches a certain level when they can begin to get rid of their neck support or try it. We test the upper body curl without support and this is only if you don't have issues with the neck and if you can keep the neck lifted without strain you can progress with no support that's great.

If you can't we want to keep the support. Now, this being said, support should always be an option because there will be times when we're holding tension in the neck and shoulders or something happens, and doing the hundred without support would be counterproductive. And this is myself included. I always have support as an option because our bodies are constantly changing and we just want to be aware of that.

Now the next level I typically use for a progression with the hundreds is a thera band in the arms for pumping and I also give the option of the V legs which is going to be more challenging on the low back and tabletop is always going to be an option which is basically bending the knees in the air. And this is because you don't want to arch the back and you want to stay connected and there will be days that you use the tabletop if the V doesn't feel good.

And again, I practice this myself, there are days that we're going to feel more connected and if we're not and we go into that V position, we can actually hurt the low back. So just a few more tips. When doing the Hundred, you want to focus with your eyes on your knees and this gives you a focal point and it's just about the perfect level and it helps you maintain your position with your head and neck. You also want to pump your arms at about hip level, almost like you're beating a drum, and you don't want the arms to go higher than that because that can create issues with the shoulder position and neck as well.

Most importantly, you want to feel the scoop as you're breathing and also keep the head and neck still. So those are a couple of really key items that you want to target in on. Okay, so just to recap, today we talked about the Pilates exercise called the Hundred, all its benefits and we went through safety, safe, proper progressions, modifications that will work and not lead to injury, as well as a few tips for the movement. So I hope you all enjoyed this episode and found it helpful. Remember, we do new episodes every week on Wednesday and I look forward to having you join me then.