What in the world is an OOV?

The shape of the OOV is engineered to match the natural spinal curves of your body. (that’s why it looks so silly!)

The OOV can be used in a variety of positions to help us do movements and exercises. The most common position is to lay with your back positioned on the OOV. The shape and the material the OOV is made of help create a lengthening or traction of the spine as you lay on it.  After laying on the OOV and doing exercises on it and then coming off, many clients experience an amazing feeling in their back. For me, when I lay on the mat after getting off the OOV it feels like my back has  lengthened out and is more connected to the mat underneath of me (which feels fabulous!). 

The OOV is designed to help you activate and strengthen core muscles and is a great compliment to traditional Pilates exercises that Joseph Pilates created.  The shape of the OOV makes it “wobbly” and that means when you are using it your body has to figure out how to use your muscles to stabilize your body to be able to practice movements while utilizing it.  So pretty much everything we do on the OOV is balance training(woohoo!).

The OOV is commonly used in private Pilates sessions and in our small group equipment sessions. Since each session you take at the studio (private session or small group session) is designed uniquely for each person coming in, any day could be an OOV day. But of course you can always request to work on it by simply letting your teacher know!  

Have questions about the OOV? Simply email me! Want to schedule a private session to try out the OOV or join one of our small group Pilates equipment sessions? I can help you schedule that too!