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How to Do Five Simple Foam Roller Exercises for Shoulders, Back and Core

Writer's picture: Laura Bond WilliamsLaura Bond Williams

Updated: Jul 22, 2024

Why use a foam roller in a Pilates mat class? And what exercises can I do at home with a foam roller?


Mat Pilates and foam rollers are a good pair. Some of my favorite reasons for using a foam roller in Pilates include:


  1. Improved focus and control: Using a foam roller for Pilates exercises improves our body awareness including proprioception (awareness of our body in space) and interoception (our ability to sense what's happening inside our body). That means we learn how to control our movement and apply our strength.

  2. Feels good: The pressure of our bodyweight on the foam roller also promotes the “sliding and gliding” of our fascia – the tissue that connects all of our muscles and transmits the force they create when we contract them.

  3. Smaller surface area: Lying on a foam roller makes exercises less stable and more challenging to control. A foam roller gives us feedback on the relationship between our core muscles and how they relate to movement in our arms and legs. Our core awareness stabilizes us on this wiggly surface.

  4. And it's FUN. This is my favorite reason. Using a foam roller in a Pilates class stimulates our imagination, kind of like playing “giant chess” or “big block” Jenga games.


What exercises can you do with a foam roller in mat Pilates? They all improve focus, control, strength, and body awareness. When we lie on the foam roller and let our shoulders relax, we also get some "feel good” pressure on our back and a stretchy opening across our chest.


To begin: lie down on the roller from head to toe. Your entire body should be supported including your tailbone and your head. Your knees are bent; your feet are flat on the floor. Your arms are touching the floor. 


Imagine your foam roller is a raft and the floor is water. In some exercises, you will keep your arms “above water” or “dip your toe” into the water. (See some of these and more Pilates exercises on the foam roller in this YouTube video with Laura.)


Here’s five simple Pilates-based exercises* to do with your foam roller.

  1. Shoulder Circles: With your arms reaching for the ceiling, leave your head down and lift your shoulder blades off the roller. Shrug your shoulders to your ears and then relax them down your back. Repeat for 6-8 circles.

  2. Arm Circles: With your arms at your sides, palms to your body and thumbs to the ceiling. Lift your arms over your head like you’re a football referee calling “touchdown,” with your ears next to your biceps. Then circle your arms to the sides like you’re making a snow angel (or a sand angel) while keeping your hands out of the “water.” As you continue making circles, pay attention to your ribs. Do they lift away from the roller with your arms overhead? Try to keep your spine and back ribs connected to the roller by lifting your arms higher (ears below your biceps). Repeat 6-8 circles in each direction. (Inhale overhead, exhale to "snow angel.")

  3. Swimming or Marching Arms: Start in the same position as the shoulder and arm circles. Instead of circling your arms, inhale and raise one arm overhead and lower one arm straight to your side, then reverse them. (Inhale as your arms go away, exhale they cross and change places). Repeat 6-8 times.

  4. Marching Legs: Feet are flat on the floor, and hands are on the ground (or “in the water,” if you like). Inhale fully through your nose. As you exhale, keep your knee bent and lift your leg until it’s parallel to the foam roller. Lower your leg and then lift the other leg. Alternate lifting and lowering your legs, marching in space. (If you were standing up, this exercise is kind of like doing “high knees” except your knees won’t go so high.) Repeat 6-8 times.

  5. Toe Tapping / Dip Your Toes in the Water: This is a reverse march from "marching legs" in # 4. Keep your hands on the floor for support, then bring both legs into the air with knees bent. Then keeping a bent knee, hinge your hip to lower your toe to the floor. Bring it up, then lower the other leg. That's one. Repeat 6-8 times.




A full mat Pilates class with a foam roller includes exercises while we are standing, sitting down, lying on our backs, lying on our stomachs and sometimes, kneeling. 


We’re using foam rollers in class in July. You can learn more about Mat Pilates ATX classes and schedule and sign up here





*Sometimes a client will ask me: "is this Pilates?" A: Are you breathing on purpose, paying attention to the movement of your arms and legs and moving from your center using focus and control? Yes. And, these movements are building blocks for other exercises we do on the Pilates mat, reformer and other equipment.

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