If you ask me, the Roll Up is the second best stomach tightening exercise ever, after the hundred-and-Eight. And what I like about it the most is that the crunch is not a crunch but rather just the opposite. Yes, you do scoop the navel to the spine; yes, you do tighten up you abs; yes, lift yourself from the top of your head; yes, you squeeze the back of your inner thighs. You do all this, but, you also stretch, grow tall, and give a tremendous release to your spine, vertebrae by vertebrae.
Lets do the Roll Up together:
1. Lie flat on your back
2. As you inhale, lower your chin to your chest and start to roll up as if a fishing string were lifting you from the top of your head to the ceiling. Make sure that you scoop your navel to the spine, that you hold everything tight -- no lose ends -- nothing flabby about you! Everything is tight and in control.
3. Go up, and up, grow as tall as you can.
4. As you let the air out of your lungs, scoop even more and start descending, slowly but surely. Lower your arms and your entire body until your hands reach your toes and pass them!
5. Now, inhale, tighten up again, and start coming down again, vertebrae by vertebrae, all the way back to the initial position. Make sure you pinch your gluts and your abs, and every muscle in your body that can be pinched.
The muscles that worked in the Roll Up are:
- the abdominal muscles: mainly, the rectus abdominalis, as you scoop and roll up
- the gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius
- the back thigh muscles, helping out with the others
Penché
You are Juliet and you are waiting for your Romeo to come visit you. It’s a warm summer night in Renaissance Verona, Italy. You hear a noise, go out and bend over the balcony to see if it is your beloved. You can’t see him, so you bend forward a bit further.
O.K., this is the perfect “Penché”. And here is how you do the exercise:
In a standing position, at a full arm’s length facing a wall. Better still, ask a friend to hold your hands. If you don’t have a friend nearby, go back to a nice, steady wall. It’s not as much fun but it is certainly reliable.Place the palms of your hands on the wall at shoulder height and shoulder’s width, parallel to each other. Navel to your spine, your chin up and your feet in the “Inverted V” of Tangolates, with the left foot over the right foot. Toes touching, heel three to four inches apart.
Breathe deep, as deep as you can.
Lower your chin to your chest.
Slowly begin to descend your trunk as your head follows, while at the same time, the right foot which was standing behind begins to rise.
Let the air out and lower your head and your trunk, as your right leg goes up in four times if you can. Do not bend your knees.
Go down and leg up as far as you can. You will feel your chest opening under the pressure.
This is a good thing. Also your arms will feel the tension and this is also a good thing.
Hold it there, with your straight right leg up, your head down, your chest opened, and your arms holding you, shoulder width apart. Breathe normally.
Your should feel the outer gluteus tense up and work hard to keep your leg up, while your arms are also working very hard to keep your trunk down.
Everything in the Penché is done with the most pleasant sensation of openness and stretching.
Inhale and begin to come down again. Lower you leg slowly in four times, as your trunk and your head come up again. Make sure your arms are working until you are back to the initial position. Do the Penché as slowly and in as controlled a manner as possible.
When you complete the lowering of your leg, your right foot that went up goes back to the “Inverted V”, this time in front of the left foot.
Repeat with the left foot that stands blocked behind in the “Inverted V” position. Take it from back there, and start the exercise all over again.
This is one of the most beautiful and complete exercises of Tangolates.
It works:
-abdominal muscles (where would we be without them?) as you flex your upper bodyforward
-gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and back thigh muscles, lifting your leg way up in the air
Janus: The God of two faces
Get ready for the best relaxation and elongation exercise of Tangolates ever!
Your spine will love it, and you, too. This one really requires a friend, a companion, a mate or any partner, you choose. This is how it goes:
1. You and your friend sit in the ground with your backs against each other. You extend your legs, while your friend sits in an Indian position. Hold hands, while stretching your arms to the sides. Your friend flexes the torso towards her legs carrying you over her/his body. Both of you relax for a moment in this position. Breathe normally while you stretch as much as possible.
2. Now it’s you who flex your torso towards your legs, while your friend rests, all extended on your bent-forward back. Stretch your legs as much as possible, let your head down and really oopen those arms in a cross, letting your chest open up as much as you can. Return to the initial position.
3. Repeat, this time doing a torsion of your trunk so that the lowering movement is done on a diagonal. First one, then the other.
4. Now, stand up, again, back-to-back. Breathe in as you two lower your torso vertebrae by vertebrae. Once you are down, reach out to hold your friend’s hands. Try going further down -- as much as you can. Do not forget to exhale as you go down.
5. Hold it there for a moment, stretching as much as possible. Your gluteus is up and your head is down. Scoop in, and go a bit further still. Hold on to your partner’s hands so as not to fall.
6. Now, begin to come up again to the initial position. First, let go of your mate’s hands, breath in, navel to spine and, start straightening your trunk vertebrae by vertebrae. Your head is the last to come up.Do not forget that the effort comes from your center.
7. Once you are up, turn your body to the side while your companion turns it to the other side. This leaves you facing in opposite directions. Now, scoop in, breath deep and take your friend’s forearm with one hand, while she/he does the same with the other. Take each other’s forearms with one hand and take each other hands over your head. Breathe in again and stretch towards the side. Each one of you pulls as much farther always from the other to stretch the dorsal muscles, in a kind of tug-of-war movement.
Now, repeat the exercise changing positions with your partner.
