Pilates training is a great way to build muscle endurance and strength, and while many exercises can be done with just a little floor space, more advanced movements usually require expensive equipment and a studio membership.
But thanks to a popular fitness trend called wall pilates, you can step up your Pilates workout without spending a cent: all you need is a blank wall and a supportive yoga mat.
I discovered wall pilates a few months ago and was surprised at how challenging the classes were, and after finding this 19-minute workout by influencer Jenna Collins, I decided to give wall pilates another try.
Collins’ routines are quick and easy to perform, but they may not be best for beginners: If you’ve never done standard Pilates, we recommend starting with these Pilates exercises instead.
How to do Jenna Collins’ 20-minute wall pilates workout
This wall Pilates workout requires a 3-foot-tall wall and a yoga mat. Each of the program’s 21 exercises is performed for 40 seconds, with 15 seconds of rest between each movement.
There are no built-in breaks or instructor interaction, so you’ll be working out for the entire 19 minutes (plus a few seconds), and no variation is offered, except for one advanced move.
I wanted to know if this version of wall pilates was as taxing as my original effort, and here’s what I found out after completing Jenna Collins’ workout.
My ass was burning hot
Collins packs a ton of glute exercises into a quick 19-minute lesson, and not only that, but he performs most of the exercises back-to-back (I counted eight in a row), leaving very little time for recovery.
By the last few minutes of the workout, my glutes were completely fatigued, forcing me to take my feet off the wall for a few repetitions.
I do a fair amount of lunges and deadlifts, so I was surprised to find that a few bodyweight glute workouts left my muscles completely exhausted.
If you’re new to Pilates, or exercise in general, keep this in mind: If necessary, you can place your feet on the floor to take a break midway through the exercise.
Some exercises strain your neck and back
Pilates exercises that involve lifting your head and shoulders off the ground can strain your neck muscles, so I always place my hands behind my head for support.
Though Collins doesn’t do many of these exercises, she found that some of the movements in this workout caused her to experience similar neck pain — specifically, any move that involves lifting her legs, hips, and torso off the floor and putting weight pressure on her upper back and shoulders.
Placing my feet a little lower down the wall helped relieve some of the tension. I also have chronically tight hips, so the final exercise in Collins’ workout, a variation of push-ups with shins against the wall, was initially nearly impossible to do without pain.
I eventually got myself into a comfortable position to perform the exercises, but I wasted half my allotted time trying to figure it out. If you have neck or back pain, you don’t have to avoid this routine, but you might want to adjust your position to find one that’s comfortable for you.
A few days later, my abdominal muscles started to hurt.
When you exercise a muscle, you create tiny tears in the muscle fibers. These tears need to be repaired in order for the muscle to grow and get stronger. Until these tears are repaired, you’ll likely feel post-workout muscle soreness called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which I’ve experienced in my abs.
In fact, after almost a week, I finally felt like I was back to normal, which surprised me because I didn’t find the core training particularly hard, but I think working my abs in a different way helped.
Fortunately, DOMS is not inherently harmful or a sign of a “good” workout, but it’s something to keep in mind, especially if you plan on being physically active in the days following your workout. Self-massage with a foam roller can also help with recovery.
This is not a beginners training
The first few minutes of this wall Pilates workout are relatively doable for any fitness level, but the difficulty increases as the workout progresses. I found the exercises in the middle and end of the class particularly challenging.
Collins only modified one exercise, but even that modified version was tough. Unlike some popular YouTube instructors, Collins doesn’t speak at all during this one. He starts right away with some music and a quick wave to the camera.
Personally, I prefer this as I often find the conversation distracting – the downside is that I can’t hear her give verbal instructions, which can be very important for beginners trying to learn correct form.
Although I enjoyed Jenna Collins’ workouts, I wouldn’t recommend them as an introduction to Pilates – start with a beginner’s Pilates program and work your way back once you’ve got some mat time under your belt.
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